Bank of America

Article Index

Boom, Bust and Rebuild: Bank of America and the Kenneth Lewis Legacy

By Mike Caggeso, Money Morning - October 2, 2009

There are many ways to view Kenneth Lewis' eight-year reign as Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) chief executive, but two seem to hold the most landscape. On one hand, the $130 billion he spent on acquisitions – FleetBoston Financial Corp., MBNA Corp., LaSalle Bank Corp., Countrywide Financial Corp., Charles Schwab Corp.'s (Nasdaq: SCHW) U.S. […]

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Investment News Briefs

By Investment News Staff, Money Morning - October 2, 2009

With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important global investing news stories from all around the world. GM to Shutter Saturn; IMF Raises Global Growth Forecast; Private-Sector Job Losses Show September Decline; Red Ink Flows at Neiman Marcus; Cisco Dials Up $2.7 Billion Buyout for Norway's […]

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Investment News Briefs

By Investment News Staff, Money Morning - October 1, 2009

With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. IMF Lowers Global Writedown Estimate; CIT Still Struggling; $1.6 Billion Hong Kong IPO for Wynn Macau; Wal-Mart, Kmart Gunning For Holiday Toy Sales; Toyota Announces Record Recall; BofA Exec Takes […]

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Banks Satisfied On FDIC Decision, but Will They Still Lend?

By Bob Blandeburgo, Associate Editor, Money Morning - September 29, 2009

U.S. banks yesterday (Tuesday) got what they wanted by avoiding another special assessment from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). However, the FDIC's mandate that all banks prepay their regular assessments through 2012 to replenish its near-zero fund will likely put further strain on banks' ability to lend, and force the FDIC to take further […]

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FDIC Weighing Unappealing Options for Fund Replenishment

By Bob Blandeburgo, Associate Editor, Money Morning - September 28, 2009

When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) board meets today (Tuesday), it will be faced with some tough questions about how it will replenish its still-shrinking fund in the wake of mounting bank failures. The FDIC has seen its fund that protects more than $4.5 trillion in bank deposits shrink to just $10.4 billion from […]

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Wall Street Back to Business as Obama's Regulatory Overhaul Loses Momentum

By Jason Simpkins, Managing Editor, Money Morning - September 17, 2009

It was more than a year ago – Sept. 14, 2008 – that Lehman Bros. Holding Co. (OTC: LEHMQ) finally collapsed under the weight of its own bad investments. But since then, little progress has been made on financial regulatory reform, and many of the large investment banks that received billions of dollars in government […]

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Investment News Briefs

By Investment News Staff, Money Morning - September 16, 2009

With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. Government Planning to Sell Citi Stake; Judge Rebukes BofA/SEC Settlement; China FDI Climbs; China's BYD Soars 648% in Year; Best Buy Misses Outlook By a Penny; Sun Hung Kai Income […]

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The Newest Ruse: Banks Capitalizing on “Toxic Assets” to Book Puffed-Up Profits

By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report • @kfgtotalwealth - June 2, 2009

Remember the infamous leaked Vikram S. Pandit memo we wrote to you about awhile back that suddenly saw Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) turn a profit on nothing more than vapors?
Stay tuned: We're about to see more of these puffed-up profits. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and PNC Financial Services Inc. (NYSE: PNC) will reportedly be booking as much as $56 billion in windfall profits using similar financial chicanery in the months ahead.

Sadly, millions of investors will likely interpret this as a sign that the U.S. financial sector is once again a viable "profit" play - when the reality is that Wall Street hasn't learned a single darned thing from the financial crisis and is up to its old tricks once again.

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Bank of America Will Buy Countrywide for $4 Billion in Stock

By Mike Caggeso, Money Morning - January 13, 2008

By Mike Caggeso Associate Editor Bank of America Corp. (BAC) announced Friday that it will buy troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) for $4 billion [about $7.16 a share] – all in stock – a deal that would make the North Carolina-based Bank of America the country's largest mortgage lender and loan provider. The […]

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