Bank of America Shares Dip Below $5

Shares of Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> traded below $5 on Monday for the first time since the depths of the bear market in March 2009.

The stock hit a session low of $4.92, down 5.4 percent. It was the lowest price since March 12, 2009.

With more than 275 million shares traded so far, the volume-weighted average price was $5.0336. Bank of America accounted for roughly 6 percent of composite volume on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq.

Shares of financial institutions have declined on worries about the global economy and possible exposure to sovereign defaults in Europe.

In a sign of confidence in the bank, billionaire investor Warren Buffett invested $5 billion in Bank of America in a deal that closed in September. The day before the Buffet deal was announced, August 24, the stock closed at $6.99.

At Monday's session low, a $5 billion investment made on August 24 was worth roughly $3.52 billion.

Bank of America now has a market capitalization slightly above $50 billion, making it less valuable than Amgen Inc <AMGN.O> or American Express Co <AXP.N>, and only a little more than CVS Caremark <CVS.N>.