Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said it was too early to tell how the bank would perform under the upcoming Federal Reserve stress tests, but reiterated the bank’s capital positions continue to strengthen.  He said the bank’s capital has improved even further from the third quarter, boosted by the sale of the majority of its remaining stake in China Construction Bank Corp., the swap of its preferred shares for common shares and the closing on its sale of certain credit-card operations in Canada.  Moynihan reiterated the bank won’t ask for a dividend until it is sure it would be approved. He gave no details on what the bank would ask regulators to approve. Before the 2010 Fed stress tests, Moynihan had pledged to investors a "modest" dividend increase, but the Fed objected to certain parts of BofA's risk management at Merrill Lynch because the integration of that company remained ongoing.  BofA and five other firms will have to endure the regulatory tests that look to see how the bank and its capital will hold up if the economy lurches sharply downward. The results will determine whether big financial firms can return capital to shareholders. Moynihan also told the conference that the bank’s fourth-quarter results, due to be reported next month, will show effects from the bank’s cost-cutting initiatives. He  said that work on another one of his strategic goals, restructuring the core mortgage operations, such as exiting certain lending products, is largely done. The bank has dramatically pulled back on creating mortgages, but Moynihan reiterated they remain a “core” product.  [WSJ  12/6/11]