As ever with the banking sector in recent times, legal issues produced more than a few headlines over the past few days. The biggie was the postponement of Bank of America 's proposed $8.5 billion settlement over securities sold by Countrywide Financial, the train wreck of a home lender it bought in 2008. A judge had approved the bulk of the settlement, but said black robe was replaced and the new gavel-banger has postponed a final decision on the settlement. At this point, look for the matter to be resolved in the vicinity of the year 2150, around the time the bank opens its first branch on Mars.