Bank of America: Financial Winners & Losers
NEW YORK (
) --
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
was among the winners of the financial sector Wednesday after a report the bank would offer troubled borrowers some forgiveness on home loan balances.
will announce plans to start forgiving mortgage loan principal for troubled homeowners of up to 30%.
Bank of America will offer interest-free forgiveness on loan payments to "negative amortization" borrowers and those who owe more than 120% of their home's value, according to a summary of the program obtained by
Reuters
.
Under Bank of America's reported plan, if the homeowner stays current on payments, he or she can bring the loan value back down to 100% of the home's value over five years.
Separately, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that he wants the bank to expand in China to offer a wider range of banking services, although he didn't offer any timing of an expansion, according to
Reuters
.
Bank of America was lately up 26 cents, or 1.5%, to $17.39.
In other U.S. bank news,
(JPM) - Get Report
is closing in on a deal that would allow it to benefit from a tax refund of as much as $1.4 billion, according to a report in
The Wall Street Journal
.
The law, which is a little-noticed plank in the economic stimulus bill, allows companies to apply losses from 2008 or 2009 against taxes paid in the previous five years, instead of the previous two years, the newspaper notes.
JPMorgan shares slipped 0.3% to $44.43.
Among other U.S. bank stocks,
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
tacked on 0.5% to $4.15. On the downside,
Wells Fargo
(WFC) - Get Report
lost 0.5% to $30.94,
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
slipped 0.2% to $174.53, and
Morgan Stanley
(MS) - Get Report
was down 0.1% to $29.49.
Elsewhere,
(MF)
has hired former New Jersey Governor and
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
head John Corzine as its chairman and chief executive. Corzine's appointment is effective immediately.
MF Global shares were surging by 12.7% to $8.25.
Among analyst moves, Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove upgraded
Credit Suisse
(CS) - Get Report
shares to buy from neutral with a price target of $60.
Bove also upped his 2010, 2011 and 2012 earnings estimates for Credit Suisse, arguing that "the company's outlook continues to brighten."
"Credit Suisse emerged from the financial crisis in much stronger condition than many of its peers," Bove wrote in a research note to clients. "The bank never required assistance from any government. It built its capital rapidly and reduced the size of its offending assets."
Despite the upgrade, Credit Suisse share were down nearly 3% to $49.30.
-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston
.
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