Bank Of America Share Price (BAC)

http://www.investegate.co.uk/bank-of-america-corp-(bac)/prn/directorpdmr-shareholding/20130215070000P740D/

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) Director name: Mr Lionel L. Nowell Amount purchased: 3,930 @ $11.71 Value: $46,020

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) Director name: Mr Arnold W Donald Amount purchased: 3,930 @ $11.71 Value: $46,020

Top Director Buys Bank of America Corp. (BAC) Director name: Mr R David Yost Amount purchased: 20,000 @ $11.53 Value: $230,600

Positive Points: The bank's results were boosted by a lower provision for bad loans, which fell to $2.2 billion from $2.9 billion a year ago. In 2011, management launched a broad cost-cutting programme that aims to eliminate $8 billion in annual expenses by mid-2015. The bank has spent much of the last year working to slim down and rid itself of the heavy overhang of the US financial crisis. Now, with many of those efforts in place, investors are increasingly looking for signs of earnings power. Fees in the investment banking division jumped 58% from Q4 2011. The company continued to focus on strengthening its balance sheet by increasing capital and maintaining strong liquidity and reserve levels. Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions and serves about half of American households. It is therefore seen as a good barometer of the health of the economy.

Negative Points: A provision of $2.7 billion relating to settlements with government backed mortgage company Fannie Mae, along with other provisions were taken. Bank of America previously agreed to pay $2.4 billion to settle claims that it hid crucial information from shareholders when it bought Merrill Lynch & Co. during the financial crisis. The bank has denied the allegations. The bank has a relatively high consumer credit exposure to credit cards and residential real estate. A sluggish economic recovery could slow the pace of credit card loss improvement and could also put additional pressure on the housing market. BofA is still recovering from the 2008 financial meltdown and its disastrous acquisition of troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, which had resulted in lawsuits after the crash of the US housing market.