Free Republic

Dow Jones says a goal of the 30-stock index is to capture the pulse of the broader economy. So why replace a rebounding Bank of America with Goldman Sachs? In the biggest change of the 30-stock index in nearly a decade, three companies will be replaced on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Alcoa, Bank of America, and Hewlett-Packard are out, Nike, Goldman Sachs, and Visa (V) are in. The shake-up partly reflects declining fortunes and share prices, but the timing and reasons are nonetheless curious when we look at the departure of Bank of America (BAC). Like other big banks,...

A 21-year-old intern who worked grueling hours at Bank of America's London office died just a week before his internship was to conclude. Moritz Erhardt, who studied at the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany, reportedly had worked until 6 a.m. for three days straight and was found dead in his flat.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Bank of American over the BOAMS 2008-A securitization of a pool of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). Here is the complaint filed by the SEC. The theme of the complaint is “fraud.” Let’s take a look inside the deal. Here is the prospectus supplement for BOAMS 2008-A dated January 25, 2008. The BOAMS 2008-A was a senior-subordinated, structured finance securitization. boams2008atr The pool of mortgage underlying BOAMS 2008-A were mostly from California, 100% were ARMs originated or refinanced in 2007, boams2008acollatcomp 83.1% of the loans had borrowers with FICO scores of...

SAN DIEGO JURY ERASES 'STUPID' CHALK CHARGES [ ... major snippage] The judge, who imposed a gag order on participants during the trial, refused to allow Olson's attorney to argue that the messages were constitutionally protected free speech. [... snip]

This essay is a call to citizens to put real work, ingenuity, and community above false promises and disgraced authority. Empowerment, in this essay, is not about pumping up self-esteem but rather equipping citizens to take control of the global economy. When political and economic leaders fail to act effectively, we will have to be the ones to succeed. Capitalism stands and falls upon care, not the superficial “I-feel-your-pain” type, but the deep, committed “I-give-a-damn” type. What does it mean to give a damn? “I give a damn” means: I get broadly and deeply involved, I refuse to ignore what...

New evidence has emerged that Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez may have improperly prosecuted Wells Fargo, Bank of America and dozens of other banks for lending discrimination by using deficient mortgage data in investigations. IBD has learned the special prosecutor spearheading Perez's record number of statistics-based cases of racism against lenders told federal bank regulators in 2010 he lacked key home loan data needed to conduct the kind of iron-clad "regression analyses" that would hold up in court. Still, Perez's civil-rights division used the shaky data to force bank defendants into a record $600 million in settlements, including loan set-asides...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama intends to nominate Rep. Melvin Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator that oversees lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a White House official said Tuesday. If confirmed by the Senate, Watt, D-N.C., a 20-year veteran of the House, would replace Edward DeMarco, an appointee of President George W. Bush who has been a target of housing advocates, liberal groups and Democratic lawmakers. snip The president was expected to name Watt on Wednesday, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. Watt’s nomination comes...

President Obama will nominate Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) today to be the Director of the Federal Finance Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Many have called for the firing of the agency’s current director, Ed DeMarco. DeMarco has headed the agency since 2009 and was a Bush appointee. Watt’s nomination is subject to Senate confirmation. Watt played a key role in the he Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that is now law and has been an advocte for minority lending institutions. Watt is 67 and a graduate of Yale Law School. He has served in Congress since 1993 and...

The private-equity tycoon Stephen A. Schwarzman, backed by an array of mostly western blue-chip companies with interests in China, is creating a $300 million scholarship for study in China that he hopes will rival the Rhodes scholarship in prestige and influence. The programme, whose endowment represents one of the largest single gifts to education in the world and one of the largest philanthropic gifts ever in China, was announced by Mr. Schwarzman in Beijing on Sunday. The Schwarzman Scholars programme will pay all expenses for 200 students each year from around the world for a one-year master’s programme at Tsinghua...

Bank of America Corp. BAC shares dropped Wednesday after first-quarter results fell short of expectations and showed the financial giant was struggling to boost growth in its core lending business. Revenue dropped 8.4% when an accounting charge related to the bank's debt was excluded. First-quarter profit of 20 cents a share was up strongly from a year earlier but came in two cents short of Wall Street's expectations. The results show that despite the bank's efforts to shrink its size and balance sheet, growth remains elusive amid low interest rates and intensified government regulation. Battle of the Banks It's that...

The wealthy Florida eye doctor linked with Sen. Bob Menendez through copious cash donations and a private jet launched an anti-capitalist “astroturf” campaign to leverage the Occupy Wall Street Movement against Bank of America. Dr. Salomon Melgen’s organization, called Too Big To Care, was “inspired by the passion Occupy Wall Street Movement,” according to an October 2011 press release and “designed to provide a platform for the stories of 99%ers to be told and their voices heard.” The organization’s sparsely used Facebook account registered “likes” for occupy encampments in 40 different cities. But with few followers and friends on Twitter...

FBI: Man Attempted To Bomb Bank, Trying To Set Off US Civil War By Pete Williams, NBC NewsFebruary 8, 2013 The FBI, ending a sting, says it has arrested a California man after he tried to set off what he thought was a car bomb at a bank in Oakland. Matthew Aaron Llaneza, 28, of San Jose, was arrested Friday morning, capping a months-long undercover investigation, the Justice Department said. Agents say he met last November with someone he thought was connected with the Taliban but who was actually an FBI agent. Prosecutors say Llaneza proposed car-bombing a bank in...

In what may be the first full digital storm panic, federal, state and business officials worried about the snow headed for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have taken to Twitter warn that a potential disaster is coming.

Bank of America has reportedly frozen the account of gun manufacturer American Spirit Arms, according to its owner, Joe Sirochman. In a Facebook post dated December 29, Sirochman wrote the following:“My name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms. . . our Web site orders have jumped 500 percent causing our Web site e-commerce processing larger deposits to Bank of America. So they decided to hold the deposits for further review.“After countless hours on the phone with Bank of America, I finally got a manager in the right department that told me the reason that the deposits were on...

On December 29, the owner of American Spirit Arms; Joe Sirochman relayed this chilling news via Facebook: All, My name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms and I wanted to share my recent experience with Bank of America .(which we have been doing business with for over 10 years)…. Everyone is familiar with the latest increase in guns sales , dealers selling out of inventory , Manufacturers back logged for months , large revenue all generated in the last two weeks …. American Spirit Arms is no exception to the overwhelming demand . What we have experienced is...

SolarCity US DOE loan approval fails According to news reports, US-based solar installation firm, SolarCity will not be able to complete and comply with documentation deadlines of September 30th to be considered for a US Department of Energy loan, previously announced. Earlier this month, the DOE had made a conditional commitment for a partial loan guarantee to SolarCity for PV system installations on residential and other buildings at US military bases. The US$344 million loan would go towards 371MW of new solar power generation capacity. The project, code named SolarStrong, will be led by SolarCity, with USRG Renewable Finance acting...

Exactly two years ago this week, the Obama administration announced it had issued more than 100 waivers en masse to a select group of companies, unions and other health insurance providers seeking relief from the onerous federal health care law. The Obamacare waiver winner's club now totals 2,000. Where are they now? Answer: In the same miserable boat as every other unlucky business struggling with the crushing costs and burdens of the mandate. Among the first and most prominent recipients of the Obamacare waivers for favors were large restaurant chains that provide low-wage, seasonal and part-time workers with low-cost health...

The Chase is over for most drivers, it's all for pride and a win if they can snag one.. and for Junior, it's a couple weeks off to let a concussion heal. Join us for Race#5 this Saturday Night, who knows who might show up?

Bank of America is planning to cut 16,000 jobs by year end as it speeds up a company-wide cost-cutting initiative amid declining revenues, "The Wall Street Journal" reported on Wednesday. Job cuts could begin in the company's European investment bank and sales and trading units as soon as Monday, sources told CNBC. Bank of America will begin layoffs in the U.S. on Thursday, September 27, sources said. The job cuts would put the second-largest U.S. bank a year ahead of schedule in eliminating 30,000 jobs under a program called Project New BAC. The job cuts could shrink the bank's workforce...

Just a vanity here... but the issue of the DNC filling the Panther's Stadium Thursday night has been rattling around my brain for a couple of days... like, what's the big whoop? It occurs to me that the DNC must present an image of the known universe being in support of Obama. But... Why? is it to stroke his image? to quell the doubts of those who voted for him but didn't get their new kitchen? to give a lolly pop to the dismayed? Probably just about anything you can come up with would be a legitimate answer to that...