What happened A surprise rate cut by the Federal Reserve sent banks stocks sharply lower on Monday. Banks of all sizes -- including titans JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and Citigroup (NYSE: C), as well as smaller banks such as Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), SVB Financial (NASDAQ: SIVB), Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE: WAL), and Axos Financial (NYSE: AX) -- fell as much as 22%. So what COVID-19 -- the disease caused by the novel coronavirus -- threatens to drive the U.S. economy into a recession. The Federal Reserve, in a desperate attempt to mitigate the damage, slashed its benchmark federal funds rate by 100 basis points, to a target range of 0% to 0.25% on Sunday. Interest rates plunged in response. The Fed's actions will likely lead to lower profits for many banks since they tend to earn lower profit margins on loans when interest rates decline. Many investors, aware of this likelihood, sold off their bank shares, which resulted in crushing losses for bank stocks on Monday. Bank stocks suffered brutal losses on Monday. Image source: Getty Images. Now what With interest rates likely to remain low for the foreseeable future, banks' margins could stay at depressed levels for quite some time. As such, their shares could remain under pressure until interest rates stabilize and begin to head higher once again. 10 stocks we like better than Bank of AmericaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Bank of America wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of December 1, 2019 SVB Financial provides credit and banking services to The Motley Fool. Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Axos Financial, Inc. and SVB Financial Group. The Motley Fool recommends Western Alliance Bancorp. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source