Bank Of America

Bank Of America, Even as the company reported a $2 billion profit in the fourth quarter Thursday, what was once the country’s largest bank continued to shrink, shedding tens of billions of dollars from its balance sheet and laying off nearly 7,000 employees.

The results mark the clearest evidence so far of CEO Brian Moynihan’s view that bigger isn’t better, and Wall Street seemed to agree — Bank of America shares rose more than 2 percent to just below $7 a share, the highest level since October. The boost was a rare break for long-suffering Bank of America investors, who watched its shares dive by more than 50 percent last year.

While the profit was a turnaround from the fourth quarter of 2010, when Bank of America lost $1.2 billion, it was largely a result of one-time gains. They included $2.9 billion from the sale of a stake in China Construction Bank and $1.2 billion on the exchange of preferred stock for common stock.

Most Hated Companies Facebook

Most Hated Companies Facebook, Customers, employees, shareholders and taxpayers hate large corporations for many reasons. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a lengthy list of corporations for which there is substantial research data to choose the 10 most hated in America.

Research about companies comes in two sets. One is public research about consumer satisfaction, customer care, pricing of products and services, and brand impressions. Wall St. research takes into account another set of factors, which include present earnings, profit forecasts, product development and quality, and brand valuations.

Some of the companies on this list are widely despised because of the businesses that they are in. In an economic environment where resources are stretched, an airline or retail operation that has millions of customers is likely to make a lot of enemies. Similarly, banks and other corporations with a large number of retail outlets are at a disadvantage compared with businesses with few customers. Some of the corporations on this list also have had to fire significant numbers of employees due to the recession. Downsizing causes poor morale, increases the workload of the remaining staff and affects customer satisfaction when service is poorer.

We examined each company based on several criteria. We considered total return to shareholders in comparison to the broader market and other companies in the same sector during the last year. We reviewed financial analyst opinions on those companies that are public. We analyzed data from a broad array of sources, including Consumer Reports, JD Power, the MSN/Zogby Poll, ForeSee and the University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index. We also considered negative press based on 24/7 Wall St.’s analysis of media coverage and the Flame Index, which uses a proprietary algorithm to review more than 12,000 websites and ranks companies based on the frequency of negative words. Finally, we considered the views of taxpayers, Congress and the White House — where applicable.

Several companies that should have been on the list based on performance and public perception during the financial crisis did not make it. For example, it would be easy to argue that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be here. The bankruptcy and maintenance of the two by the federal government will cost taxpayers between $224 billion and $360 billion, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. But, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are no longer stand-alone companies in any normal sense. Their shares have been delisted. Each is in effect a ward of the U.S. government with no ability to control its own fate through the actions of management or public shareholders.

The U.S. Postal Service could also be a candidate for the list. It has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, and it lost $5.1 billion in its last fiscal year alone. However, the Postmaster General and his staff have little or no control over the eventual fate of the USPS. Congress decides how and to what extent it will be funded. That means Congress essentially controls how many workers and offices will exist, and even — based on funding — how often the mail will be delivered.

It is worth noting that some of the companies on the list may have done very poorly by some measures, and well by others. A few of the most hated companies have had good stock performances. Others may have satisfied customers. All of this was taken into account when the decisions for the final list were made.

The following are 24/7 Wall St.’s Most Hated Companies for 2011, in no particular order.

1. Facebook
Facebook currently has more than 800 million users. Any company of this size is sure to have some detractors. Compared to other leading social media sites, however, Facebook has the lowest customer satisfaction score from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The site has repeatedly irked users by neglecting personal privacy. Notable events include the introduction of facial recognition software — which spurred an investigation by the European Union — and the Facebook timeline. Facebook received significant negative press for forcing new settings on users that change how their personal information is shared with others. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has only recently said that the company will no longer do this. According to the MSN Money-IBOPE Zogby International customer service survey for 2011, 25.9 percent of Facebook users described the company’s customer service as “poor” — the lowest rating.

2. American Airlines
American’s parent, AMR, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. That virtually wiped out the value of the holdings of every shareholder. American recently was picked as the worst airline for customer service by the annual Middle Seat scorecard, published in the Wall Street Journal. “For the past five years, American has been among the worst three airlines at on-time performance, a key measure of an airline’s operation since it impacts mishandled bags, bumped passengers and even canceled flights and customer complaints,” the survey’s authors said. The report states the airline was the worst among major carriers last year for baggage handling and canceled flights, canceling 70 percent more flights than United and Delta. With a score of 63 in the American Customer Satisfaction Index section on airlines, American falls near the bottom, well below leader Southwest, which has a score of 81.

3. AT&T
AT&T recently received the lowest score given by JD Power for wireless customer care performance. It also was given the lowest rating for customer service by ACSI. AT&T has been dogged by problems with its 3G network, which are now largely behind it. AT&T was attacked by both the government and press for what many saw as an attempt to set up a monopoly through its buyout of T-Mobile. Consumers feared the combined company would have extraordinary powers to set prices. The wireless carrier also received the lowest satisfaction rating for cell-phone standard service providers, according to Consumer Reports. The MSN Money-IBOPE Zogby International customer service survey reports that 26 percent of customers rate service as “poor.”

Bankofamericaonlinebanking

Bankofamericaonlinebanking, (AP) – Bank of America Corp., online banking has been declining for some users since early Friday.

The Charlotte, NC-based bank would not say exactly how many of its 29 million online banking customers could not access their accounts in the early afternoon. The problem occurred at around 7:00 Eastern Time, according to spokeswoman Tara Burke Murphy.

ATM banking network functioned normally, “said Burke.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Bofa

Bofa, New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, and will receive 4.25 million Bank of America to settle a lawsuit for securities fraud filed by the Fund and 132.8 billion against Merrill Lynch and two former company officials, Olayinka Fadahunsi confirmed, spokesman Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller and sole trustee of the fund.

E. Stanley O’Neal, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, and Jeffrey N. Edwards, former president of vice, were also named in the complaint and made part of the colony. Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch in 2008.

According to court documents filed in July in U.S. District Court in New York, the fund alleged Merrill Lynch and its former executives have not disclosed the extent of participation of society in and exposure to subprime mortgage -backed securities and, therefore, artificially inflated the share price of the company. When actual exposure to the subprime MBS risk was known, the share price has dropped Merrill Lynch and caused losses to investors such as funds from New York, court documents claimed.

“The fund has been misled about the extent of the involvement of Merrill Lynch in the subprime mortgage fiasco is unacceptable,” Mr. DiNapoli said in a news release.

Shirley Norton, a spokesman for Bank of America, confirmed the settlement and 4.25 million, but said the company declined to comment further.

Neither counsels for Mr. O’Neal, Michael J. Chepiga, a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, neither Mr. Edwards’s lawyer, Antonio Yanez Jr., a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, returned calls seeking comment.

Source: http://www.pionline.com/article/20110113/DAILY/110119948

Bankofamerica

Bankofamerica, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) was trading at 14.69 and close its 200 day moving average, currently set at $ 14.24. Stock price action of America is just above the key support level, and it will certainly attract the attention of traders as a trading opportunity possible.

Bank of America Corporation provides banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management services. The Company has a subsidiary mortgage and investment banking and brokerage subsidiary securities. Bank of America, the largest U.S. lender, has an extensive network of sites of retail banking at the Bank of the United States was founded in 1874 and headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

Latest range of prices, defined by an algorithm of peaks and troughs places calculated to support and 10.91 and calculated the resistance to the $ 14.69. Traders will certainly watch these levels because they can better understand the dynamics of recent price set by Bank of America.

Traders who want to establish a position in Bank of America will look at the price action for the evidence of buying near the 200 day moving average, and the opening of a position as close as possible to this important level. Also traders will look at the latest price action through the current range of stocks defined above for an overview of other key levels that could affect their head or down.

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