Related Blog Posts from the Wikinvest Wire

Bank of America is finally headed to court to reach a settlement with mortgage security investors...

In conjunction with the periodic review of 12 Global Trading and Universal Banks (GTUBs), Fitch Ratings reiterated its long and short- term Issuer Default Rating (IDRs) on Bank of America Corporation (BAC). The rating agency re-affirmed BofA’s long-term IDR at 'A' and short-term IDR at 'F1'. As per Fitch’s rating methodology, a bank’s IDR is either [...]

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 Unlike Tuesday when earnings reports were on the reassuring side, the tone of this morning’s releases is on the negative side. And it’s not just this morning's Bank of America (BAC) miss, the overnight reports from Yahoo (YHOO) and Intel (INTC) and some of this morning’s other releases are also on the [...]

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) received approval from the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Manhattan to settle a $2.43 billion class-action lawsuit filed by irate shareholders over the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The bank had agreed to settle the accusations in Sep 2012. Shareholders filed the lawsuit as they were miffed with BofA [...]

A recent Barron’s article was very positive about banks in 2013. They expect healthy growth from capital markets, corporate lending and deposits. And the existing catalysts of housing and the labor market to continue to push earnings higher. The article listed the EU and the US regulatory environment as the reasons for a recent slump in consumer [...]

I wrote about this not long ago but it is worth noting again. The negative divergences on the financial stocks is something that is scarier than a naked 90 year old witch on Halloween. Stocks like  JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Wells Fargo & Co(NYSE:WFC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Bank [...]

Recently released data shows extensive complaints filed against big banks on mortgages and loans, and Bank of America is the biggest offender...

Money may not buy happiness, but it can't hurt to give it a shot. So here's my best shot...

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) launched a new credit card – BankAmericard Better Balance Rewards card. The card offers customers a reward of up to $100 yearly for efficient management of their credit card payments per month. The card, which does not charge a monthly fee, will be made available to the customers this week [...]

Analyst Briton Ryle tells readers what they should be buying in the days leading up to the dreaded sequester.

Meredith Whitney appeared on "Bloomberg Surveillance" this morning and told Tom Keene and Sara Eisen and said that she's "uninspired" by Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat. Whitney said, "We don't really know Mike Corbat's agenda...He didn't give us an...

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) reported fourth-quarter 2012 earnings of 3 cents per share, which managed to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a cent. However, this compares unfavorably with the earnings of 15 cents in the prior-year quarter. This represents the fourth straight quarter with a positive earnings surprise for this mega bank. Results for [...]

Strong housing and labor market readings this morning should add to optimism about the overall economic picture and offset the weak earnings reports from Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C). While the debt ceiling issue remains an overhang for this market, today’s better-than-expected Housing Starts and Jobless Claims data should help add to optimism. It [...]

Geron Corporation (GERN) announced that it has signed an Asset Contribution Agreement with BioTime, Inc. (BTX) and BioTime's recently formed subsidiary, BioTime Acquisition Corporation (BAC). Per the terms of the agreement, Geron’s stem cell assets will be divested to BAC on the closing of the deal. The deal is scheduled to close by September 30, 2013. Once [...]

After the mortgage losses following the 2008 financial collapse, Bank of America's Countrywide Financial Corp. owed compensation to mortgage buyers.

Monthly BAC We have not spoke about Bank of America since January 10, 2012 when we highlighted shares a nearing pinch point which would cause a upside deviation of the downtrend in place from the pre subprime crisis high of 55.08 in late 2006. Since that post the stock's price has remained over the 6.90 pinch level. -{MORE}-

Last week, DZ Bank AG, a German lender, filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corporation (BAC), for misrepresentation of documents while selling mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The lodged complaint indicts BofA of presenting modified documents related to the sale of over $546 million in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). The Allegation The German lender accused BofA of issuing [...]

We are maintaining our long-term ‘Neutral’ recommendation on Bank of America Corporation (BAC) to reflect the company’s improving credit quality and various restructuring measures undertaken. Yet, we expect revenue headwinds, incessant litigation and various issues related to the regulatory changes to continue to impact the near-term results. Further, BofA reported break-even third quarter earnings compared with [...]

A U.S. District Judge in Manhattan cancelled the bid of Merrill Lynch – a wing of Bank of America Corporation (BAC) – to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) against it. The lawsuit pertains to the sale of billions of dollars worth of risky mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to government-sponsored entities [...]

Bloomberg reported that Brussels-based Royal Park Investments SA/NV – set up in 2009 by Fortis Bank SA/NV, the Belgian state and BNP Paribas SA (BNPQY) – has sued Bank of America Corporation (BAC) for the losses it incurred from investments in risky residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS). Royal Park alleged that BofA made false representations [...]

Bank of America is offering a $100 cash bonus to new checking customers who open an account with the bank by December 31, 2012. For more information on this bank bonus deal, check offer details below:(Source: Bank of America) Offer Details: To get your personal checking account and a $100 bonus, just follow the steps below: -  Fill out our easy online application using Offer Code BAW100. - Set up and receive a qualifying Direct Deposit into your new checking account within 90...

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) reported break-even earnings per share for the third quarter, substantially better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 7 cents. However, this compares unfavorably with the earnings of 56 cents in the prior-year quarter. Results for the reported quarter were aided by a substantial slowdown in provision for credit [...]

The United States federal government filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) for allegedly misrepresenting the quality of home loans sold to government backed mortgage giants, Fannie Mae - Federal National Mortgage Association (OTC:FNMA) and Freddie Mac - Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (OTC:FMCC). U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, filed the [...]

A quick look at the performance of Bank of America (BAC) and Royal Bank of Canada(RY) over 5 and 10 years shows the huge disparity in returns. The returns noted are based on share price changes only and do not include dividends.5-year return of Bank of America and Royal Bank of Canada:Click to enlarge 10-year return of Bank [...]

For the second time in the last few months, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. – a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation (BAC) – has been fined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Merrill will pay $500,000 as penalty for its supervisory failure or missing deadline for filing nearly 650 [...]

According to The Wall Street Journal, Bank of America Corporation (BAC) is planning to layoff nearly 16,000 jobs by the end of the current year as a part of its cost-cutting efforts in order to boost top-line growth. The estimated headcount following the job cuts would be nearly 260,000, the lowest since 2008. BofA plans to [...]

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) has announced redemption of nearly $5.1 billion worth of trust-preferred securities (TruPS). The efforts to trim the company’s long-term debt stems from the new rules set by the Basel III norms, which do not recognize TruPS that have features of both equity and debt as Tier 1 common equity. The redemption [...]

According to Reuters, global investment banks are facing declining investment banking fee income, bearing the brunt of the amplifying Eurozone crisis. Thus, concerns have crept up in the slothful stock market momentum. According to the source, global investment banking fee income fell 3.8% in the third quarter of 2012 to $15.5 billion from $16.1 billion in [...]

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) announced the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that was filed by its shareholders related to the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. BofA has agreed to pay a total of $2.43 billion and organize various corporate governance changes. BofA bought Merrill for about $29 billion in January 2009 during the height [...]

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) is testing a new mobile payment technology in collaboration with Boston-based Paydiant, a mobile wallet and mobile payment platform, according to a Reuters report. BofA is currently using the new technology in Charlotte on a trail basis at five merchant locations for the next three months. Interestingly, only the employees [...]

Investment Banking Jobs are becoming scarcer and scarcer as the industry continues to retrench since banking fees collapse. A Tepid Global Economy and stricter financial regulations have meant that the I-Banks can no longer support the bloated expensive workforce that had kept growing during the boom years. Despite repeated QE by Bernake, the economy globally [...]

It's hard to tell whether the situation described in an article the New Haven Register is very unusual, or just under the radar by design. But either way, it does not pass the smell test.

As gold prices hit a 2012 record of $1,787.40 per ounce on Friday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said the precious metal could soar to $3,000 or even $5,000 over the longer-term. Comstock Images | Getty Images “We will be focusing in on gold. Ultimately we think gold can trade between [...]

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) has intensified its cost-cutting measures, and has announced plans to reduce its workforce by 16,000, by the end of the year to avert revenue declines. The job cuts will bring down the number of the financial institution’s total number of employees to 260,000. This means the end of Bank of America’s [...]

Yesterday. we reported that  Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) 's website had been taken down in a Denial of Service attack. The attack was possibly the work of hackers associated with an Islamic extremist Group. We have just been informed that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)'s Chase.com has also just gone down. We have tried to access the site [...]

FOX Business Network (FBN) reports that, “Bank of America is currently the subject of a denial-of-service attack on its website.” FBN reports that, “A group claiming to be allied with Muslims is taking responsibility for the attack and claiming anger over American ‘Zionism’ and also the recent film mocking Islam,” and that, “The group is [...]

We saw the curtain drop on Walnut Place, aka Seth Klarman's Baupost vs Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), back in July. The hedge fund withdrew its challenge to the offer of a $8.5 billion settlement, and apparently decided to just take what it was offered. The last time, when Baupost decided to battle Bank of America [...]

On Wednesday, Bank of America Corporation (BAC) said that it will offer customers a new, easy-to-read two-page statement with complete information about fees, terms and primary features for checking accounts. This move follows similar steps taken by other major U.S. financial institutions. Banking giants such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup, Inc. (C), Capital [...]

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) has lagged in modifying loans under its new settlement.

Bringing an end to months of speculation, Bank of America Corporation (BAC) is finally divesting its international wealth management operations to Switzerland-based private bank, Julius Baer Group, for nearly CHF860 million ($882 million). The decision to offload these units is a part of BofA’s long-term strategy to build up capital and divest its non-core and unprofitable [...]

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) has announced the decision to discontinue its disputed credit protection services. These services were the subject matter of a class-action lawsuit where the plaintiffs accused the bank of overcharging through unfair means. The credit protection services offered cardholders the benefit of deferring the minimum monthly payments in case of contingencies – [...]

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) has appointed four new members to join its board of directors, as it expects a good number of its current board to retire in the near future. The company has a policy stating that directors retire at the age of 72 years. According to the latest SEC filing, BofA  Schedule 14A, the [...]

According to Bloomberg, Bank of America Corporation (BAC) will shell out $738 million as compensation to retailers for a lawsuit alleging the company, along with other card companies, of charging excess debit and credit card fees. This forms a part of the largest antitrust litigation settlement in the U.S. history. Back in 2005, about 7 million [...]

As per the quarterly filings, Bank of America Corporation (BAC) has not been able to complete a large number of mortgage modifications under the $25 billion settlement deal that also includes JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Ally Financial Inc. and Wells Fargo & Company (WFC). BofA’s commitment under the deal was $11.8 [...]

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that U.S. District judge William Pauley in Manhattan refrained to cancel the legal charges made by shareholders, led by a Pennsylvania school pension fund, against Bank of America Corporation (BAC), accusing it of misleading them. For this, the shareholders are seeking billions of dollars in compensation. However, the judge has dismissed several [...]

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) reported second quarter earnings of 19 cents per share, marginally outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 15 cents. This also compares favorably with the loss of 90 cents in the prior-year quarter. Results for the reported quarter were aided by improved non-interest income, substantial slowdown in provision for credit losses, reduced [...]

by Daniel Carver Bank of America recently announced that it hired Stephen Gore, former head of UBS AG’s (UBS) Asia merger and acquisitions unit, joining USB’s former Asia bank president,  Matthew Koder who jumped to Bank of America last year. Bank of America’s acquisition of this high level, high performance talent from UBS suggests the bank is [...]

Stocks have help up quite well in recent days despite the continued run of soft economic readings and lack of visibility on the QE question. Expectations for second quarter GDP growth coming out next week have been steadily coming down in recent days and currently stand below 1.5%, with quite a few forecasts significantly lower than [...]

Banks continue to face the ghosts of mortgage related issues, as judged from SEC filings that require a bank to disclose the potential litigation losses that may exceed its legal reserves. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)'s latest quarterly filing reveals that "reasonably possible potential litigation losses" that were in excess of the legal reserves were $1.2 [...]

Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) is very active and vocal in fighting against naked-short selling practices of market makers at Wall Street. In 2007, the company filed a complaint against Merrill Lynch, a subsidiary of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and against Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) of “naked-short selling” its stock from 2005 to [...]