Following the U.S. government’s latest infusion of $20 billion in cash and a plan to insure losses on $118 billion in troubled mortgage assets, Bank of America (ticker BAC), the nation’s largest bank, fell to its lowest level in since 1984 as investors grew concerned that regulators may seize the company after the bailout package failed to halt the slide.
The bank fell 55 cents (-12%), to $4.15 at 10:45 EST, and earlier declined as much as 20% to its lowest level since October 1984. BoA's stock has dropped the last six days and haslost more than two-thirds of its value this year.
The U.S. previously committed $25 billion to BAC when it acquired failing investment bank Merrill Lynch over the same weekend in September as the Lehman Brother's collapse, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Bank of America lost $1.79 billion in the fourth quarter, its first deficit since 1991, as more borrowers fell behind on paying their loans.
Bank of America’s risk increased after it acquired Countrywide Financial, the largest U.S. home lender, and Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest brokerage. Merrill lost $15.3 billion in the fourth quarter, far more than BAC estimated during the September takeover. The widening losses forced out Merill's CEO, John Thain, last month.
In an effort to raise cash after accepting a $346 billion U.S. government bailout package, Citigroup agreed to sell servicing rights on 185,000 loans to Wilbur Ross’s American Home Mortgage Servicing for $1.5 billion.
American Home, controlled by WL Ross and Co., will take over billing and collection from Citi Residential Lending this month, according to a statement today. Ross said in an interview that he isn’t taking possession of the actual loans, which have a face value of about $170 billion and include subprime and Alt- A mortgages.
Citigroup has agreed to modify its troubled mortgages according to a plan layed out by F.D.I.C. chairwoman Sheila Bair. Modifications can include principle reductions, interest rate reductions and term extensions.
MasterCard, the world’s second-largest credit card network, rose 6.3% after the company beat analysts’ profit estimates. Profit excluding a settlement charge was $1.87 a share in the fourth quarter vs. the $1.62 average estimate. Revenue rose 14% to $1.2 billion, with price increases mostly tied to cross-border transactions made up more than half of the rise. The continuing adoption of credit and debit cards worldwide has cushioned the effects of a U.S. slowdown. Purchase volumes rose 3.1% to $455 billion from a year earlier as the number of member cards rose 7.6% to 981 million.