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Non-Tech : Aames Financial (AAM) - Undervalued or what??? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Laura E. who wrote (425)	10/27/1998 5:40:00 PM
From: LiveWire	Respond to of 510

A broker that I asked to look at this said that each trade was on a down tick, which means a sell. Blocks this big are usually arranged trades from what I've been told. Hopefully, we will know more tomorrow. The 100K looked, to me, as an uptick trade. The two other 300K+ trades were on downticks.

To: Laura E. who wrote (425)	10/29/1998 10:13:00 PM
From: g.w. barnard	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 510

le, aam mentioned in this article. hope it doesn't affect the positive price action of late: Fed, States Probing Subprime Indus Over Lending Practices By Janet Morrissey NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Federal and state authorities are investigating the lending and pricing practices of companies in the subprime lending sector. United Cos. Financial Corp. (UC), a subprime consumer and mortgage lender, acknowledged Wednesday that it had received a letter from the U.S. departments of Justice and of Housing and Urban Development notifying it that the agencies were initiating a joint investigation of its practices. United Cos. disclosure follows First Alliance Corp.'s (FACO) admission earlier this month that it's being investigated by the Justice Department and attorneys generals of seven states. The federal agencies have sent about five letters to subprime lenders informing them of the investigation, United Cos. General Counsel Michaela Albon told Dow Jones. She said she doesn't know the identities of the other companies. The investigation comes at a time when the subprime lending industry is under substantial pressure. Many companies have reported liquidity problems and cancelled mergers. Their stocks have also taken a beating in recent weeks. Albon said that no specific allegations have been made against United Cos., and that the probe is part of sector-wide investigation. She also said she's confident the investigation will find no evidence of wrongdoing by United Cos. First Alliance has promised to cooperate fully with the investigation and said it believes it has "fully complied with applicable federal and state laws." The Justice Department is looking into possible discrimination in lending and pricing practices based on race, national origin, sex or age, Albon said. HUD is focusing on whether there were any violations of anti-kickback and anti-referral fee prohibition violations under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA. The joint probe will begin in Philadelphia, where United Cos. is currently facing litigation in connection with four loans made in that area. Albon said complaints, filed in September 1997, have not yet been resolved, but she emphasized no wrongdoing has been found against the company in those cases. At a Consumers Bankers Association conference last month, Bill Lann Lee, acting assistant attorney general of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, confirmed that several joint investigations into subprime lenders were underway. He said joint investigations with the Federal Trade Commission, HUD and a number of state attorneys general had been launched. "We have focused on attacking discrimination in the area of mortgage lending - both in providing access to home mortgage loans and in making sure that loan costs are not discriminatory," Lee said. Specifically, he said, the investigations will determine if different loan terms or conditions were made based on race, ethnicity, age, marital status or sex. They will also probe "unfair, misleading or deceptive practices" when persuading a customer to take out a loan or when disclosing loan terms, he added. Acting Assistant Attorney General Bill Lann Lee said the probes were initiated "in response to reports of widespread disparities in mortgage lending between whites and minorities." In the subprime sector, he said, there is a lack of standard underwriting guidelines. A number of companies in the subprime lending sector said they were aware of the joint investigation. But aside from First Alliance and United Cos. Financial, none contacted by Dow Jones said it had been notified it was part of the probe. Officials for ContiFinancial Corp. (DFN), FirstPlus Financial Corp.'s (CFN), Delta Financial Corp. (DFC), IMC Mortgage Co. (IMCC), Aames Financial Corp. (AAM), Long Beach Financial Corp. (LBFC), New Century Financial Corp (NCEN), Mego Mortgage (MMGC) and Novastar Financial Inc. (NFI) said they hadn't been notified by the Justice Department of any investigation, and weren't aware of any probes involving their companies. New Century General Counsel Julie Greenfield, and several other company officials, said they'd heard about a possible investigation involving certain companies in the sector about a month ago. But Greenfield said her company was not among those rumored to be in the probe. Although some companies applauded efforts to crack down on companies that unfairly engage in "predatory pricing" for subprime loans, they also expressed concern that a wide-ranging probe could taint the entire sector in the eyes of investors even when most companies have done nothing wrong. There's also a cost factor involved for the companies that wind up facing DOJ and HUD in the probe. "It could be cumbersome and costly," especially when the investigation is open-ended without specific allegations, one company spokesman said. -Janet Morrissey 201-938-2118