Merrill Lynch

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Just How Bad Was 2008?
 Just How Bad Was 2008? 
Dec 31, 2008 4:37 PM CST

Just How Bad Was 2008?

The worst anyone under 70 has seen, Bloomberg reports

(Newser) - If you're under the age of 70, 2008 was probably the worst year you've lived through, reports Bloomberg. Here's why:
  • In housing, which started the downturn, median resale prices saw a 13% decline, the largest since the 1930s.
  • Foreclosure rates reached 2.97%, and mortgage delinquency hit 6.99%, both
...

Bailed-Out Bank Execs Made $1.6B Last Year

Execs made average of $2.6 million; Merrill Lynch CEO made $83 million

(Newser) - Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an AP analysis reveals. Benefits at bailed-out institutions like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs,...

Profits Were Fake, Bonuses All Too Real

How risky schemes left bankers flush, banks broke

(Newser) - Dow Kim was one of the leading bond traders at Merrill Lynch, and in 2006 he bundled together $500 million in loans into a huge CDO with the charming name Costa Bella. Since the subprime collapse, Costa Bella has cost Merrill millions—but Kim had already cashed out, awarded a...

BofA Will Lay Off 35K
 BofA Will Lay Off 35K 
Dec 11, 2008 4:59 PM CST

BofA Will Lay Off 35K

Recession, takeover of Merrill to blame for latest employee dump

(Newser) - Bank of America said today it will cut between 30,000 and 35,000 jobs in the next 3 years, the AP reports; the move is spurred by the continuing economic downturn and the bank’s recent purchase of Merrill Lynch. Cuts will be broad and will affect both the...

Morgan Stanley to Withhold Bonuses Until Bets Pay Off

Wall Street showing bonus season restraint

(Newser) - Attempting to curb criticism after taking billions in government bailout cash, Morgan Stanley has attached a “claw-back” provision to employee bonuses this year that allows the bank to withhold payouts if employees don’t manage risk properly. The Wall Street behemoth will hold onto a portion of employees’ bonuses...

Merrill CEO Backs Off $10M Bonus Request

Wall Street climate pressures Thain to forgo year-end check

(Newser) - Under a wave of criticism, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain today gave up asking for a $5-to-$10 million bonus, the Wall Street Journal reports. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called the request "nothing less than shocking" during an "abysmal year" in which Merrill lost $11 billion. Thain...

Merrill Boss Seeks $10M Bonus

Directors unlikely to comply given public sentiment

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch narrowly escaped extinction this fall, and CEO John Thain is seeking an end-of-year bonus of as much as $10 million for keeping the company alive, reports the Wall Street Journal. Merrill's board of directors—acutely aware of public scrutiny—appear unlikely to fork over that kind of package...

Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50%
 Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50% 
Dec 3, 2008 7:35 AM CST

Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50%

Still facing the fallout from the sub-prime meltdown, the firm slashes pay for 60,900 employees

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch, facing losses of $13.3 billion this year and with revenues off 96% from a year ago, will slash year-end bonuses at least 50%, Bloomberg reports. Some employees may face steeper cuts. Merrill and Bank of America, which agreed to acquire the failing investment bank earlier this year,...

Big Players Reel in Charity Spending

Drop-off in corporate giving leaves groups scrambling

(Newser) - Charities used to getting much of their money from major corporations and private foundations are feeling the economic downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bill Gates’ foundation plans to give fewer grants next year, and other large donors are honoring existing pledges but refusing to make new ones. “You...

Bank of America Doubles Stake in Chinese Bank

Shells out $7B while slashing jobs, taking bailout funds

(Newser) - Bank of America will inject $7 billion into China Construction Bank Corp, Bloomberg reports, nearly doubling its stake in the bank even as it slashes jobs and accepts government bailout money. CCB is down 45% over the past six months, and BoA CEO Ken Lewis is getting a 32% premium...

Crisis May Cost World 20M Jobs
 Crisis May Cost World 20M Jobs 
ANALYSIS
Oct 21, 2008 3:22 PM CDT

Crisis May Cost World 20M Jobs

Analysts see 'equal-opportunity recession'

(Newser) - The financial sector is slashing workers, and Silicon Valley employees are dropping like prices on last year's iPod. What industry is next? All of them, Moira Herbst writes in BusinessWeek. Every company relies on credit and consumer purchasing power, making this an “equal-opportunity recession,” a staffing agent says....

Times Tough for I-Bankers, in 'Marie Antoinette' Kind of Way

Tough times prompt some soul searching, but titans confident they'll regain Wall St. primacy

(Newser) - With Wall Street in free fall, many of its elite I-bankers are seeing the status quo turned upside-down, Vanessa Grigoriadis writes in New York. Once at the top of the heap, working for companies that praised them as smartest people out there, some are fighting to survive on the Street,...

Citi Losses Less than Expected; Merrill Drops $5B
Citi Losses Less than Expected; Merrill Drops $5B
earnings reports
Oct 16, 2008 7:20 AM CDT

Citi Losses Less than Expected; Merrill Drops $5B

Third quarter earnings show recovering bank, struggling brokerage

(Newser) - A pair of earnings reports from Citigroup and Merrill Lynch for the third quarter shows just how deeply wounded the big brokerage is, while painting a slightly brighter picture for the big bank, reports Bloomberg. Citi, the nation’s largest bank, beat analyst expectations with a net loss of $2....

Crisis Leaves Goldman Nearly Unruffled
Crisis Leaves Goldman Nearly Unruffled
OPINION
Oct 2, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

Crisis Leaves Goldman Nearly Unruffled

Being ahead of curve, having friends in high places pays dividends

(Newser) - With the US financial inferno taking down most of the big investment banks, Goldman Sachs is set to emerge “essentially the same institution,” David Weidner writes in MarketWatch, stronger than it was before and with the same powerful array of friends in high places who, intentionally or otherwise,...

Execs Were Paid $3B to Lay Credit Crisis Foundation

Wall Street chieftains were well rewarded for risks they took in 2003-07

(Newser) - More than $3 billion was paid to the chief executives of the five biggest financial firms on Wall Street in the run-up to the credit crisis, Bloomberg reports. While supervising bad mortgage-related credit bets that eventually brought the financial system to its knees, Merrill Lynch’s Stanley O’Neal took...

Mac: Delay Debate to Focus on Economy

Republican says he's leaving the campaign trail to work on bailout

(Newser) - John McCain says he's directing his staff to work with Barack Obama's campaign and the debate commission to delay Friday's debate because of the economic crisis. In a statement today, McCain says he will stop campaigning after addressing Bill Clinton's Global Initiative session tomorrow and return to Washington to focus...

New Wall Street: Less Risk, Less Innovation, Lower Pay

Era of investment banks ends

(Newser) - When Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley ditched the investment banking model, it didn’t just mark the end of an era, it marked the end of Wall Street as we know it, the Wall Street Journal declares in an editorial today. And with investment banks gone, the US financial system...

Hedge Funds Poised to Profit as Banks Shun Risk

Private equity eyes trading territory ceded by changes at Goldman, Morgan Stanley

(Newser) - With the last two large US investment banks going commercial in an effort to stay afloat, private-equity and hedge funds are stepping into the void, the Wall Street Journal reports. Taking on roles previously filled by the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, hedge funds like Citadel and private-equity...

After Meltdown, 'Safe Will Be the New Sexy': Cramer

'Good, clean, old-fashioned banking' is coming back in US markets

(Newser) - A new era has arrived on Wall Street, with the big investment firms falling, James Cramer writes in New York, and traditional banks with large deposit bases looking like the smartest option all along. “We’ll see a more chaste culture emerge from all of this, on Wall Street,...

Fed Allows Goldman, Morgan to Become Full Banks

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the nation's last two major independent investment banks, have gotten permission to become bank holding companies, the Federal Reserve said tonight. A fundamental rearrangement of Wall Street, the move will allow them to create commercial banks, which would bolster their resources, while inviting increased regulation....

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