SPIN DOCTORS, SOOTHSAYERS … AND IS BANK OF AMERICA SOON TO BE “BK” OF AMERICA … AS IN CHAPTER 11 … AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOU!


By Dave Krieger

The spin cycles are in motion and we haven’t even done the laundry yet. Reports are out that not only did Bank of America post third-quarter losses of $7.65-billion; the soothsayers are countering with “exposure scenarios”, showing $50-billion worth of risk (representing only 3% of the $2.1-trillion total) as good enough reason for Bank of America to seek Chapter 11 protection. It also appears that in this election season, a bailout or some other government “deal” is highly unlikely and would certainly exacerbate Bank of America’s problems.

I thought I was dreaming until I saw Chris Whalen’s posting and thought … gee, Bank of America certainly does have a liquidity problem to be forced to start up foreclosures again. One would certainly have to ask why the Obama administration just now announced intentions to launch a criminal investigation into all of this mess. Does someone in DC have a conscience? Or is this just another “CYA” as a cave to public pressure? With these kinds of pictures, the day traders would be “shorting” Bank of America stock and making a killing doing it.

One would have to wonder about the liquidity factor with all of this missing paperwork and the investors and insurance companies that certainly will be lining up to file fraud suits against the banking giant will certainly force some sort of decision. For BofA, it is significant. General Motors went into Chapter 11 after all and within three months they emerged stronger than ever. But then again, GM wasn’t proprietarily trading residential mortgage-backed securities on Wall Street either. This is a different animal.

My take? Bank of America’s decision to absorb Countrywide and Merrill-Lynch probably wasn’t one of their smartest moves. The paperwork issue that forced the moratorium of some of these foreclosures has forced Bank of America to go after over 100,000 more homes … and then comes the fun part. (more…)