At the end of a tumultuous five days, Bank of America (BAC -0.13%) is up 1.6% on the day, and 0.9% on the week, three hours into the last day of trading.
This morning, I would have said it was a 50/50 shot as to whether the June jobs report would boost the market or crash it, but it appears we can safely say now it's the former, giving a happy ending to the week for B of A investors, and investors, in general.
No June-swoon here
This morning, the Department of Labor released June payroll numbers: The U.S. economy added 195,000 private- and public-sector jobs last month, easily beating economists' expectations of 165,000.
In addition, payroll numbers for the previous two months were revised upwards, adding 70,000 to the total jobs count. And, while the unemployment rate was expected to drop from 7.6% to 7.5%, it remained at 7.6% due to higher numbers of people looking for work.
Foolish bottom line
B of A and the market is up today as a result of these encouraging numbers, but it could have just as easily gone the other way.
Since the Federal Reserve announced a few weeks ago that quantitative easing might be tapered later this year, so long as positive economic data continued to roll in, equity markets have been volatile. The fear of four years of easy money going away, even gradually, has actually sent share prices down when good economic news like today's comes in.
B of A has been particularly volatile this week, with the share price at one point hitting a high of $13.10, and a low of 12.73%. On top of other anxiety-producing issues -- like news that the Fed will require all banks to begin abiding by the Basel III capital requirements in January -- B of A investors are also eagerly awaiting the outcome of the trial between their favorite superbank, AIG (AIG 0.05%), and other big investors.
Depending on what the judge decides, a previously agreed upon $8.5 billion payout over bad mortgage-backed securities sold by Countrywide Financial could turn into tens of billions of dollars owed, if AIG and company has its way. The trial is currently on hold due to a scheduling conflict on the part of the presiding judge.
But with B of A up for the week, maybe investors shouldn't be asking too many questions. A win's a win, no matter how you get it. In the meantime, stay tuned for more B of A and general market volatility, especially if good economic news keeps coming in.
