WC Varones

Thanks to the miracle of really stupid lending, Countrywide Financial is rapidly morphing from a mortgage lender to a residential real estate investment trust.

CFC now has $2.1 billion in foreclosed houses for sale. That's getting up there near the nation's largest home builders, whose business is to sell houses. They each carry $5 - $10 billion in inventory.

Will CFC surpass the home builders to become the nation's largest residential real estate owner? Time will tell -- if CFC can stay liquid that long.