Major banks move beyond stress tests

— -- The results are in. Now the largest U.S. banks are jockeying to show who are the true winners from the government-conducted stress tests.

Less than 18 hours after the Federal Reserve released estimates for how much more capital banks will need to handle losses in a worsening economy, some major players already were moving to put their troubles behind.

"Investors have confidence in Wells since it's a profitable bank which will be able to earn enough to offset future losses and raise capital," says Whitney Tilson, managing partner at T2 Partners, a Wells Fargo shareholder.

Both companies were among the 19 largest U.S. banks that the government tested to see if they have enough capital to withstand losses from a worsening economy. The tests are a key component to restoring financial stability in the Obama administration's economic recovery plan.

Indeed, BofA, which has to raise $33.9 billion in capital to meet the government's target, announced that it would issue 1.25 billion shares. However, the bank isn't raising all of it at once, rather it has registered it as an "at the market" filing, which means that it will sell the shares in chunks when market conditions are favorable.