Bank of America Falls Intra-Day; Still Green (BAC, MA, V)

Shares of Bank of America BAC have fallen from their best levels of the day after the Federal Reserve Board proposed new rules to curb debit-card fees, offering alternative plans that are likely to cut profits for U.S. lenders. According to Bloomberg, these lenders reaped about $15 billion in profits from these charges last year. “Lowering of rates by the Fed would essentially translate to a pure profit loss for most banks,” said John McDonald, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., in a note to clients yesterday. Currently, BAC is trading 1.22% higher at $12.44. The stock had been up well over 3% for most of the day prior to this development. The companies that are likely to be the most hurt by these proposals are Visa V and MasterCard MA. Visa shares have plunged 11.42% to $68.19 intra-day and MasterCard MA is down 9% to $226.74.