Cynthia Solano thought she could hide 87 guns with some holiday cheer... But her plan didn't end exactly how she hoped.
Christmas-Wrapped Guns Couldn't Fool Police
By Ethan Goldman, analyst, Chaikin Analytics
Cynthia Solano thought she could hide 87 guns with some holiday cheer...
But her plan didn't end exactly how she hoped.
You see, Solano was a weapon smuggler for a criminal enterprise. She bought guns as part of an international smuggling ring.
Solano even planned to launder her profits to cover her financial tracks. Thankfully, her plan wasn't foolproof.
On January 3, 2023, Solano drove through Springfield, Illinois with a trunk full of contraband carefully concealed in Christmas wrapping paper.
In total, she was transporting a collection of 87 firearms to Michigan. From Michigan, the guns were intended to make their way to Canada's streets.
However, she soon found herself in hot water...
The Illinois State Police stopped Solano and searched her car. After discovering the cargo, they sent her back to Arizona in cuffs.
Two years later, a judge sentenced Solano to 87 months in prison for possession of a machine gun and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Folks, criminals abuse our financial system every day to cover up their illegal acts. And a major bank just got a historic fine for not doing enough to stop this behavior...
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Major Bank Hit With Historic Federal Fine
I'm talking about Bank of America (BAC).
The U.S. Treasury Department slapped the bank with a $1.2 billion fine for weak money-laundering controls. This penalty ranks as the third largest in Treasury history.
That eye-popping sum includes a record $750 million penalty from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
In total, Bank of America didn't report $5 billion-plus of suspicious money moves in time.
This news hit the day before Bank of America shared its third-quarter earnings. Bank of America's $1.2 billion payment dropped the company's earnings per share ("EPS") 16% to $0.91.
Word of the fine broke on Tuesday – one day before the company's third-quarter earnings miss. Over those two days, shares dropped 6%. However, this weakness isn't anything new.
Bank of America's shares struggled this year. Since the start of 2026, shares of the stock are down about 8%.
Even worse, the "smart money" has mostly avoided the stock since late August. And Bank of America has underperformed the broad market since late September.
Take a look...
Naturally, the Power Gauge isn't fond of Bank of America's stock. It gets a "bearish" rating today.
That means the stock isn't likely to outperform the S&P 500 Index in the next three to six months.
And one more thing...
Our system sees the company's stock deep in overbought territory right now. The last time this happened, the stock slid 13% over the next month.
That's not a trend I'd like to repeat.
So, I'll take a hint from the Power Gauge. There are better places to invest our money today than Bank of America.
Good investing,
Ethan Goldman
Market View
Major Indexes and Notable Sectors
# Hld: Bullish Neutral Bearish
Dow 30
+1.08%
7
17
6
S&P 500
+0.28%
101
267
131
NASDAQ
-0.13%
28
49
21
Small Caps
+1.37%
362
1084
451
Bonds
+1.37%
Information Technology
+3.84%
91
35
9
— According to the Chaikin Power Bar, Small Cap stocks and Large Cap stocks remain somewhat Bearish. Major indexes are mixed.
* * * *
Sector Tracker
Sector movement over the last 5 days
Health Care
+5.37%
Staples
+3.91%
Real Estate
+2.79%
Materials
+2.62%
Energy
+2.02%
Financial
+1.92%
Discretionary
+1.52%
Utilities
+1.41%
Communication
+0.33%
Industrials
-0.30%
Information Technology
-4.34%
* * * *
Industry Focus
Insurance
25
27
2
Over the past 6 months, the Insurance subsector (KIE) has underperformed the S&P 500 by 2.46%. However, its Power Bar ratio which measures future potential is Very Strong, with more Bullish than Bearish stocks. It is currently ranked #1 of 21 subsectors and has moved up 5 slots over the past week.
Top Stocks
ACGL
Arch Capital Group Ltd.
AFG
American Financial Group, Inc.
AIZ
Assurant, Inc.
* * * *
Top Movers
Gainers
TTD
+7.80%
EFX
+7.25%
RDDT
+7.24%
FICO
+6.99%
IP
+6.90%
Losers
HPE
-7.10%
DELL
-6.80%
P
-5.72%
ANET
-5.04%
WMB
-4.92%
* * * *
Earnings report
Earnings Surprises
AA Alcoa Corporation
Q3
$1.82
Beat by $0.31
CMC Commercial Metals Company
Q4
$2.09
Beat by $0.13
PLD Prologis, Inc.
Q3
$0.84
Beat by $0.05
BNY The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
Q3
$2.37
Beat by $0.11
USB U.S. Bancorp
Q3
$1.38
Beat by $0.05
* * * *
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