Stocks up on Bank of America earnings

     Bank stocks are up today after Bank of America posted better than expected earnings.  Bank of America stock was up almost 7% today in early trading.  The big positive surprise was Bank of America's revenue, which was  28.7 billion, increasing even in a tough quarter for most banks.

     Profit per share was .56 which was helped by a 9.8 billion gain for selling it's stake in China Construction bank.  Bank of America's core business appears to be shrinking however as it's net interest margin dropped to 2.32%.  Net interest margin is the difference between what it pays depositors for use of it's cash versus what it charges for loans.  Net interest income which is the bread and butter for banks shrank to 10.7 billion from 12.7 billion a year ago.  Bank of America stock has fallen more than 50% this year.

     In other earnings news, IBM's shares were down 4.5% in the early going after posting in line results.  Investor expectations were high for IBM after it rallied to a record high close a few days ago.   Analyst's were disappointed with the earnings which showed that IBM may have slower growth in the future.  IBM posted revenue of 26.2 billion for the quarter and profits of 3.28 a share.  IBM stock has risen more than 20% this year.

     The overall markets are higher today as of 8 AM PST after earlier being down almost 1%.  After the bell we get AAPL earnings which I will be watching closely.