The SEC announced that it would launch a probe into Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo's 10b5-1 stock sales plan. These plans allow executives to sell a set number of shares on a set timetable if the executive has no knowledge of material company events. The programs even allow shares to be sold during black-out periods and when executives do have material information as long as the time and number of sales was set in advance.

Mozilo appears to have violated these rules by changing his plan to accelerate sales. The Wall Street Journal reported that he sold at least $130.6 million in company stock during the first half of the year. If the CEO did make changes or knew anything about the mortgage meltdown that happened afterwards, he could find himself in a world of hurt. We won't know, however, until the SEC completes its investigation. All we know now is that the man made a lot of money and sold at just the right time...