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To: Lucretius who wrote (73764)	3/1/2001 11:59:36 AM
From: Box-By-The-Riviera™	Respond to of 436258

BOA...etc =DJ Banks/Brokers Down -2: Bank Of America Leads Group Lower 01 Mar 11:32 By Tara Siegel Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The roller coaster ride continues for shares of banks and brokers - again in the stomach-dropping downward direction - as concern over weaker capital market revenue weighs on shares. To make matters worse, investors learned Wednesday an intermeeting interest-rate cut isn't likely. Within the banking world, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) is taking the hardest blows, falling $2.85, or 5.6%, to $47.85, likely on nervousness about its earnings. The $642 billion asset bank is seen likely to suffer from weakness on several fronts, from credit losses to venture capital. "We are of a view that there is a higher than average earnings risk here," said analyst Thomas Theurkauf, of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. He expects the Charlotte bank to post first-quarter earnings of $1.05 a share, markedly less than the $1.14 consensus estimate of 16 analysts compiled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Theurkauf said his estimate incorporates prospects for higher credit costs and weaker capital market revenue in areas like underwriting and syndicated loans. The bank has already said uncollectable debts could touch as high as $3 billion, surpassing fourth-quarter loan write-offs of about $1.1 billion, or 1.07% of loans and leases. That's up from $501 million the prior year. Meanwhile, several of the brokerage firms' stocks are continuing their journey south. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. (MWD) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) to market perform from buy. Those calls follow the downward revisions of first-quarter earnings estimates at Merrill Lynch on Wednesday: Morgan Stanley, Goldman, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) were shaved, given a combination of weaker commissions, continued pressure in equity underwriting and completed merger and acquisition volumes, as well as declining valuations for private equity portfolios as Nasdaq ventures lower. The KBW/Philadelphia Stock Exchange of 24 bank stocks was recently off 17.97, or 2.04%, to 864.42. At the beginning of last month, it was trading in the high 950's. (MORE) DOW JONES NEWS 03-01-01 11:32 AM