Will A Wiki Leak Sink USS Bank of America?

WikiLeaks.com, a controversial dumping ground for government and corporate secrets, has made it known that it intends to make public information that it says will sink a major U.S. bank. WikiLeak founder Julian Assange stated on Tuesday that he intends to release this data sometime in 2011, fueling rumors on Wall Street that Assange is specifically targeting Bank Of America (NYSE: BAC) with an entire hard drive of negative information. This rumor sent the bank’s stock tumbling upon its publication.  However, it has since stabilized and was actually trading positively on Thursday.  The old “sell the rumor, buy the fact” mantra may be accurate in this case.

While WikiLeaks obviously has the potential to embarrass governments, does the Web site actually have the power to do anymore damage to the U.S. banking sector than has already been done?  We’re well aware of the banking crisis, what possible information could be on that supposed hard drive that the public doesn’t already know?  Bank of America has already been beat to hell by the banking crisis, and the bank’s purchase of the toxic Countrywide Mortgage Company and subsequent $45 billion bail-out has made it the poster boy for what’s wrong with the banking business.  While the bank has paid back the bail out funds, the bad taste still remains.

In my opinion, the information on that hard drive would have to show extreme criminal behavior and or a conspiracy to defraud for it to have any impact at all the stock price.  Rumors are very powerful things on the Street of Dreams; however, their impact rarely lasts long.   Clearly, being a buyer after the WikiLeaks rumor knocked down the stock price would have been a smart move.  In fact, my opinion is, Bank of America remains a smart investment decision.