Bank of America shares close lower on Wednesday, Merrill Lynch reduces the number of national business divisions, changes leadership

According to a March 29th memo to employees, Merrill Lynch, Bank of Americas wealth management unit, reduced the number of its national business divisions from 10 to 6 and introduced changes to its team of executives. The number of financial advisers at the company, on the other hand, is not expected to be reduced.

Bank of America shares closed lower on Wednesday, while also marking their sixth loss in the past nine trading sessions. The stock went down 0.55% ($0.13) to $23.35, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $23.65 and $23.31 respectively. In the week ended on March 26th the shares of the financial holding company lost 7.00% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a third consecutive period of decline and also the worst performance since the week ended on February 14th 2016. The stock has extended its slump to 5.39% so far during the current month, following a 9.01% surge in February. The latter has been a fifth straight month of gains. For the entire past year, Bank of America shares soared 31.31%.

Andy Sieg, the head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, was reported to have informed the companys brokers that the decision, effective immediately, was part of a greater effort to “make the organization feel like a smaller, more tightly integrated firm.”

Mike Adornetto was appointed as Merrill Lynchs new Chief Operating Officer, while Hong Ogle was to become the head of the companys adviser training and development programs, the memo showed.

At the same time, Merrill Lynchs Private Banking & Investment Group will now be led by Don Plaus, the head of the South Atlantic division.

According to the document, Vince Fertitta was promoted as head of the Texas Mountain South division, while Lindsay DeNardo Hans – as head of the Mid-Atlantic division.

The former head of Merrills New York City Metropolitan division, Jeffrey Tucker, and the former head of the firms Pacific Northwest division, Tom Fickinger, are to assume new, undisclosed roles within the organization.

On the other hand, the former head of the New England division, Linda Houston, is expected to retire, while the former head of Merrills Mid East division, James Dickson, is to part ways with the firm.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Bank of America stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $23.39
R2 – $23.43
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $23.47
R4 (Long Breakout) – $23.59
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $23.73
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $23.79

S1 – $23.31
S2 – $23.27
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $23.23
S4 (Short Breakout) – $23.11
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $22.97
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $22.91

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Bank of America Corporation (BAC) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $23.44
R1 – $24.44
R2 – $25.75
R3 – $26.75
R4 – $27.74

S1 – $22.13
S2 – $21.13
S3 – $19.82
S4 – $18.50