Bank of America Corp. is the subject of a lawsuit that accuses the bank of hiding foreclosure problems that contributed to a drop in its share price.

The suit, filed by a union benefit plan, says Bank of America concealed problems in its recording of mortgages, Reuters reported. This damaged investors when the company suspended foreclosure proceedings last year, the suit says.

"We are reviewing the lawsuit and have no further comment at this time," said Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton.

Attorneys general in all 50 states are investigating foreclosure practices after accusations that lenders were using flawed paperwork to foreclose on homes.

The suit is a proposed class action suit. The plaintiff purchases almost 25,000 Bank of America shares in a three-month period last year.

The suit proposes a class made up of all who bought the stock between January 20, 2010 and October 19, 2010.

Another big stock market index, the Standard & Poor's 500, reached a milestone of its own Tuesday. It closed above 1,300.

Investors found plenty of reasons to send stocks sharply higher. Earnings reports from companies including Pfizer, UPS and Archer Daniels Midland were better than expected. And manufacturing had another good month in January.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow, which fell to a low of 6,547 in March 2009, soared 148 points, or 1.3 percent, Tuesday to 12,040.16.

The S&P 500 rose 21, or 1.7 percent, to 1,307.59, its first close above 1,300 since August 2008.

The Nasdaq rose 51, or 1.9 percent, to 2,751.19

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 1.1 billion shares. Five stocks rose for every one that fell.

Rosemary Vandenbroucke, 28, of Hong Kong agreed to pay $385 in fines and $985 for damage to the "Biggest Little City in the World" arch and a fire hydrant, said Dan Wong, criminal division chief for the city attorney's office.

Tammy Riggs, a lawyer for Vandenbroucke, didn't immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment on the plea deal.

Reno Municipal Court Judge Jay Dilworth accepted the plea with no other penalties, Wong said.

Nobody was injured in the crash, but authorities said the 40-foot motorhome was substantially damaged.

Vandenbroucke was originally charged with three misdemeanors—vehicular hit-and-run, failure to maintain insurance and making an improper right turn.

The Labor Day crash occurred a day after the model was arrested at the Burning Man counterculture festival north of Reno and charged with possession of a controlled substance.

A preliminary hearing on the drug case is set for Feb. 9 in Lovelock.

Vandenbroucke maintains her innocence, Riggs has said. She will not have to appear at the upcoming hearing. A conviction could result in up to four years of probation.

Authorities said the model was arrested with a small amount of ecstasy at the festival that attracts about 50,000 people

The exchange in Caracas began operating with corporate bonds issued by the Venezuela-based subsidiary of Japanese carmaker Toyota and the local company Envases Venezolanos, Planning and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani said on state television as he visited the bourse for its official launch.

He did not provide details about the corporate bonds such as amounts or interest rates, nor how much activity there was on Monday.

The Bicentennial Public Securities Exchange will compete with the privately run Caracas Stock Exchange.

Trading in the private stock exchange has dwindled after President Hugo Chavez nationalized some companies that traded shares, and it has been nearly paralyzed since securities regulators shut down and took over management of 47 brokerage companies last year.

Three other senior executives at the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank are getting salary bumps of 6.25 percent, to $850,000 from $800,000, in addition to stock awards.

In a regulatory filing, the bank says Charles H. Noski, the chief financial officer, Joe Price, the president of consumer and small business banking and Thomas K. Montag, the president of global banking and markets, are all seeing their base pay rise.

None of the executives will receive cash bonuses.