"Merrill Lynch Posts Steep 4Q Loss" biggest quarterly loss since being founded 94 years ago!!

Merrill Lynch Posts Steep 4Q Loss

Merrill Lynch CEO John A. Thain is seen in this May 22, 2006 file photo. Mer...
By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP
2 hours ago

NEW YORK — Merrill Lynch & Co. on Thursday recorded its biggest quarterly loss since being founded 94 years ago after the world's largest brokerage took almost $15 billion worth of write-downs from bad subprime mortgage bets.

The fourth-quarter loss was just short of $10 billion as Merrill Lynch became the latest Wall Street bank bloodied by the ongoing credit crisis. Its massive write-offs came largely from the shrinking value of securities backed by mortgages, which have soured as borrowers are unable to repay them on time.

Merrill Lynch joins rival Wall Street investment houses Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns Cos. in posting losses in the last three months of fiscal 2007. Citigroup Inc., the nation's largest bank, reported on Tuesday a quarterly loss of almost $10 billion, the largest in its 196-year history.

John Thain, the new chief executive at Merrill Lynch, said he believes this will be the bulk of the company's write-downs from its subprime mortgage exposure. But he would not speculate about what 2008 might hold in store in other areas.<snip>

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/general/2008/01/17/Earns.Merrill.Lynch/

DOUBLE bonuses for the top brass!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7193915.stm

<snip>
Wall Street banking giant Merrill Lynch has unveiled a huge loss for 2007, crippled by exposure to risky investments in the US housing market.

It made a net loss of $7.8bn (£3.9bn) in the 12 months to the end of December from a net profit of $7.5bn in 2006.

The loss includes a massive $14.1bn write-down on failed investments related to sub-prime mortgages.

Merrill Lynch is the latest big bank to reveal losses related to the crisis in the US mortgage market.

Earlier this week, Citigroup and JP Morgan also announced write-downs because of their exposure to the crisis in the sub-prime loan sector, which focused on consumers with poor or non-existent credit histories.

JP Morgan Chase said its earnings for the last three months of 2007 fell 34%, while Citigroup reported a $9.83bn net loss for the last three months of 2007.