Bank of America's Up in a Big Way Today

Mr. Market is in a good mood today, and Bank of America (BAC 1.59%) is happy to be along for the ride. Up 3.2% as of 2:45 p.m. EST, B of A is getting a serious boost, taking it above and beyond where it started the week.

Some good economic data goes a long way
When the economic data released this week proved to be disappointing, plenty of stocks took a tumble. But today's news of January job-creation numbers helped to boost investors' confidence. With 157,000 jobs created last month, the news still isn't terribly exciting, but there was more encouraging data to come. Revised 2012 numbers were announced, with 335,000 jobs added to the 2.2 million already recorded.

Given this bit of good news and the improved personal-income and spending data from yesterday, it's no wonder that investors are feeling better as we close out the week.

A little elbow grease goes a lot further, though
Bank of America is definitely benefiting from today's news, but there's a bit more to its big gains than meets the eye. The company kicked off its new rebranding initiatives yesterday. With internal measures aimed at putting the bank in a better light with customers, B of A will begin airing new ad campaigns in April. This is only one of the bank's many efforts to gain favor among American consumers. Are you getting that warm and fuzzy feeling yet?

It's these new efforts that are propelling Bank of America further ahead of its rivals today, though the financials all seem to be gaining from the jobs news. Both JPMorgan and Citigroup have each gained about 1.7% today, while Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is more in line with the indexes with a 0.8% increase.

As most here at the Fool would tell you, basing any investment decision on one day's price movements would be foolish (note the lowercase "f"), but being educated on the factors that can move your stock's price will help to make you a better investor, capable of weathering the price fluctuations of any particular day.

With the gains made today, Bank of America is on its way to becoming the bank it's trying to be.