Late Friday, three of the biggest names impacted by the subprime mess filed their 10Ks, which we’re sure was just coincidental: Washington Mutual (WM) filed at 4:30, IndyMac (IMB) filed at 4:57 and Countrywide (CFC) filed at 5:04. Words like turmoil, unprecedented, and distressed are sprinkled liberally throughout all three filings.
Dow Jones has some highlights [...]

FBR Group (FBR), perhaps better known as Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, is a pretty tight-knit group of investment bankers and managers. They’ve weathered good times and bad, such as the fallout from the firm’s illegal short sales of dot-com client CompuDyne. FBR rebounded from the scandal, however, and just three-and-a-half years ago, the firm [...]

Yesterday, Office Depot (ODP) announced disappointing fourth quarter results, and mentioned, almost in passing that CFO Patricia McKay, was leaving at the end of the week. We’re sure this sudden departure had nothing — absolutely nothing — to do with a disclosure in the 10-K that the company filed yesterday:
We are subject to a formal [...]

Apparently, Countrywide Financial (CFC) isn’t the only lender cutting back on some perks that might not be viewed in the best light, given the current subprime mess. Citigroup (C), which has also been caught like a deer-in-subprime headlights, is also paring back, judging by this exhibit attached to the 10-K the banking giant filed late [...]

Barack Obama is not the only one thinking about “change” right now. Here at Footnoted we’re also interested in change - namely, the ways that some companies’ 10-Ks have changed from last year’s versions. While these year-to-year comparisons highlight important trends in recent filings, e.g., the increased popularity of terms like “subprime” and “monoline exposure,” [...]