Bank Of America
New York symbol BAC, is one of the world's largest providers of financial services. It recently acquired mortgage specialist Countrywide Financial and brokerage firm Merrill Lynch.
BANK OF AMERICA CORP. $15 (New York symbol BAC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 5.0 billion; Market cap: $75.0 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) aims to complete its $20 billion, all-stock acquisition of brokerage firm Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. by the end of 2008. The purchase will make Bank of America one of the world’s biggest financial services …read more »
BANK OF AMERICA CORP. $23 (New York symbol BAC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 5.0 billion; Market cap: $115.0 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) continues to take advantage of the turmoil in the financial services industry to expand its operations.
Earlier this year, Bank of America acquired mortgage specialist Countrywide Financial Corp. It has now agreed to buy troubled brokerage …read more »
BANK OF AMERICA CORP. $33 (New York symbol BAC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 4.5 billion; Market cap: $148.5 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average), has reported better-than-forecast profits for the second quarter despite rising losses from its mortgage operations. Earnings in the quarter fell 43.8%, to $0.72 a share from $1.28 a year earlier. These figures do not …read more »
There are some signs emerging that suggest the worst of the credit crisis may be over and bank stocks could be looking up.
The likely passage of a new housing bill will help ease concerns over the possible bankruptcy of government-sponsored mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill will also help troubled homeowners refinance at fixed rates in order …read more »
S&P DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS $135 (American Exchange symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers) are commonly called ‘Spiders’. The fund holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index. This index is comprised of 500 major U.S. stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation. The 10 highest weighted stocks on the index are Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Bank of …read more »
We think high-quality mutual funds with a long term focus will beat indexes over long periods. If funds invest as we advise — sticking with well established companies and spreading their assets out across the five main economic sectors — they will tend to lose a lot less than the market indexes in periods when the indexes fall sharply.
That’s because …read more »
FIDELITY TRUE NORTH FUND $31.61 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Fidelity Investments Canada, 483 Bay St., Suite 200, Toronto, Ont. M5G 2N7. 1-800-263-4077; Web site: www.fidelity.ca. Load fund — available from brokers) uses a “bottom-up” approach (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) to identify undervalued companies.
Fidelity True North Fund’s top holdings include high-quality stocks such as Manulife Financial, …read more »
S&P DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS $148 (American Exchange symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers) are commonly called ‘Spiders’. The fund holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index. This index is comprised of 500 major U.S. stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation. The 10 highest weighted stocks on the index are Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Bank of …read more »
The best exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios with very low management fees. Due to buyback and share issue arrangements, ETFs always trade close to their net asset value.
Here are some of the best deals available in ETFs. We’ve also analysed one we don’t like.
ISHARES CDN LARGECAP 60 INDEX FUND $79.86 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through a …read more »
BANK OF AMERICA CORP. $51 (New York symbol BAC; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 4.4 billion; Market cap: $224.4 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) has little exposure to subprime mortgages, but it aims to profit from the recent turmoil. It has agreed to buy $2 billion worth of convertible preferred shares from mortgage specialist Countrywide Financial Corp. (New York …read more »
