1 drink short of Bank of Amerillwide necessitating a stomach pump, but no matter. Better late than never, right-o, BAC shareholders? (And for all you naysayers out there– this has nothing to do with him getting flack over Countrywide and Merrill which, we’ll say it again, were brilliant acquisitions whose genius is yet to be revealed but will one day be understood, the same day you’ll eat your words!)
Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis expects more mergers among U.S. banks as the economy stabilizes, and said his bank won’t be among the participants.
“Merger activity will pick up for others,” Lewis said in a speech in London today. “At Bank of America, we’ve got enough on our hands right now.”
Lewis, who spent more than $120 billion on acquisitions since becoming CEO in 2001, is still trying to quell investor doubts about his most recent purchases, which led to his ouster as chairman last month. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank bought home lender Countrywide Financial Corp. last July and brokerage Merrill Lynch & Co. in January as the financial industry was teetering near collapse.
The recession and credit crunch left the U.S. banking system with too much capacity, making absorption of weaker banks by stronger ones inevitable, Lewis said. Consolidation stalled over the past year as “severe market stress and disruptions made pricing difficult,” he said.
Bank of America’s Lewis to Sit Out Consolidation Wave [Bloomberg]
I encouraged this.
– ken’s AA sponsor.
wow, BAC won’t be making anymore acquisitions? you show such restraint, ken lewis.
Auto erotic asphyxiation
he should buy citi without telling anyone. that’d be uproarious.
ken, quitters never prosper.
@1
Of course, haven’t we heard this from him before. Something about having as much fun as he can stand in IB.
Just you wait…. he’ll be back. A Bottle of Boone in one hand, and the papers in the other that contain his mad plan for BoA to become;
BANK OF JPCITIGOLDAMERRYLWIDE!
Boone’s favorite customer is gonna blow us all away one day! You can either climb on board, or get buried by the freight train that is
BOONECLOPS!!!!
If I see him at any of my meetings It’s ON !
@6 = a drunk KL = FTW
He should sell BofA to HSBC
Really with his recent acquisitions it is a good idea to put the pen down for a bit. He would probably just buy NASCAR or WWE or UST.
Isn’t this old news and the result of BofA (meaning the commercial bank) bumping up against the 10% limit on US deposits at any one institution?
@11- isn’t this really old news? he said it today. so…no. (the notion that BAC shouldn’t be acquiring more companies should be old news, but considering Ken’s substance abuse problem, you never know when he’s going to go on a bender).
famous fk’n last words. we have definitely heard this $hit before from kenny lew. and for more famous last words, let’s go back to 2007 when he had this to say:
“This is a time that I don’t relish in the turmoil of the capital markets, because we’re not immune,” Lewis said Sunday. “But it does vindicate the idea that size and scale do matter. I see these times as a vindication of our model.”
http://www.projo.com/business/content/BZ_WSJLEWIS_08-28-07_S16TBO4.266a21f.html
$45 billion in tarp funds later…he’s ready to throw in the acquisition towel. you can take a hick out of the backwoods, but you can’t take the backwoods out of the hick…
@cluzo- where have you been?!
14 He offed himself when WFC went from $15 to $26
Um – Credit Card Reform Bill = inserted language in the bill giving gun owners the right to carry concealed weapons into the national parks.
WTF?
@14 – was traveling for work (some of us still do that @15), btwn meetings and 7 am flights, no time for blogs.
@15 – the wfc was so 2 months ago. get over yourself (I have). I have come to realize that warren b has much greater means to manipulate the stock price than anyone looking at the fundamentals. that said, I made money on the trade (which, if you recall, were march $10 puts purchased in jan). I will say that I have since marveled at how the banks could rally in the face of massive dilution coming down the pike – remember econ 101, supply/demand. but what do I know?
@cluzo, not that you give a shit, but I’ve been silent on this issue for too long. How is it that you can consistently call KL a hick (even if it’s true), but the moment I call you a nig, I’m banned from DB for life?
Is it a north/south thing?
@18 Whats a nubian ?
@18 – seriously? are you going to go there? the term “hick/hillbilly” is used in jest. the “n” word has negative connotations dating back to days well before you or I were put on this earth (perhaps you should read a history book or two). if you don’t understand the difference between the terms, I can’t even begin to have a logical discussion with you. that said, the “n” word – as it is often used today – can refer to a white person, just as much as it can to a black person (still doesn’t make it acceptable). nonetheless, what you call me is irrelevant because you’re dead to me. given that you post as “guest”, I can’t even go back and review your prior asinine posts (do you even exist)? as for the north/south thing, I’m from the south and live in the north – so no.
SAT Question:
Whiskey to Ken Lewis is like ______ to Popeye.
@21 Olive Oil?
JC Flowers
BofA should sell itself to Charlotte’s second largest bank, Wa…oops, the Bank of Granite.
Ken Lewis is going to do a reverse merger with Raymond James.
22,
That was all types of great.
Cluzo,
I can’t believe you wasted your time with that reply. Equities in Nashville is below us all, and I serve falafel in front of the trade center.
@21 The syllogism should read
Whisky:KL::______:Popeye
Answers:
a) Spicy Fried Chicken
b) Olive Oil
c) Being reamed up the ass by Bluto (a.k.a Paulson)
d) Boones
e) Sweatpea
f) Spinach
You are all effing brilliant today, thank you from the bottom of my clay jug.
KL