BofA: Financial Winners and Losers
(
Updated with final stock price movements throughout, added BofA meeting info, E*Trade paragraph
.)
NEW YORK (
) --
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
was among the losers of the financial sector Monday as the bank's board added a new director and probes by government officials continued.
named
DuPont
(DD) - Get Report
Chairman Charles Holliday to its board of directors, effective immediately. Holliday is the bank's sixth new director since June.
BofA's directors were also briefed on options if CEO
is charged with civil fraud stemming from the bank's failure to divulge when it became aware of the enormous losses at
Merrill Lynch
last year.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is reportedly preparing a case to charge individuals with wrongdoing, and reportedly subpoenaed five BofA directors last week. That comes after federal Judge Jed Rakoff refused to accept a settlement with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
that would force bank shareholders to pay $33 million.
In addition, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Edolphus Towns (D., N.Y.) has told BofA that it cannot use attorney-client privilege when dealing with an inquiry by Congress, demanding relevant information about the bank's discovery of Merrill's mounting losses. BofA did not provide the information by a deadline on Monday, but said it will meet with a committee chairman on Tuesday to address the issue.
Bank of America shares finished lower by 38 cents, or 2.2%, to close at $17.25.
(GS) - Get Report
also finished lower after a
Reuters
report that the bank's private-equity arm is in discussions with
Geely Automobile
, China's biggest privately-owned car maker, to buy about $250 million of the company's convertible bonds and warrants.
Geely Automotive is the Hong Kong-listed arm of Chinese automaker Geely Holding, which is eyeing
Ford's
(F) - Get Report
Swedish car brand
Volvo
, although Goldman's investment will be used to hike annual production at Geely's Hunan car plant to 150,000 units.
Goldman Sachs lost 79 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $182.39.
On the other hand,
(C) - Get Report
shares rose despite a
Wall Street Journal
report that Tom King, Citigroup's London-based head of corporate and investment banking and capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is leaving the bank after 20 years.
King is likely to take a job at the investment arm of U.K. bank
Barclays
(BCS) - Get Report
to help it expand its European investment banking business, the
Journal
report said, although people familiar with the matter cautioned it is isn't yet certain.
Despite the news, Citigroup shares advanced by 17 cents, or 4%, to $4.43.
Most other bank stocks finished lower to start the week.
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
slumped 0.9% to $44.55,
Wells Fargo
(WFC) - Get Report
ended 0.7% lower at $28.29 and
UBS
(UBS) - Get Report
was down 0.2% to $18.72.
Morgan Stanley
(MS) - Get Report
joined Citigroup in positive territory, rising 0.7% to close at $31.61.
Among analyst moves, Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove initiated coverage of
Lazard Ltd.
(LAZ) - Get Report
with a buy rating and a stock price target of $42.50. While Bove said the company's capital structure is "very confused," he notes that Lazard "thrives in these markets and suffers in downturns."
Lazard shares overcame a weak start to finish higher by 54 cents, or 1.5%, to $37.50.
Elsewhere, Bernstein upgraded
Marshall & Ilsley
(MI)
,
Regions Financial
(RF) - Get Report
, and Wells Fargo to outperform from market perform. While Wells Fargo traded lower, Marshall & Isley shares rose 4% to $8.42 and Regions jumped 6.5% to $6.53.
(ETFC) - Get Report
was also among the winners, climbing 7.6% to $1.98 a week after announcing plans to issue up to $150 million in common stock and an upgrade by Goldman Sachs.
-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York
.
