Shares of Bank of American Corp. (NYSE: BAC) are up about 5% today on two bits of news. First there’s the story that the bank is negotiating a sale of its wealth management division to Swiss banker Julius Baer Group.
But the more likely story is that the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) will help banks avoid demands by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy back bad mortgages. The FHFA is concerned that banks are tightening lending requirements and failing to make loans to even gold-plated customers. Bloomberg reports that credit score requirements have jumped 100-200 points than minimums set by the FHFA, Fannie, and Freddie ever since the latter two have demanded that banks repay more than $80 billion in flawed loans.
Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) are also up today, about 3.8%, and shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) are up about 2.2%, while Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) shares are up 2.1%.
Paul Ausick
Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts
Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.
It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.
We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today. Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
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