December 31, 2008

Charlotte's two big banks head in sharply different directions this week.Bank of America, already the nation's biggest consumer bank, is expected to wrap up its purchase of New York's Merrill Lynch, giving it an army of expert brokers and cementing its foothold on Wall Street.

Wachovia's sale to San Francisco-based Wells Fargo should be completed today, a bitter pill for Charlotte but a move that catapults Wells into a small club of mega-banks that are dominating the market.