The problem with CountryWide is that it is a one trick pony. CountryWide does have retail banking business but they can’t complete with other retail banks such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Well Fargo, and Suntrust.  The reason for that is you see bank in almost every corners. CountryWide is the largest Mortgage in America but it not diversify.

Now that the mortgage business dry up, CountryWide is just a sellout to other company. Because Bank of America bought CountryWide at discount, investors didn’t really make any money from it. Investors got burn because they only look at the chart on how much CountryWide is going up during the housing boom, they never look to see if the business is diversify. They never care if the business is sound or not, they just look at the chart to see if it going up. Bank of America is a diversify business that is the reason the housing bubble doesn’t impact them that much.

Did I get hit also from the housing bubble? Yes, I did I made mistake. I bought Washington Mutual because I was reading an article about how Oakmark fund is buying large stakes in Washington Mutual. You would expect the guy from Oakmark fund to be smart and avoid buying Washington Mutual. I guess they were dumb like I am when it at 39 dollars a share.

Did I really look to see if the company is diversify like Bank of America. No, reading the article about the manager of Oakmark Fund buying large stakes gave me the confidence I needed. Boy, was I dumb, I was more dumb than Homer from the Simpson.