And Another

Next up on the subprime hit parade. NYTimes (11.10.07):

"The E*Trade Financial Corporation, the discount brokerage and banking firm, said yesterday that it would not be able to meet its previously announced profit targets because it expected to report 'significant write-downs' in the value of mortgage-backed securities it holds.

The company said the Securities and Exchange Commission began an informal inquiry last month into “matters relating to the company’s loans and securities portfolios.'"

E*Trade Cuts Profit Forecast, Citing Write-Downs on Mortgage Securities

"The company also said that the head of its capital markets operations, Dennis E. Webb, ceased working for the company yesterday and would receive severance payments. It did not say whether he had resigned or was fired."

Ahhh, Dennis. What have you done? The SEC is also investigating whether or not the division Dennis ran had "'traded ahead' of customers by executing its own orders for shares before it executed those of customers."