Countrywide Finance Bets the Farm

Mish reports on that leveraged operation called Countrywide Finance:

In 2003, old-fashioned 30-year loans with fixed interest rates and substantial down payments made up about two-thirds of Countrywide's loans, said mortgage executive Bill Dallas, whose Agoura Hills-based sub-prime lender Ownit Mortgage shut down early this year.

By last year, only one-third of Countrywide's loans were of the traditional type, with the rest spread among the more exotic loan variety, Dallas said.

America's largest mortgage lender.Imagine that.