Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) said Wednesday it lost $5.2 billion during the final three months of 2009 as consumers struggled to make their mortgage and credit card payments and the bank repaid its government bailout money. Bank of America said its loss, which reflected payment of preferred dividends, compared with a loss of $2.4 billion a year earlier. The bank said its results were boosted by strong results from its Merrill Lynch investment banking operations. –Daily Finance
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), the Minneapolis-based lender that expanded during the financial crisis, said fourth- quarter profit rose 82 percent on more profitable lending. Net income for the quarter advanced to $602 million, or 30 cents a share, from $330 million, or 15 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier, U.S. Bancorp said today in a Business Wire statement. Twenty-six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had an average profit estimate of 29 cents a share. -Bloomberg
New home construction fell far more than expected in December while the number of building permits issued in the month beat projections. Meanwhile, U.S. inflation at the wholesale level was tame in December 2009 as higher food prices were offset by lower energy costs, giving the Federal Reserve more ammunition to keep interest rates at a record low. Housing starts slid by 4.0% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted 557,000 annual rate in December, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected starts would dip by 0.2% to an annual rate of 573,000. –The Wall Street Journal
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) reported fourth-quarter net income of $2.82 billion, or 8 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.73 billion, or 84 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. 2010 may shape up to be a busy year in financials deal making. Dow Jones Investment Banker’s expert columnists say look out for an MBO of Taiwan’s Nan Shan Life, a merger between Singapore’s First Reit and ParkwayLife, moves by First Niagara and an IPO of Jupiter Asset Management. These are among 30 deals the team are forecasting in an exclusive PowerPoint presentation available to Dow Jones Investment Banker subscribers. Wells was expected to lose 1 cent a share, according to the average estimate of 19 analysts in a Thomson Reuters survey. Forecasts ranged from a profit of 10 cents a share to a loss of 16 cents a share. -MarketWatch
SIRIUS XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) is up even more than it was last night after the satellite radio monopoly said that it generated free cash flow for all of 2009 and disclosed pro forma earnings and the highest subscriber growth since Q3-2008. This is not massively different than what it had guided even at the end of November, but shows things held up better than some may have feared. Shares are up 12% at $0.75 on over 2 million shares as of 8:25 AM EST. The 52-week range is $0.05 to $0.78 and the average volume is about 22 million shares. –Volume Spike Investor
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