Bank Of America Corp (BAC) Financial News - Bank of America CEO's Moment of Truth
Bank Of America Corp (BAC)
Bank of America CEO's Moment of Truth
2011-08-10 07:48:44
Keywords: Financial, News, Stock, Market, Headlines, Investments, Quotes, Trading, TheStreet.com, Eric Jackson ,Opinion
Quote: NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Bank of America(BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan will face his moment of truth today when he gets grilled by Fairholme Capital Management's Bruce Berkowitz in a conference call.Can Moynihan handle it?Moynihan had the thankless task of taking over from flashy predecessor Ken Lewis in December 2009.For the last 18 months, he has appeared on business news channels and at investor conferences, assuring anyone who would listen that the bank's problems are manageable and ring-fenced. Whatever bad mistakes the bank made in being overacquisitive during the past 25 years, the bank is in a position to handle them, he has maintained.The market bought that notion for Moynihan's first four months on the job. Shares of Bank of America maxed out at $18.59 in April 2010.TheStreet's iPad app.Since then, the stock has swooned. Shares closed down 20% on Monday. That's a company technically entering bear market territory -- intraday.Moynihan has insisted that Bank of America can continue to pay a dividend and that it wouldn't have to raise capital in the months ahead. The market doesn't appear to believe him.Since he took over, the bank's shares are down 58%. Over that same period, Citigroup'sC) is down 29%, JPMorgan ChaseJPM) has lost 17% and Wells FargoWFC) has shed 10%.There are some assets that Moynihan can sell. It has been rumored that he'll unload Bank of America's stake in China Construction Bank in the coming weeks. But, one must ask, why does a bank that is struggling with legal risks continue to pay a dividend?That it does reflects poorly not only on bank's board, but also on the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.Moynihan was selected because he was the anti-Lewis. If Kenny Boy was too flashy and verbose, Moyniha...Open whole article (external link)
