BofA swings to $1 billion loss

BofA swings to $1 billion loss

Bank of America Corp posted a $1 billion third-quarter loss as consumer credit woes eclipsed investment banking earnings, underlining why the bank remains on a government respirator and sending its shares down 4.2 percent.

The nation's largest bank received two taxpayer bailouts totaling $45 billion after acquiring Merrill Lynch & Co and mortgage lender Countrywide at the height of the financial crisis last year. The bank says it want to start repaying the money but has not yet done so.

Credit losses on its consumer loans are eating into the bank's results as it tries to raise capital. Bank of America suffered $9.6 billion in credit losses in the third quarter, up from $4.4 billion a year earlier.

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Bank of America (BAC) is trading 4% lower at 17.35

Google’s Profit, Sales Top Estimates as Ads Recover

Google’s Profit, Sales Top Estimates as Ads Recover

Google Inc. reported a 27 percent increase in third-quarter profit, beating analysts’ estimates, after the recovering economy boosted demand for online ads and e-commerce. The shares gained in late trading.

Net income rose to $1.64 billion, or $5.13 a share, from $1.29 billion, or $4.06, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. Excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, sales were $4.38 billion, compared with an estimate of $4.25 billion in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

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Google stock was up 3% in after hours trading today at 547$.

Goldman Sachs’s Earnings Surge Falls Short of All-Time High

Goldman Sachs’s Earnings Surge Falls Short of All-Time High

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported a surge in third-quarter profit driven by trading and investments with the firm’s own money. The shares declined as earnings fell short of the bank’s record.

Third-quarter net income more than tripled to $3.19 billion, or $5.25 a share, in the three months ended Sept. 25, from $845 million, or $1.81 a share, in last year’s third quarter, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Some investors were expecting per-share earnings of as much as $6, the so-called whisper number.

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Goldman stock trended in red all day, down 2% at 188$

Citigroup Posts Profit as Bank Adds Less to Reserves

Citigroup Posts Profit as Bank Adds Less to Reserves

Citigroup the lender 34 percent owned by the U.S. government, posted a $101 million profit, defying expectations for a loss as the company added the smallest amount to loan-loss reserves in two years.

The third-quarter profit compared with a loss of $2.82 billion a year earlier, the New York-based bank said today in a statement. On a per-share basis, the company had a loss of 27 cents because of a charge related to the exchange of government- and privately held preferred shares into common stock. Eighteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News estimated a 29-cent loss.

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Citi stock was down 5% today at 4.73$ even though it posted profit. No trade yet, just watching.

Retail Sales Fall Less Than Forecast

U.S. Economy: Retail Sales Fall Less Than Forecast

Sales at U.S. retailers fell less than forecast in September after the Obama administration’s cash-for-clunkers program expired, signaling consumers are gaining confidence in the outlook for an economic recovery.

The 1.5 percent decrease followed a 2.2 percent gain the prior month, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Sales excluding automobiles climbed 0.5 percent, more than projected. Gains in prices of goods imported into the U.S. slowed last month, a separate report showed.

Stocks climbed and Treasuries fell as the report eased concern that household purchases, which make up about 70 percent of the economy, would sag without government support. While gains in spending from food to furniture suggest consumers will help pull the nation out of recession, Federal Reserve policy makers say demand is likely to be curbed by further job losses.