Morning Must Reads: Bank of America Surprises, Geithner still hates Volcker

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–It’s Springtime for financials. Bank of America continues the good news for banks. Profits bloomed to a tune of $3.2 billion in the first quarter. That handily beat analysts expectations. Goldman and the rest report next week.

–The so-called Volcker Rule has been gaining some traction recently. It’s in the Senate bill and has gained support in Washington, and seemingly with Citi’s CEO. But it appears Treasury Secretary Timmy Geithner still hates the idea of limiting the riskiest businesses at the big banks.

–Fortune snags the first post-financial crisis interview with Merrill’s former boss Stan O’Neal. And comes up with some interesting tidbits. John Thain, who took over for O’Neal, is created with selling Merrill before it totally collapsed. Turns out O’Neal would have done the same thing only a year earlier, and probably for a better price.

–Our own Barbara Kiviat! has a counter intuitive story up about when leverage makes sense. The answer: Retirement investing.