On Wednesday. the S&P 500 and Toronto both closed at approximately the same level as the day before.
Bank of America received permission and raised its dividend from one cent per share to five cents. That is still almost nothing but it is a sign that the Bank’s health is much improved. The market reaction was quite muted because this was widely expected to happen. Meanwhile they are still dealing with payments and settlements related to the credit crisis. many of these payments are starting to look like corrupt shake-downs by the U.S. government and its agencies. It has already set aside or recognized liabilities for these settlements for the most part and so it may be that it is largely past the financial impact of settlements. I suspect it is a good investment but it is not without risk.
Agrium reported earnings. In a pattern that is not unusual the earnings were down versus last year but were still good news because they were higher than expected.