Welfare Queens Gone Wild

[marmar]

Bank of America May Need More U.S. Money to Absorb Cost of Merrill Lynch
By David Mildenberg


Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, may get more aid from the government to help absorb losses tied to this month’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co., three people familiar with the matter said.

Details are likely to be disclosed on Jan. 20, the people said. That’s when Bank of America may post its first quarterly loss in 17 years as it digests the purchases of Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial Corp. The combined company has already received $25 billion from the U.S.

Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, told regulators in December the takeover might be abandoned because of Merrill’s worse-than-expected results, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The government insisted the transaction go forward because its collapse would create new turmoil in the financial system, they said.

“Bank of America has all kinds of problems with its acquisitions,” said Gary Townsend, president of Hill-Townsend Capital LLC in Chevy Chase, Maryland. “They’ve been so acquisitive, they find themselves with very little in tangible equity.”

Bank of America’s shares lost 66 percent last year and have declined another 30 percent since Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis told employees on Jan. 6 that 2008 performance may miss company expectations. They traded as low as $9.50 yesterday after-hours in New York, the first time they fell below $10 since 1992. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aei_22INcQaI&refer=home

[fasttense]

1. I like your headline better. n/t

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

2. I never thought I'd have anything positive to say about BofA...

...but they're hardly the worst offender. Just look at AIG.

[Kokonoe]

3. It spends $7 billion of TARP to buy a Chinese bank.

And needs more money.:mad: