Rubbish Check
CNBC Top News · September 14, 2026
source“Bank of America expects third-quarter investment banking fees to fall more than 10%; shares slide”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates CNBC's headline that Bank of America expects Q3 investment banking fees to fall "more than 10%" a 2/10 because it lifts Moynihan's own words nearly verbatim and matches the roughly 5-6% share drop reported across outlets.
The Verdict
Lightly altered, and barely that. The headline restates CEO Brian Moynihan's own on-the-record guidance almost word for word and pairs it with an accurately sized stock reaction. The only shading is that "more than 10%" technically covers a range multiple outlets pegged as high as 20%, a detail the headline compresses but the body doesn't hide.
What actually happened
Speaking at a conference on Monday, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said investment banking fees will likely decline by more than 10% in the third quarter from the year-earlier period, while trading revenue will be roughly flat. He attributed the shortfall partly to positioning, saying "We're not as well positioned in some of the businesses that have more activity, so we'll be down probably a bit more than that." Bank of America shares fell in the session that followed.
Key facts
- Q3 investment banking fees guided down "more than 10%" year-over-year, per Moynihan's own comments citing Dealogic industry data.
- Other outlets reporting the same remarks put the actual dollar guidance at $1.6bn-$1.8bn, versus $2bn a year earlier, a range implying a decline of roughly 10-20%; Bloomberg noted analysts had expected fees closer to $2bn.
- Q3 trading revenue guided as "relatively flat" year-over-year.
- Comparison base: Q2 2026 saw investment banking fees climbed 50% from a year earlier, and sales and trading revenue increased 33% to $7.1 billion.
- BAC shares fell in a range reported between roughly 5% and nearly 6% intraday on Monday, depending on the outlet and time of snapshot; CNBC's own live-markets coverage put it at "falling nearly 6%."
What to watch for
Watch the actual Q3 print against the $1.6bn-$1.8bn range Moynihan gave; a result nearer the bottom would validate the "worse than 10%" caveat he flagged live. Also watch whether rivals with different business mixes echo the slowdown or diverge, which would tell you if this is a BAC-specific positioning issue or an industry-wide AI-boom cooldown.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
