Forget Writedowns, Bank of America Gets $16B Writeup!

From the Financial Times:

BofA set to gain $30bn on CCB stake

Tuesday Nov 13 2007

Bank of America (BAC) on Tuesday said it was sitting on a potential gain of more than $30bn on its investment in China Construction Bank, highlighting the paper profits some western banks have made on holdings in their Chinese counterparts.

BofA paid $3bn two years ago for an 8.5 per cent stake in CCB and an option to increase to 19.9 per cent at a very low price. The bank plans to record a gain of about $16bn on its existing stake in the fourth quarter.

"On paper we have a potential gain in excess of $30bn," said Joe Price, BofA's chief financial officer, adding that it would be able to cash in some of its holding over the next 2 to 3 years.

Not only does BofA have less subprime mortgage and MBS CDO exposure than other big banks, but they also have done some smart things which will certainly help them weather the storm.

Full Disclosure: Long shares of Bank of America at the time of writing