Investors move into banks on pledge to not issue flood of new shares, not signs crisis over

Investors move into banks on pledge to not issue flood of new shares, not signs crisis over : With many U.S. banks still reporting massive writedowns and even quarterly losses from bad mortgage investments, it certainly seems like an odd time for financial stocks to rally. But, amid the many gyrations in the sector's stocks over the past week or so was a 27 percent pop in Wachovia Corp. after it announced a nearly $9 billion quarterly loss. And a 22 percent jump for Merrill Lynch & Co. after it lost about $5 billion. Investors were also clamoring for shares of Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Bank of America Corp. after they reported pretty dismal quarters. None of these banks gave any signal that the massive write-offs and charges they've taken because of the credit crisis is close to ending. The real motivation... [read full story]