I just herd on the radio that BOA just took another 20 billion bailout.

treasurefiend · Jan 16, 2009

I was going to open a BOA account this weekend, do you think they will last? :icon_scratch:

Siegfried Schlagrule · Jan 16, 2009

TreasureFiend said:
I was going to open a BOA account this weekend, do you think they will last?

no. they are the ones who ran the advertising campaign offering loans, credit cards and lines of credits to illegal alliens and advertised that they didn't need proof of ID or a social securitty number to get it. Go down to any bank in your town or even go in a Bank of America and try to open an account without that information. If you are here legally and speak english you don't get that deal. Let them pay for their own damn poor judgement. Many of their anglo depoitors took offense at that and bailed out almost a year ago. What do you want to bet that the mental midget who came up with that plan is still there and got a great bonus for christmas. siegfried schlagrule

lastleg · Jan 19, 2009

Thanks for BoA headsup. We definitely need to move our savings
over the limit to another bank. lastleg

treasurekidd · Jan 21, 2009

Bank Of America took another $20B in bailout money to help them cover losses incurred from their Merrill Lynch aquisition. Unlike CitiGroup, BOA actually made a $4B profit for the year, in spite of heavy losses from Merrill and Countrywide, who they also aquired earlier in the year. BOA itself is still a strong, well run bank, and they should be thanked for snapping up Merrill Lynch before Merrill went bankrupt. The government money was promised to them earlier, as part of the deal the Gov't offered them while trying to help them (begging them, actually) complete the Merrill purchase, which the Gov't WANTED them to do. BOA is the largest bank in America by assets, Countrywide is the largest mortgage lender in America, and Merrill Lynch is one of the stalwarts of Wall Street. Given the history of BOA, I'd say it'll only be 2-3 years before they clear all the losses and straighten out Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, and when they do, it will make for a formidable force in the financial world. My long term money is on bank stocks - at these prices, there are bargains everywhere. And in the meantime, they all pay fairly good dividends! While I'd still avoid C, my long term money is on BAC, JPM, WFC, GE, and AXP.

"Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." - Warren Buffett

Seamuss · Jun 12, 2009

I never dealt with Bank of America because of their shady policies. Shady policies is how they became the biggest bank in this country and if enough people figure this out it will also bring them down.

treasurekidd · Jun 12, 2009

Never mind their shady policies, and never mind opening accounts - BUY THEIR STOCK! Make money off of the bank for a change! Everyone on this board should roll up all their clad, cash in their gold and silver jewelry finds and sell their relics and bottles, and plow it into Bank Of America stock (BAC). I have been buying since they hit their low in March. It closed today at $13.72, and it is still a bargain. They were a $50+ per share stock before the recession, and that was without Countrywide and Merrill Lynch. I see them as a $80 per share stock, PLUS dividends, which will be restored after they pay back the government TARP money. There are no sure things in stocks, but this is as close as it gets.

The day I made the above post was Jan 21st, 2009, and Bank Of America stock was at $6.68 per share. It bottomed out on March 6th at $3.00, and it has slowly worked it's way back to todays close of $13.72. I believe it's well on it's way to $30 in the next 2 months, and anywhere from $40-$60 in the next year. I like other banks stocks, too, such as JPM, WFC, BK, STT, USB, STI, AXP, BBT, HBAN and PNC, but BAC is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, IMHO. I still wouldn't touch Citi, though. I'll be back over the coming weeks and months to update this post, let's see where we're at then.

Oh, and Happy hunting!!

Glenns5900 · Jun 22, 2009

I think it is time to shop for another mortgage. I had mine with Countrywide and and they were bought out by BOA. I just got a bill from my homeowners insurance company for about $900. When I called my agent he said that BOA did not pay them and it was due in 1 week. What the H*LL was I paying escrow for? I called BOA and they said that they did an account review and changed my account from "Impounded" to "Non Impounded" therefore they weren't required to pay the insurance. Impounded means escrow account. I screamed at them and said "WHO THE H*LL AUTHORIZED THIS?". They wouldn't tell me why it happened or anything else except that it was a mistake and it would be corrected. They finally paid the insurance payment but now have hiked up the escrow payment an additional $90/month to make up for THEIR mistake.

If everyone who was screwed by a bank/mortgage company refinanced with someone else, they would go out of business very quickly.

Seamuss · Jun 22, 2009

BOA is a snake and a constrictor, BOA constrictor. That is Bank Of America for you.

That is how they became the biggest bank in America. Making financial mistakes in their favor then taking a BIG BAILOUT.

Do your own bailout of BOA. I have been seeing these shady practices by them sense the early seventies.