Michael Price who managed some of the best performing mutual funds during the 80s and 90s, disclosed that he bought shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) in its $19.3 billion equity sale on Thursday. The nation’s biggest lender raised money in the biggest U.S. offering of stock or preferred shares since at least 2000 to free itself from government restrictions after accepting funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The North Carolina based company sold securities at $15 each. –Bloomberg
AOL Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong is on a mission to prove that the company isn’t some dot-com has-been selling Web access and e-mail. It’s a digital/media company with 80 Web sites churning out everything from personal finance advice to bedroom tips for women. The roughly 100 million unique viewers AOL attracts each month are enough to lure advertisers eager to reach multiple audiences with one ad buy, says Armstrong, who took over eight months ago. Armstrong faces stiff competition from Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp, and a slew of startups who are all pushing their own content. –Bloomberg
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKB) will host a shareholder meeting Jan. 20th on its proposal to undertake a 50-to-1 split of its Class B shares as part of its acquisition of Burlington Northern Sante Fe Corp. –The Wall Street Journal
Sonoco Products (NYSE: SON) stated yesterday that its fiscal second-quarter net income was $33 million, or 33 cents per share, compared to $55 million, or 57 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales dropped to $864 million from $1.1 billion last year. On a base level, the Hartsville, S.C., manufacturer stated earnings were 41 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet Research were expecting earnings of 36 cents a share, on average. For the third quarter, Sunoco forecast base earnings of 43 cents to 47 cents per share. For the year, the company expects base earnings of $1.55 to $1.65 per share.-MarketWatch
The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 10 percent last month as employers cut the smallest number of jobs since the recession began. The better-than-expected job figures are a rare note of encouraging news for the labor market. However, many economists expect the unemployment rate to climb into next year as the economy struggles to generate enough jobs for the 15.4 million people out of work. –Daily Finance
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