Bank of America Reports 25% Profit Drop (MW)
First-quarter net income was $3.2 billion, or 28 cents a share, versus $4.2 billion, or 44 cents a share, a year earlier, Bank of America said. Revenue at the bank fell 11% year-on-year to $32 billion, driven by what it said were the absence of credit-related gains on Merrill Lynch-structured notes that it had enjoyed last year, as well lower mortgage-banking volume and income. First-quarter provision for credit losses was $9.8 billion, down from $13.4 billion in the first quarter of 2009. But despite the drop, the results outpaced analyst estimates. Bank of America was expected to make 9 cents a share, according to the average estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

Geithner Won’t Call For Derivatives Ban (WSJ)
Mr. Geithner, in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), said new financial rules must create restrictions on how over-the-counter derivatives are traded “in order to curb abuses that were at the very center of the financial crisis.” But he notably stopped short of endorsing a proposal from Ms. Lincoln to force large banks to spin off derivatives trading businesses entirely.

Goldman Director To Step Down (WSJ)
Rajat Guptatold Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in March he wouldn’t stand for re-election as a director, after receiving notice from prosecutors that they were reviewing recorded conversations between him and Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, people close to the matter say.

NY Democrats Antagonizing Their Backers On Wall Street (Reuters)
“Schumer is a bit of an anathema because sometimes he’s with us and sometimes he’s against us,” said one financial industry lobbyist who declined to be identified in order to preserve friendly relations with New York politicians.

Goldman Real Estate Fund Lost 98 Cents on the Dollar (FT)
Whitehall Street International, Goldman Sachs’ international real estate investment fund, has lost almost all of its $1.8 billion of equity following soured property investments in the U.S., Germany and Japan, according to the fund’s estimates.

Arrested in Shoeshine Arsons, and Back Out Shining Shoes (NYT)
The gentlest-looking person on an otherwise sharp-elbowed stretch of 42nd Street on Thursday seemed to be a short, sweet-faced man of 71 years, hunched over a little wooden shoeshine box. The man, John Swain, wore a cardboard sign around his neck, with the words “Shoe Shine” stenciled in black lettering. There he was, fresh from his arrest the day before on charges of burning down a nearby shoeshine stand — twice. There he was, back out there offering shines for $4 apiece. “Yep, that’s me,” Mr. Swain said when showed a photograph of himself in the morning newspaper, along with an article saying he was accused of setting fire to a three-seat stand near Bryant Park on March 22, and then torching a replacement stand on April 6.

2 Charged in International Tax Evasion Scheme Said to Involve HSBC (NYT)
The property developers — Mauricio Cohen Assor and his son, Leon Cohen-Levy — were taken into custody in New York, a day after they were jointly charged in a criminal complaint filed in Federal District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., court papers show.

Jay-Z clubs Papi with suit (NYP)
J hit David Ortiz with a $5 million-plus suit yesterday, claiming the Boston slugger apparently liked Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club so much, he decided to open his own. The Manhattan federal court filing accuses Ortiz and his sister, Albania Ortiz, of trademark infringement, unjust enrichment and “false designation of sponsorship” in connection with the “Forty Forty” nightclub they opened in the Dominican Republic last year. The suit also charges them with “cybersquatting” for running a Spanish-language Web site at www.fortyforty.net. Continue reading »