RobertB
October 6th, 2007, 12:07 PM
October 6, 2007
A Big Loss at Merrill Stirs Unease
By JENNY ANDERSON
Since becoming chief executive of Merrill Lynch in 2002, E. Stanley O’Neal has been credited with making the investment bank leaner and more disciplined.
But analysts raised questions yesterday about the extent of that discipline after Merrill announced that it would take its first loss since the end of the technology boom and would write down $5 billion primarily in its fixed-income sector: subprime loans, complex debt instruments and leveraged, or risky, loans.
Merrill said it expected to lose up to 50 cents a share for the quarter, compared with a profit of $3.17 a share, or $3 billion, for the quarter a year ago. The size of the write-down was second only to one for $5.9 billion taken by Citigroup, which is three and a half times the size of Merrill.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/business/06walls.html?ei=5065&en=afbcb5c4ace7d97e&ex=1192334400&adxnnl=1&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1191686719-90Rk+1XUJUlrwg7aoJYqlw
A Big Loss at Merrill Stirs Unease
By JENNY ANDERSON
Since becoming chief executive of Merrill Lynch in 2002, E. Stanley O’Neal has been credited with making the investment bank leaner and more disciplined.
But analysts raised questions yesterday about the extent of that discipline after Merrill announced that it would take its first loss since the end of the technology boom and would write down $5 billion primarily in its fixed-income sector: subprime loans, complex debt instruments and leveraged, or risky, loans.
Merrill said it expected to lose up to 50 cents a share for the quarter, compared with a profit of $3.17 a share, or $3 billion, for the quarter a year ago. The size of the write-down was second only to one for $5.9 billion taken by Citigroup, which is three and a half times the size of Merrill.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/business/06walls.html?ei=5065&en=afbcb5c4ace7d97e&ex=1192334400&adxnnl=1&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1191686719-90Rk+1XUJUlrwg7aoJYqlw