iShares Barclay 20+ Year Treasury ETF (TLT) March put option implied volatility is at 15, April is at 17, June is at 19, September is at 20, compared to its 26-week average of 16, according to Track Data, suggesting larger outer month price movement.

Bank of America (BAC) overall option implied volatility of 35 is near its 26-week average of 39, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement into its March 8 analyst day.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Bank of America (BAC), the largest bank in the U.S. based on the level of deposits, is testing new fee structure for its checking account service, which used to be free. The new pilot program for the customers in Arizona, Georgia and Massachusetts allow the customers to apply for various account types with a monthly fees ranging from $6 to $25. The bank plans to expand the program nationally later this year. Other banks such as JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) have introduced new fees on the checking account service after the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill restricted banks from charging merchants processing fees on debit card transactions.

"Compelling valuations and improving fundamentals mean that 2011 could be a strong year for shares of the biggest U.S. banks," suggests Elliott Gue.

The editor of Personal Finance explains, "To benefit from this outlook, Bank of America (BAC) is a new addition to the model Growth Portfolio.

"Bank of America suffered mightily during the financial crisis of 2007-09. Not only were the bank's legacy loan portfolios hit hard by delinquencies and charge-offs, but the company also assumed additional liabilities and credit risk when it acquired Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch.

The past week's data-point-of-consequence for investors had to be investment decisions by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A).

Buffett ended positions in several stocks in the fourth quarter, including the Bank of America (BAC), Nike (NKE), Fiserv (FISV), Becton Dickinson (BDX), Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), Lowe's Co.s (LOW), Nalco (NLC) and Nestle (NSRGY), according to a filing, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Berkshire added to a holding of only one stock in the fourth quarter: Wells Fargo (WFC).

Capital One (COF) is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, with banking and non-banking subsidiaries that market a variety of financial products and services. The company specializes in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking and saving products. Its main competitors are JPMorgan (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C) and American Express (AXP).

We have a price estimate of $61.26 for Capital One, well above market price.

The Labor Department's fishy report of 9.0% unemployment with only a few thousand jobs created almost didn't even matter today. Earnings gains drove shares and the losses seen in indexes earlier today were reversed by the end of the day with most indexes in positive territory. Everyone is focused on the Super Bowl this weekend.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:


Dow Jones 12,092.15 +29.89 (0.25%)
S&P 500 1,310.87 +3.77 (0.29%)
Nasdaq 2,769.30 +15.42 (0.56%)

Early Friday morning, Bank of America (BAC) reported a fourth-quarter loss of 16 cents per share ($1.2 billion). This includes the company's previously announced goodwill impairment charge of $2 billion that was related to its home loans and insurance business. Taking this charge out of the equation, BAC earned 4 cents per share. It could be an interesting morning for BAC, as experts predicted earnings of 18 cents per share.

Shares of BAC were down more than 2% as we await the opening bell. This drop should push the stock low enough to mount a serious challenge to the support of both BAC's 20-month moving average and the $14 level.

The earnings season ramps up this week. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters foresee strong reports from such big names as Apple (AAPL), eBay (EBAY), IBM (IBM), General Electric (GE), Google (GOOG), Schlumberger (SLB) and Southwest Airlines (LUV). And fast on the heels of last week's big earnings beat from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), there will be plenty more results from the financial sector to peruse this week.

Among the financials expected to post double-digit earnings growth this week are Capital One Financial (COF), Morgan Stanley (MS), SLM Corp. (SLM) and U.S. Bancorp (USB), but the week's biggest earnings winner may be Wells Fargo (WFC).

Friday morning, the good folks at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) kicked off a wave of quarterly reports from the banking sector. Next week, we'll hear the latest earnings results from the likes of Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Wells Fargo (WFC), just to name a few.

Of course, the biggest bank in the nation -- Bank of America (BAC) -- also has a quarterly report on deck. Ahead of next Friday's fourth-quarter release, one speculator opted to construct a high-volatility options strategy on BAC.

I have already gone on record this year saying that financial companies and insurance stocks are going to continue to rebound. In my previous two posts Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11 and Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 6, 7, 8, 9, I included several financial institutions. Today I add an insurance company.

The industry got whacked hard for many reasons. For one, it makes a significant amount of profit by investing its float, and like every other investor, the industry lost a pile of money in the financial crisis. It was embroiled more directly than some industries, as several insurers are affiliated with banks. Finally the housing crisis meant disruption to payment streams by homeowners who were delinquent on more than their mortgages.

Today was a mixed market with many movers around in both directions despite the closing bells on the indexes. The non-Farm Payrolls growth was only right before the ADP data and that more robust prediction artificially skewed expectations. The stock market was down less than 1% after the morning lows before recovering off lows in the afternoon. Crude oil sold off and gold was lower before trying a late-day comeback.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,674.76 -22.55 (-0.19%)
S&P 500 1,271.50 -2.35 (-0.18%)
Nasdaq 2,703.17 -6.72 (-0.25%)

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