Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial Corp. fell to a 4 1/2-year low after billionaire Warren Buffett said he ``never came close'' to buying shares of the biggest U.S. mortgage lender.

Countrywide dropped $1.28, or 7.8 percent, to $15.23 in 4:17 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading. It was the lowest close for the Calabasas, California-based company since April 2003. Investors had speculated that Buffett's Omaha, Nebraska- based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. might buy a stake.

The lender has lost almost two-thirds of its market value amid the worst housing slump in 16 years, which left Countrywide short of cash in August. Buffett said in an interview late yesterday on Fox Business Network that he never bought any Countrywide stock, and that the company lacked a comprehensive recovery plan that might have attracted him.

``The trends are poor and nobody sees a turn,'' said Thane Bublitz, an analyst at Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, which manages $75 billion including Countrywide shares. ``Pretty much everything in the mortgage market is getting punished right now.''

The Securities and Exchange Commission opened an informal inquiry into stock sales by Countrywide Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo that were raised in a letter North Carolina State Treasurer Richard Moore sent to the SEC last week, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News Oct. 17. The agency began the probe before getting the letter, the person said.

Pretax Charge

Mozilo, 68, repeatedly modified automated stock-trading programs to accelerate sales of his Countrywide shares before the price fell this year, avoiding losses, Moore wrote in the Oct. 8 letter.

Earlier this week, Countrywide said it will take a pretax restructuring charge of as much as $150 million to cut operations and as many as 12,000 jobs because of slower lending. About $57 million of the expense will be booked in the third quarter with the remainder in the fourth.

Buffett also said yesterday he was skeptical about the U.S. Treasury's plan to create an $80 billion fund to buy distressed assets from structured investment vehicles linked to home lending.

``I don't see any way that pooling a bunch of mortgages, changing the ownership, is going to change the viability of the mortgage instrument itself -- whether people can make the payments,'' he said. ``It would be better to have them on the balance sheets so everyone would know what's going on.''

Countrywide spokesman Rick Simon didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. Berkshire spokeswoman Jackie Wilson said Buffett wasn't available.

Buffett, 77, transformed Berkshire over four decades from a failing textile maker into a $200 billion investment and holding company with businesses ranging from ice cream and underwear to insurance and corporate jet leasing. His investment decisions are followed worldwide.

To contact the reporter on this story: Josh P. Hamilton in New York at jphamilton@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 19, 2007 16:36 EDT