Bank of America posts $1 b loss

Despite early signs of a fledgling recovery in the US financial
sector, Bank of America Friday highlighted ongoing economic struggles
posting a net quarterly loss of 1.0 billion dollars. Amid hefty
write-downs and growing consumer loan problems, the total loss for
shareholders in the third quarter was even larger, at 2.24 billion
dollars, or 26 cents per share, five cents worse than expected by
most analysts. The news came just after three other major US banks
reported healthy third quarter results, suggesting the US financial
sector may be slowly recovering from its worst crisis in decades even
as the US economy has yet to emerge from recession. Citigroup, which
was drowning in losses in 2008 stemming from the collapse of the US
housing bubble and the worldwide financial squeeze, topped
expectations, posting a profit of 101 million dollars on Thursday.
While Goldman Sachs announced a profit of 3.19 billion dollars in the
third quarter, more than triple the amount from a year earlier. These
results came on the heels of JPMorgan Chase, which said on Wednesday
its quarterly profit had jumped to 3.6 billion dollars.