Monday, September 15, 2008

Bye bye.. Merrill Lynch?


Bank of America to Buy Merrill Lynch for $50 Billion
Bank of America said it agreed to buy Merrill Lynch in an all-stock deal worth $50 billion, snagging the world's largest retail brokerage after one of the worst-ever weekends on Wall Street.

Whenever someone mentions 'Wall Street' this image comes to my mind almost always. It's disturbing how even the mightiest can fall in the volatile world of business. I think ML is probably the latest to die from the now famous US subprime mortgage disease.

If you are not familiar with it, here's a nice dummy's guide. BBC did a good article last year, which is a serious take on matters. Buying of ML by Bank of America is ironic in this case, as it's the lending spree by banks that created this mess. Investment companies like ML, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and others got caught napping.

Interesting lessons learnt nevertheless ...