Hiding Volatility in Earnings Just Got Harder
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March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Depending on how you look at it,Bank of America Corp. last year had a $1.4 billion profit or a$3.9 billion loss. Both figures are accurate. The big differenceis that the second one is harder to find in the company’sfinancial reports.
To locate the first number, known as net income, simplycheck the bottom of Bank of America’s income statement. Theother figure, called comprehensive income, is buried deep in thecompany’s statement of changes in shareholder equity, where theloss is easy for readers to miss.