Over his 54 years as a financial analyst, Richard X. Bove perfected the art of grabbing attention. Through thousands of newspaper interviews, cable news appearances and radio segments, Mr. Bove turned what can be a dull, by-the-numbers career into a more showy one. Weighing in on the economy and the inner workings of Wall Street, he often bucked conventional wisdom and made enemies along the way. By his own recollection, he never turned down a media request; American Banker once called him “the country’s most quotable bank analyst.” Last week, a few hours after completing a spot on Bloomberg television,...