Bank of America
Financial stocks lead stellar first-quarter stock market gainsPosted by RJ and Makay on Apr 03, 2012 |
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This year’s first-quarter stock market performance was the best in many years. The Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 index rose 12% from the end of Q4 2011, and the Dow Jones industrial average surged 8.14%, the largest gains since Q1 1998. The Nasdaq showed the largest gain with an increase of 19%, its strongest first-quarter gain since 1991. The increases replenished almost $1.85 trillion into the market since January.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. was the first bank today to announce that Federal Reserve regulators have finished stress tests of its balance sheet and approved both a dividend increase and stock buybacks. This afternoon, the Wall Street Journal issued a WSJ Markets Alert: JPMorgan, Bank of America Pass Fed’s Stress Tests. JPMorgan said that it will up its quarterly dividend by 5 cents, to 30 cents, and buy back up to $12 billion of stock this year.
Large banks have captured more of the investments of young bank clients as compared to their older and wealthier baby boomer customers, according to a new Aite Group report. The study found that 50% of Generation Y customers at large banks consider their bank to be their primary investment provider. Less than 25% of baby boomers felt the same.
