Bank Of America To Get Billions More In Bailout Funds From Treasury

NEW YORK — The U.S. government is nearing a deal to inject Bank of America Corp. with billions of dollars in more aid, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation.

The nation's biggest bank by assets acquired Merrill Lynch & Co. on Jan. 1. Bank of America received $25 billion from the government's $700 financial rescue fund, including $10 billion that would have gone to Merrill had it not been acquired.

Bank of America and the U.S. Treasury spokesmen declined to comment in response to inquiries made by The Associated Press.

The Journal, citing a person familiar with the talks, reported that the discussion between the government and Bank of America began in mid-December when the Charlotte, N.C., bank said it wasn't likely to go through with its acquisition of New York-based Merrill because the losses at the troubled company were larger than expected.

Treasury Department officials grew concerned that the stability of the U.S. financial markets would be at risk if the deal fell apart, the newspaper reported. Officials said they would work on "formulation of a plan" that includes new money from the government, the Journal said, citing the person familiar with the talks.

Details of a possible agreement, the Journal said, are likely to come out with the company's quarterly results, which are expected Tuesday.

The Journal reported that any possible plan could shield Bank of America from the bad assets on Merrill's books. One person familiar with the situation told the paper that there could be a limit to how much Bank of America might have to be liable for, with the government covering the remainder.

Banks are struggling to mend their balance sheets after bad bets on mortgages spread to other forms of debt. Some analysts and economist are saying the U.S. government will have to spend far more than the $700 billion it has already approved to aid the financial industry. Only the first half of the $700 billion has been allocated and Congress has not released the second half of the funds.

Comments

[apoliticalchick]

Went to the same place that Madoff's billions went...mon­ey heaven, of course!
http://democralypsenow.blogspot.com/

[absolument]

That's what I call a user name!

'apoliticalchick' aren't too bad, neither, but 'democralypsenow' is off the charts.

[dandypuddin]

Boy, this $750 billion is really buring a hole in their pockets, isn't it? $750 billion in 3 months- incroyable!
I wonder what that is per minute?

[budderbean]

Oh yeah.. The reason I had NSF fee's was because the if you Set a bill to go out on Friday, Billpay will send those fund's out on 12 am on Friday rather than on Friday at 12 PM.. So because my paycheck comes in at 3 or 5AM on Friday. I'm screwed. The waterfall effect takes place and all of a sudden the bank is taking half of my paycheck goes to bank fee's.. Oh yes I love them banks I do.. When talking with the executive in charge of consumer affairs I did get my NSF charges back but I also got a defensive lecture of the practice of and the reason for the excessive fee's.. They spent a billion dollars on computer systems to handle the customers accounts. Well why is it that before you had the computer system the NSF fee's where $12 and they had nothing but people to handle their transaction's Hum acomputer system costs more than the wages of the 1000 some people that worked doing what the computer now does.. And now it's a few people sitting at a computer do the work of 1000 emplyee's. .Buiz is cheaper for them but we'll charge 3 time more for profit sake.. Bahh HUMBUG.

[ramblingjohnny]

I know it would happen the minute we started giving them that kind of cash they would have us by the balls now we have to follow it up or we risk loosing the money already invested.

[Rumplestiltskin]

Want to buy my GM shares?

[absolument]

They're around 10% of their 52-week high. How many you got?

[Rumplestiltskin]

Well, at least the SCHIP program will pass with free health care for illegal immigrants. Thank goodness my tax money is going for infrastructure, the economy, and deficit reduction.

[donaldw6]

It's for children. You guys want to give all our money to Wall Street, but you don't want to help a sick kid. I think that says it all.

[arvada]

Yeah let the children d!e in the street

[Paul Peete - Huffpost Blogger]

While their parents work cleaning the same streets. Its the Republican way.

[Rumplestiltskin]

No, I think we should import all the needy children from all over the world to receive free health care here. It is the tight, and compassionate thing to do. I think we need to fund flights from Africa, Central and South America, and the far east, to the US, starting day one, to bring in more children deserving of care, AND I think US troops should be deployed to the Congo, and Darfur.

[dandypuddin]

It must be illegal alien talking point day. Seeing these posts on all threads.

[Rumplestiltskin]

Might be because the legislation is moving through Congress. I'm an evil libertarian BTW.

[Rumplestiltskin]

Might be because the legislation is moving through Congress. I'm an e.vil libertarian BTW.

[SurferKit]

It's for kids. As in children. Get it?

[inluvwkeitholbermann]

you'd think that since rethugs use them in their factories and brothels that they could at least pay for them to get a check up once in a while.....

[abby4ever]

OT

I was posting away
on a thread th' other day,
on a thread that had gone kinda s.c.r.e.w.­y,
when up came a post
that was done by the ghost
of the sorely-missed, tro//-slaying Stewie,

"It's Stewie!" I said,
"he's back from the d.e.a.d,
with the moniker LuminousLeo!"
And in five minutes flat
(if it even took that)
he took out first Vogie, then Neo.

[Rumplestiltskin]

yer a poet?
didn't know it.

[Paul Peete - Huffpost Blogger]

yer redundant
too abundant
LOL jk!

[Paul Peete - Huffpost Blogger]

Wow, Rumple,
you had two posts then one disappeared.

[LolaBologna]

Bravo, Abby!! excellent!

[Chillinout]

Nice poem. :-)

[SurferKit]

Sweet.

[ErnestineBass]

Brava!

[absolument]

If I say "please" would Bank of America handout some money for an overdraft? What if I'm overdrawn because I accidentally loaned my money to somebody who wasn't as credit worthy as I estimated them to be? What if I bought a loan from somebody else, who had loaned more money than the borrower was really likely to be able to repay?

They should all have to accept the salaries of their counterparts in the Japanese financial sector.

[LolaBologna]

Absolut good points!

[Anastasia]

Salut!

[GingerB]

Peons don't matter. You're f'd.

[streak of rin tin tin]

A question for the financial wizards:

Would life be better for "Robbie 1/4 oz. of pot",

If the banks were Socialized?

[Rumplestiltskin]

Banks are socialized. Where have you been for the last few weeks?
Wold I have given them a dime?
No.

[streak of rin tin tin]

I meant literally.

[Anastasia]

Maybe they aren't socialized enough. Seems to me they are pretty anti-social.

Even though they were given billions to make loans, and give credit, they aren't. They're acting like it's THEIR money instead of ours.

[Episcopagan]

Perhaps if the banks had been denied permission to gobble up smaller competitors they would have more cash on hand to deal with problem loans.

Anti-trust oversight in this country is a joke.

[Chillinout]

Anti-trust is nonexistent is more like it.

[GingerB]

Yep. It's time for a resurgence.

[Anastasia]

Memo to Obama:

Just say no. At least until the banks start lending money, the way they were supposed to the first time around.

[donaldw6]

At least until we get full accounting for the first half.

[Anastasia]

Agreed, plus. They need to lend it, like they said they would.

[inluvwkeitholbermann]

they were too busy giving themselves x-mas bonuses...­...

[williamg]

Speaking of needing a bailout, do you think this product would sell these days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfOQ3O4kD3I

[inluvwkeitholbermann]

funny.....­i remember that commercial!

[Chillinout]

LMAO!

Now there is one product that sure has the wrong name for these times.

My mom used to have those. Of course back then you could also go to the Dr. and get black beauties prescribed for you. She had some of those too.

[williamg]

lol.

[ErnestineBass]

Heh heh...back in my college days, there was one Dr. EVERYONE went to get a scrip for a little "all-night pick-me-up".

[Questinia]

Like the Chevy "Nova" did in Mexico.

[donaldw6]

?Que?

[williamg]

Ha!

[HumeSkeptic]

Getting banned builds character.
If you have never received at least one email from HP complaining about your post, you are worthless.
.

[Nochnoi]

I am not worthless Hume....

[HumeSkeptic]

They must not have your correct email address.

Just kidding.

I think you are just one of those super nice people that I hate. :-)

I like to do ad hominem attackem crushem once in a while.

[Chillinout]

That makes me worthless then. :-(

I have written some pretty nasty posts before and I am surprised that I have never got one of those emails.

So, what is written those emails?

        

[Chillinout]

*in* those emails.

[HumeSkeptic]

They say something like: you responded to a poster with the following post:

"F**k you , you ignorant Right Wing blah blah blah"

Then it states the HP commenting policy.
Then it says that you shouldn't do this blah blad ad homeniem blah blah,

Then I ignore it.

HP doesn't understand tr0lls.
.

[Questinia]

Then I am not worthy of the cause. Even my colons, are squeaky clean. : (

[Leather-n-Lace]

LMAO!

[inluvwkeitholbermann]

yum! ;p



oh, wait!.....­..wrong site

[Superfelo]

I beg to disagree. Enough said.

[GingerB]

I was banned one weekend with a dozen others when a m.od went cra.zy, but was reinstated the next week. Never got a letter complaining about any of my posts, though. I'm hanging my head in shame. I AM worthless. : (

[Superfelo]

Sorry, son, you had plenty.
Listen to this one. The Municipal Credit Unions unlike Bank of America do not play game with your money, like hold the last one first or the biggest first or whatever they do at Bank of America. Thus making sure a person's check will bounce and so they can charge you $35.00 and gobble up whatever is in your checking account. The Municipal Credit Unions charge $15.00 per bounced
Check; and run a good bank by people and for the people. The Municipal Credit Unions have been lending money so that people can buy their houses; and to this stage in the "gimme, gimme game", they have not put their hands out to ask for a bail out. It is positively a good statement, as they run their bank, that honesty is the best policy. All the crooked and dishonest banks are the ones having trouble. I think if our present Treasury Secretary designate is blown out of the water, the CEO of the Municipal Credit Unions should be Treasury Secretary. I am not affiliated with them. I just bank with them. Enough said.

[Carolab]

Thank you.

[sagopalm]

What is Bank of America's fico score?
Will they be penalized for having an imperfect credit rating like the rest of us?
I'm sick to death of this bs.

[budderbean]

Check out a site called The consumeris­t..This site has the phone numbers to 101 Executive offices INCLUDING Bank of America.I called them today and had $350 in NSF fee's refunded from back in August.. The phone numbers work and where supplied by "disgruntled employee's. Than God fir them getting pissed. Maybe if we where to flood their phone lines with "DISGRUNTLED CITIZENS" and pissed off customers they will get the message. This is life NOT MONOPOLY..­.

Call your congress rep.. Tell them that enough is enough. Tell them that the banks should be federalized. Hell we own 3/4 of the banks already... Make the CEO's work in their mail room fir a week and pay them a buck fir their troubles. Tell them that you don't care about your credit rating "That is if you can afford the luxury of taking this action. Ha ha ha ha Luxury.. Well that's the only "luxury I can afford. Protesting­.. Yeah call me a deadbeat. I have paid my bill's and was on time until they stared playing that double billing cycle crap.. Yeah like I can pull $120 out of my arse.. Right! Get real.. I have a budget and I cant afford to play banking games. So I give.. Uncle!!!!!!!