Countrywide sale close

An email sent out to managers of Countrywide Financial this morning says that July 1 is the target date for completion of the mortgage company's sale to Bank of America (assuming Countrywide shareholders approve the deal on June 25). That's earlier than many on Wall Street had been expecting - probably just as well given all the unsubstantiated rumors about how Bank of America might still back out. By the way, Countrywide stock has fallen so much since the offer was first announced in January that the deal is now valued at $3 billion instead of $4 billion. (WSJ, Bloomberg)