# 1 No Longer for Bank of America
The largest bank by total assets? You want to know, don't you? It's J.P. Morgan Chase which strolled ahead of its "competitor" Bank of America. We are comparing 2.289 trillion dollars to a measly 2.219 trillion dollars for Bank of America.
The bank made a 6% jump in third-quarter earnings as reported by Maureen Farrell on Tuesday for CNN Money. Yesterday, investors applauded the increased amount of money the bank holds against the risk of mortgage-related lawsuits, even though its profits were from asset sales and accounting "quirks."
The news which made it appear less likely that Bank of America will have to raise equity, rallied the share price up 10% on Monday where it closed at $6.64 by the end of the day after boosting confidence to the broader market where every financial stock in the S&P 500 Index posted gains. (Schwab.com) The stock had been down by over 50% this year. After 3:00 PM today, Wednesday, the share price was down to $6.41 when this article was posted.
Brian Moynihan, Bo A's CEO had announced plans to lay off 30,000 (10% of its work force) and close 574 branches. The announcement made in June has not followed a hard track. The bank "only" terminated 2000 employees, the cost benefit to show up in B of A's fourth-quarter earnings. indeed, after the posted profits news release on Tuesday, Moynihan's conference call was upbeat, hinting that fewer layoffs would be made. Anything is possible in the financial sector.
Bank analyst Jefferson Harralson at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. claimed the profit was lower after excluding one-time asset sales, like the $3.6 billion dollar sale of China Construction Bank. He said BofA's total assets were closer to $700 million.
Analysts said they struggled to understand which revenues and expenses were recurring.
"We still don't know how much revenue has been lost by Dodd-Frank, by divestitures and by the weaker economic environment," said Harralson. (CNN Money)
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