BofA Kicks Butt

As someone living in North Carolina, I'm not a little surprised (and pleased) by the prominence and strength of the Bank of America, a commercial bank headquartered in Charlotte that seems to be gobbling up quite a few of the assets of the old and prestigious New York investment banks. Is this because North Carolina has largely been spared the housing bubble? Is it the New South/Sun Belt versus the Rust Belt kind of thing? Or is it because we who live in North Carolina are just superior to everyone else?