Why Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Bank of America Corp (BAC) Are Defying the Downbeat Market

While JPMorgan’s proposed dividend increase was not denied, the Fed is nevertheless requiring the bank, along with Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), to resubmit an updated version at the end of the third quarter in order to “address weaknesses in their capital planning processes.” CEO Jamie Dimon responded by saying that “JPMorgan Chase is fully committed to meeting all of the Fed’s requirements.” To read more about how each of these banks performed in the Fed’s CCAR, click here for JPMorgan and here for Goldman Sachs.

On the other end of the spectrum today is the blue-chip index’s other traditional banking component, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) , which is seeing its shares rise 4.4% to a new 52-week high. The Fed didn’t express any reservations about B of A’s plan to buyback $5 billion in common stock and $5.5 billion in preferred shares. Analysts and investors, in turn, are interpreting the lack of protest as a long-overdue and tangible sign of improvement in the nation’s largest lender. To read more about this, click here.

Finally, shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are defying the broader market today, up by more than 2% in afternoon trading. While the iPhone maker has recently come under fire by the likes of Samsung, yesterday’s unveiling of the latter’s newest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, seemingly failed to impress analysts. On the one hand, the device sports a bigger display and unconventional features such as gesture controls, said Reuters. But on the other, while these additions are good steps in the right direction, “they can be seen as gimmicks rather than game changers,” a telecom analyst told the international news agency. For what it’s worth, as our own Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) expert Evan Niu pointed out, it’s almost universally held at The Motley Fool that shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are trading far too inexpensively at this point.

The article Why Apple and Bank of America Are Defying the Downbeat Market originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America and Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Goldman Sachs. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM).

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