Bank of America reported on Wednesday that its second-quarter net income rose 63 percent to $4 billion, or 32 cents a share, compared with $2.5 billion, or 19 cents a share, in the period a year earlier. Revenue increased to $22.7 billion from $22 billion in the period a year earlier. A conference call to discuss the results is being held at 8:30 a.m.
BUYOUT POKER OVER DELL  | Michael S. Dell is engaged in last-minute maneuvers over the company he founded, with one day remaining before shareholders are scheduled to vote on his proposed $24.4 billion buyout, DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced reports. “A special committee of Dell’s board is poised to adjourn the vote on Thursday morning because it is concerned that the offer may be defeated by shareholders, people briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.†The directors have signaled that they would rather postpone the meeting, allowing them to elicit a higher bid from Mr. Dell and his partner, the investment firm Silver Lake, or get the buyers to declare their current offer best and final.
Mr. Dell and Silver Lake are working behind the scenes to convince shareholders that they will not raise their offer of $13.65 a share and are prepared to walk away, Mr. de la Merced reports. “The jockeying comes amid more signs that the deal faces stiff investor opposition. BlackRock, which owns a nearly 4.5 percent stake, has voted no, according to one of the people briefed on the matter. And the mutual fund manager T. Rowe Price, which owns a 4 percent stake, said publicly on Monday that it remained opposed to the deal.â€
WHEN AN EXECUTIVE TURNS BUYOUT ADVISER  | “Here’s one way to gain an edge in deal-making: Hire the former chief executive of the company you want to buy to advise you,†Steven M. Davidoff writes in the Deal Professor column. “What may seem to be a real advantage, however, can turn out to be a problem, as demonstrated in recent litigation arising from the $3.7 billion buyout of the industrial machinery maker Gardner Denver.â€
“The use of a former top executive raises many of the same questions that occur when a management-led buyout is on the table. Does a former insider’s special knowledge and relationships give the bidder an unfair advantage to the detriment of other potential bidders â€" and to shareholders?â€
AT TOURRE TRIAL, WITNESS GETS TESTY  | Paolo Pellegrini was an architect of Paulson & Company’s audacious bet against subprime home loans in 2007. But in a federal courtroom in Manhattan on Tuesday, he professed not to know what one of the basic acronyms in the industry meant. During questioning by a government lawyer in the trial of Fabrice P. Tourre, Mr. Pellegrini said he was not sure what C.D.O., the type of security he helped construct, which is at the heart of the civil case, stood for, Mr. de la Merced reports. After minutes of verbal sparring, he conceded it might stand for “collateralized debt obligation.†The Securities and Exchange Commission had hoped Mr. Pellegrini would be one of the top witnesses of the trial.
Separately on Tuesday, the agency announced that the 23-year S.E.C. career of Kenneth R. Lench, who oversaw the commission’s case against Goldman Sachs and Mr. Tourre, was ending. He is bound for the private sector after departing at the end of July.
ON THE AGENDA Â |Â The Delivering Alpha conference is held in Manhattan, hosted by CNBC and Institutional Investor, with speakers including Jacob J. Lew, Preet Bharara, John A. Paulson, Nelson W. Peltz and Carl C. Icahn. Bank of New York Mellon reports earnings on Wednesday morning. American Express and eBay report results after the market closes.
BOND MARKET IS WORKING FINE  | “There may be less reason to fear the big, bad bond market,†DealBook’s Peter Eavis writes. “In the last few days, the three big American bond-trading firms â€" JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs â€" all reported second-quarter financial results that were helped by healthy bond trading revenue. That’s somewhat remarkable considering the amount of pain in the bond market during the quarter.â€
A NEAR MISS FOR CHANOS Â |Â
Judging by a photo that circulated on Twitter, it appears that the prominent short-seller James S. Chanos narrowly missed being in the path of a flying baseball bat at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Yahoo Reports Decline in Revenue From Display and Search Advertising  | “During her first year as chief executive of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer made big strides in changing the company’s culture. But reversing Yahoo’s declining revenue is turning out to be a far stiffer challenge,†The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
2 Hospitals in New York Agree to Merge  | The New York Times reports: “Two major New York City hospital networks have agreed to merge, creating the largest private hospital system in the city, raising the prospect of higher prices for consumers, and positioning the new system to take advantage of coming changes under the federal health care law.†NEW YORK TIMES
Bally Technologies in $1.3 Billion Deal for Casino Games Maker  | Bally Technologies has agreed to acquire SHFL Entertainment, which makes products like automatic card shufflers and proprietary table games and electronic gambling machines. DealBook »
Onyx May Receive Bids as Soon as This Week  |Â
REUTERS
Goldman’s Not the Leader of the Wall Street Pack  | Profit of $1.9 billion in the second quarter sounds like a return to the good old days at Goldman Sachs. But the firm has not managed to solidly outpace rivals, Antony Currie of Reuters Breakingviews writes. REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS
Goldman Said to Offer $2.5 Billion of Bonds  | The offering from Goldman Sachs received robust demand, with nearly $6 billion worth of orders, according to The Wall Street Journal. WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Texan Who Leads Barclays in the Americas  | Hugh E. McGee III is “such a hard-driving guy,†Gregory Pipkin, a Lehman Brothers energy banking co-head who joined Barclays in 2008, told Bloomberg News. “The only thing we didn’t compete for: I didn’t compete for his wife, and he didn’t compete for my wife.†BLOOMBERG NEWS
What’s Concerning About Record Bank Profits  | The prosperity of the banking industry reflects “many of the factors that got us into the financial crisis in the first place: an emphasis on trading rather than lending, a high degree of leverage, and implicit subsidies from the taxpayer,†John Cassidy writes in The New Yorker. NEW YORKER
An Identity Crisis at Morgan Stanley  | “In Wall Street’s map of the world, the bank is in something of a no-man’s land,†Gina Chon and Simone Foxman write in Quartz. QUARTZ
AXA Private Equity Said to Raise Bid for Elior of France  | A group led by AXA Private Equity has increased its bid for Elior, valuing the French retailer at about $4.9 billion, according to a French newspaper, Reuters says. REUTERS
Macro Hedge Funds Make a Comeback  | Some of the world’s best macro traders, who bet on broad patterns in global markets, have foundered in recent years. “This year, though, has seen the impasse broken: the macro hedge fund manager, blue blood of the investing world, is back,†Sam Jones writes in The Financial Times. FINANCIAL TIMES
Estimating Ackman’s Odds of Success at His Next Target  | The hedge fund manager William A. Ackman would have a pretty good shot at agitating for change at a company like ADT, according to an analysis. A company like FedEx would be a harder target. DealBook »
Blackstone Prepares Hedge Fund Product for Retail Investors  |Â
REUTERS
Alibaba’s Profit Tripled in 1st Quarter  | The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba generated $669 million of net income in the first quarter, according to Yahoo, which owns a stake in the company. An Alibaba spokesman said the company had no timetable for an initial public offering and had not hired bankers, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Technology Executive to Enter New York City Mayor’s Race  | Jack D. Hidary, a wealthy and well-connected technology executive, “is offering himself up as a Bloomberg for the post-Bloomberg era, with a dose of personal charisma and charm the current mayor lacked when he entered politics in 2001,†The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Investors Remain Skittish About Mobile Games  |Â
ALLTHINGSD
Cordray Confirmed as Head of Consumer Agency  | Republicans agreed to allow the confirmation of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, almost two years after his nomination. NEW YORK TIMES
More Scrutiny Coming for Patent System  | “This summer, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to begin a sweeping investigation of the patent system after the agency’s chairwoman, Edith Ramirez, urged a crackdown,†The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Ex-Broker Charged in Libor Case Responds  | A lawyer for Terry J. Farr, a former trader who has been charged by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office with conspiracy to defraud, said he had no responsibility for setting Libor. DealBook »
A Warning Over Cyberattacks on Financial Firms  | A report by staff of the International Organization of Securities Commissions warned that cybercrime had become more sophisticated and more difficult to stop. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Morgan Stanley Must Face Part of Insurer’s Lawsuit  | A judge ordered Morgan Stanley to face part of a lawsuit from MetLife, which accused the bank of selling mortgage-backed securities that it knew were defective, Reuters reports. REUTERS
