The Countrywide story was all over the place today. The stock was getting hammered as the rest of the market tried to rally. Then the rest of the market fell apart making new lows while Countrywide rallied 6% from its lows in the last hour and fifteen minutes of trade. As implied in the previous post, you think Merrill would ever give you a sell when a stock is 15 or 20 percent off the highs. They rarely do because they don't trade, they collect. The profits the brokerage houses announce from trading always look excellent in the quarterlies, but obviously marking asset values and determining profits can be a bit creative.
Market will have limp into next week looking for a bottom. Could lead to some record volatility again.
