Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, with more than $3.0 trillion in assets. It is organized into four major segments: consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking, and global markets. Bank of America's consumer-facing lines of business include its network of branches and deposit-gathering operations, retail lending products, credit and debit cards, and small-business services. The company's Merrill Lynch operations provide brokerage and wealth-management services, as does its private bank. Wholesale lines of business include investment banking, corporate and commercial real estate lending, and capital markets operations. Bank of America has operations in several countries but is primarily US-focused.

Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, with more than $3.0 trillion in assets. It is organized into four major segments: consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking, and global markets. Bank of America's consumer-facing lines of business include its network of branches and deposit-gathering operations, retail lending products, credit and debit cards, and small-business services. The company's Merrill Lynch operations provide brokerage and wealth-management services, as does its private bank. Wholesale lines of business include investment banking, corporate and commercial real estate lending, and capital markets operations. Bank of America has operations in several countries but is primarily US-focused.

Bank of America is one of the largest financial companies in the world. The company is primarily a U.S. retail and commercial bank, with a network of more than 4,000 branches across much of the country. The 2005 acquisition of MBNA made Bank of America the nation's largest credit-card lender. As such, trends in consumer interest rates, employment, income growth and borrowing patterns represent a significant risk to the company's earnings. The 2008 acquisition of Countrywide made BofA the country's largest mortgage company as well. BofA became a top-tier securities firm and retail broker with the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

Stocks were mixed on Tuesday morning as investors digested earning reports. Starts of residential units fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,321,000 in March, a 14.7% decline from February's revised rate and well short of expectations. Building permits issued also slipped to an annualized 1,458,000, a 4.3% decline from February and also short of expectations. Housing starts declined in all regions with the exception of the West, which rose 7.1%. Building permits issued were flat for units of five or more homes per building, while declining 10.3% for buildings of two to four units, and 5.7% for single-family homes. Regionally, permits issued fell in the Northeast (-20.8%), Midwest (-14.7%), and South (-0.6%), while growing in the West (+5.1%). The Dow was up 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq rose 0.1%. Crude oil is trading near above $85 per barrel and gold rose $22 to $2405 per ounce.