Bank of America may need another $100-$200 billion

This is ugly.

After the poor handling of the bank bailout, the public is going to have very little appetite for helping. It also raises the question of why the banks received so many tax dollars and then paid out rich rewards to the unrewarding, while still needing money.

Business Insider:

So, taking some back of the envelope numbers, it looks as though we could easily come up with, say, $100-$200 billion in write-offs and exposures to "clean up" Bank of America's balance sheet.

A $100-$200 billion hit to Bank of America's $222 billion of equity capital, needless to say, would do some serious damage. Specifically, it would force the company to raise about the same amount to restore its capital ratios.

That's why Bank of America's stock is tanking. The owners of that stock will be the first folks to get hit if Bank of America has to raise more capital. And the lower Bank of America's stock is when it raises more capital, the more they'll get hit.