Bank of America Posts 4th-Quarter Loss of $1.2 Billion

[ProSense]

Source: New York Times

Underscoring the still-lingering effects of the mortgage mess, Bank of America reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.2 billion, or 16 cents a share, as write-downs and charges tied to the weak housing market and soured home loans offset stronger results in the company’s core banking business.

For the full year, Bank of America lost $2.23 billion, or 37 cents a share.

The earnings report was complicated by a series of one-time gains and losses, most notably a $4.1 billion charge for mortgage repurchase claims, including the impact of an agreement late last month with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage giants, to buy back troubled loans. In addition, Bank of America took a noncash charge of $2 billion to reflect a write-down of goodwill on its acquisition of Countrywide, the subprime mortgage giant, in 2008.

Excluding the goodwill charge, Bank of America earned $756 million, or 4 cents a share in the fourth quarter, on revenue of $22.6 billion. The consensus among Wall Street analysts called for a profit of 14 cents.



Read more: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/bank-of-america-posts-4th-quarter-loss-of-1-2-billion/

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. Keep throwing other people's money into it; that pit will fill up eventually

[Broderick]

2. Depends

They seem to keep digging at a heartier pace.

[Betty]

3. must be time for another bailout

as they have huge bonuses to pay

[Roland99]

4. Two words:

http://www.threadbombing.com.nyud.net:8090/data/media/15/simpsons_nelson_haha2.jpg

[bossy22]

5. one phrase

"cutting off your nose to spite your face" You may feel that BOA losing money is a "good thing" so that they can "feel the pain the rest of america feels" but you are really hurting average americans. when banks start to lose money they are less likely to lend. With less lending less businesses can make improvements and increase hiring. Also they will be less likely to approve mortgages so less americans will be able to afford homes.

[The Stranger]

6. Aw bullshit. They're sitting on mountains of cash and get it free at the Fed window.

They're not lending because they lost their asses trading fraudulent derivatives and CDO's, and now don't even know how many they have.

[Roland99]

7. Plenty of behemoths left. And, screw banks. Use credit unions.