BofA and JPM to Write Down Total of $3 Billion - Analyst

Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are set to write-down and disclose losses totaling about $3 billion in their earnings report this month, analysts from Sanford C. Bernstein told investors. JPMorgan, the third-largest U.S. bank, is expected to write-down about $2 billion. Bank of America, the second-largest bank and largest arranger of leveraged loans, is forecasted to write-down $1 billion. Together, the two banks make up 30% of the market for U.S. leveraged buyouts in 2007, according to Bloomberg. At least nine banks have warned or announced write-downs, taking charges or setting aside money for future losses totaling $21.8 billion. On Friday, Merrill Lynch announced it would take $5.5 billion in write-downs in the third-quarter(full story).

Sources: Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Reuters
Commentary: Merrill Should Have Taken Its Own Advice • Bank of America: Volatile Markets Will Hurt Q3 Results
Stocks/ETFs to watch: JPM, BAC, MER. ETFs: RKH, XLF.
Earnings call transcript: JPMorgan Chase Q2 2007, Bank of America Q2 2007

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Comments

[jwiggington:]

Well, at least JPMorgan's and BofA's write-down is not as bad as some of the other financial firms. Whether we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg and this continues into the 4th quarter remains to be seen, I think. I still feel that overall most of these firms have solid BODs with tons of experience that should help them make the right moves. NewsVisual actually has some maps of the Boards at JPMorgan and BofA, they are worth taking a look at www.newsvisual.com/new... www.newsvisual.com/new...

2007 Oct 08 03:22 PM