Be a Financial Reporter: Play the Bank of America Explanation Game! (BAC)

From FT Alphaville:

Who wants to play our Bank of America game?

Be your very own markets reporter by filling in the blank in the mock lede below. Bonus points for use of the words “swoon”, “pare”, “checked”, “fears” and “rumours”.

Bank of America shares fell nearly 8 per cent on Monday, as ____________________________. The bank was the largest faller on the S&P 500 and has now lost over half its value since the start of 2011.

Here’s some raw material from Monday’s news reports to help. We’ve ranked them in descending order of plausibility, using
the journalistic equivalent of rock-paper-scissors
our highly trained market intelligence:
1. An analyst note suggesting BofA will need to raise $40bn-$50bn:

“Our traders and desk strategist think the reality is that the market is forcing BAC into a capital raise and the lower stock price goes, the worse it gets,” says Jefferies’ Layla Peruzzi.

She’s not just whistling Dixie; she writes Bank of America might need to raise between $40 billion and $50 billion. Bank of America shares are getting slammed again today, and the stock price is half the level it was at the beginning of the year.

...Many MORE tips and game cheats from professionals!

Brilliant.