Merrill Lynch, the gift that keeps giving, lost more in one quarter than all of what GM was asking for an entire year or more (the full monty, here - anyone who calls this "astonishing" is astonishing themselves).
No Republican, that I've heard yet, has asked them to give up their corporate jet, sell their fancy offices, etc.
Showing posts with label Merrill Lynch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merrill Lynch. Show all posts
Friday, January 16, 2009
Thought for the Day
Outrageous bailout for BOA-Merrill
Geithner has shot his credibility, before he even gets the job, yes?
The idea that both BOA and Merrill could pay their dividends last quarter and then come begging for money for what looks like a totally mis-managed merger, first pass, is nothing short of scandal. The "deal" was lucrative for some, eh?
Bernanke is on the hook, too, I think. (So is everyone on the Merrill Board?).
He keeps talking and talking and talking about making 'too big to fail' a non-consideration, putting that "fix" to highest priority. Well, if they cannot find a way to 'orderly bankrupt' Merrill Lynch, after months and months of its nonsense, then what are they paid for? Is it really something that requires Congress?
Seriously, opening up a sink-hole for this "merger" is an outrageous use of Federal Loan money, now that the main part of the banking panic has passed (see Ted-spread).
That's true even moreso as BOA and the rest of the industry slam credit-card holders (including students?), denting consumer confidence and threatening to deepen and widen the recession... (Last Chance to Save BOA, Today)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Oh, Captain, My Captain!
MERRILL LYNCH: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING, AND GIVING, AND GIVING
Hero of the day: Stan O'Neal (and his Board?)
As you know, Merrill Lynch's Board just declared a quarterly $0.35 dividend, as if they aren't a national embarrassment enough.
Here's how it breaks down, based on last available figures:
| Holder | Shares | Reported | $0.35 |
| MONTAG THOMAS K. | 1,049,997 | 4-Aug-08 | $ 367,499 |
| ONEAL E STANLEY | 987,522 | 6-Feb-07 | $345,633 |
| KIM DOW | 794,042 | 13-Feb-07 | $ 277,915 |
| THAIN JOHN A | 791,068 | 29-Jul-08 | $ 276,874 |
Remember, those are quarterly. (Also the holdings info are quite a bit stale dated, so maybe not fully indicative).
From Wikipedia, the man who could do no wrong (on the Board of GM, too, our next bailout):
By 2003, he was CEO and chairman.[1] O'Neal earned US$48 million in 2006 and rund 46 million in 2007.[2]
During August and September 2007, as the sub prime crisis swept through the Global financial market, Merrill Lynch announced losses of $8 billion. In October of the same year, he announced his retirement and walked away with a compensation package valued at $161.5 million.[3]
This is why your eyes should glaze over when you hear ... all about Joe-The-Plumber.
WHO IS ON THIS ALMOST SHAMELESS BOARD?
From Merrill:
John A. Thain
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Former CEO, director and member of Management Committee of NYSE Euronext, Inc.; 52 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2007.
Carol T. Christ
President, Smith College; former executive vice chancellor and provost, University of California, Berkeley; 63 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2007.
Armando M. Codina
President and Chief Executive Officer, Flagler Development Group; Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of Florida International University; 60 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2005.
Virgis W. Colbert
Retired Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations for Miller Brewing Company; 68 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2006.
John D. Finnegan
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Chubb Corporation, a property and casualty insurance company; former Executive Vice President of General Motors Corporation, and Chairman and President of General Motors Acceptance Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation; 58 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2004.
Judith Mayhew Jonas
Member of the U.K. government's Commission for Equality and Human Rights; former Provost of Kings College, Cambridge; former Special Adviser to the Chairman, Clifford Chance, Solicitors; former Vice Chair of the London Development Agency; 59 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2006.
Aulana L. Peters
Retired Partner in the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; former Member, Public Oversight Board of AICPA; former Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; 65 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 1994.
Joseph W. Prueher
U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from 1999 to 2001; Consulting Professor to the Stanford-Harvard Preventive Defense Project; U.S. Navy Admiral (Ret.), Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Pacific Command from 1996 to 1999; 64 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2001.
Ann N. Reese
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Center for Adoption Policy, a not-for-profit corporation; former Principal, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a private equity investment firm; former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ITT Corporation, a hotel and leisure company; 54 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2004.
Charles O. Rossotti
Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group, a private global investment firm; former Commissioner of Internal Revenue at the Internal Revenue Service; former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of American Management Systems, an international business and information technology consulting firm; 66 years old; Director of Merrill Lynch since 2004.
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