One thing I'd expect to happen if this merger does occur. Ken Lewis will go on a shopping spree to buy other banks with good balance sheets, but nevertheless have been wacked by all the other banking fiascos. This would be used to dilute the toxic waste from CFC with good money from other acquisitions, possibly chopping CFC into pieces to sell. Wouldn't be surprised if after a CFC merger, BofA keep issuing earnings that beat expectations before 'one-time restructuring charges'…They will just happen to take these 'one-time' charges several times over several quarters to the point that no one really cares about or until people stop counting how many of these restructuring charges have been taken.
If I ran into Ken Lewis on the streets right now, I'd ask for his autographed photo. It's very possible our kids will read about him in history books as helping the U.S. out of the Panic of 2007 (if he and BofA pulls if off) 🙂
