So Long Stan, and Thanks for all the Shoes

[Canelek]

http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/29/news/co ... 2007102909

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Merrill Lynch's Stanley O'Neal was widely expected Monday to step down from his positions of chairman and CEO, less than a week after the brokerage firm stunned Wall Street by announcing an $8 billion hit from bets on subprime mortgages.

Wonder if this is going to affect my bonus this year....

[Boogahz]

http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/29/news/co ... 2007102909

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Merrill Lynch's Stanley O'Neal was widely expected Monday to step down from his positions of chairman and CEO, less than a week after the brokerage firm stunned Wall Street by announcing an $8 billion hit from bets on subprime mortgages.

Wonder if this is going to affect my bonus this year....

um, I would imagine that the $8 billion hit alone would affect it

[Canelek]

No joke there!

I am officed at a subprime servicer here in Oregon. I was hired a couple years ago (after the company aquisition) to bring production SQL Server systems in line with ML standards (picture square peg, round hole). Beauty is, I report to east coast, but if the subprime industry continues to take a dump, I may be left with the option of moving to Jersey City or selling crack.

ML also bought First Franklin (originator) and HLS (servicer) last year. However, most of the fallout was taken out on upper mgmt as opposed to workers, which is nice.

[Boogahz]

I used to be with a servicer here in Austin, and I know it got passed around several times while I was still there...probably even more after I left. Everything was fine when it was under DLJ, but then Credit Suisse/First Bank took over us and...Well, they didn't seem to really know much about what they were doing with the "market" they bought into. They unloaded more shitty loans on the company than we could even get entered into our systems. I mean, these were the mortgages with rates over 20% six years ago.

[cadalano]

WaMu not doing very well either in the same sector, pub stock low as its been in like 5 years. glad I dont work there anymore but my GF does so she makes sure to fill me in on how much it sucks

[Canelek]

The whole industry is shakey, but I agree with many analysts in that ML's Risk Management was more than questionable this year. Granted, the servicing of subprime mortages is not exactly going away, but being aggressive and screwing away over 8 billion bucks are not really the same thing!

[Canelek]

The press release I got via email this morning paints it in a much nicer context, of course.

Stan O’Neal Retires From Merrill Lynch
Alberto Cribiore to Serve as Interim Non-Executive Chairman and Chair Search Committee


NEW YORK, October 30, 2007 – Stan O’Neal, chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., (NYSE: MER) has decided to retire from the company effective immediately, the company announced today. Mr. O’Neal has been chief executive officer of the company since December 2002 and joined the company 21 years ago. The company said the board of directors has elected Alberto Cribiore as interim non-executive chairman.

Merrill Lynch said Mr. Cribiore, who has been a member of the Merrill Lynch board since 2003, also will chair a search committee that will identify and evaluate chief executive candidates from within and outside of the company. Mr. Cribiore is managing partner and founder of Brera Capital, a global private equity firm, and former president of private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice.

The company said Mr. O’Neal and the board of directors both agreed that a change in leadership would best enable Merrill Lynch to move forward and focus on maintaining the strong operating performance of its businesses, which the company last week reported were performing well, apart from subprime mortgages and CDOs.

“We would like to thank Stan for the contribution he has made leading a major transformation of Merrill Lynch into a global and diversified company with enormous potential ahead of it,” said Mr. Cribiore. “His commitment to the company, its clients, shareholders and employees has never wavered and the company will reap tremendous benefits in the future from his work.”

Mr. Cribiore said that Ahmass Fakahany and Gregory Fleming will continue as Merrill Lynch co-presidents and chief operating officers. He further noted that Mr. Fakahany will lead the company’s global support, finance and human resources functions and that Mr. Fleming will lead the integrated businesses of Merrill Lynch & Co., including risk management.

“I have been very fortunate to spend the past 21 years at Merrill Lynch,” said Mr. O’Neal. “The company has provided me with opportunities that I never could have imagined growing up, culminating with my leadership of the company over the past five years. I’ve especially enjoyed working with a group of people whose collective efforts have enabled us to make Merrill Lynch a much more competitive and international company capable of realizing the full potential of a brand that is synonymous with excellence and client service. I’d like to thank all of my colleagues for their contributions and support of our mission and wish them the successful future they deserve.”

Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies with offices in 38 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.8 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit http://www.ml.com.

[Ashur]

You can always come work for us at JPMC, Canelek. We need more competent DBAs and we just had a great third quarter!

[Canelek]

You can always come work for us at JPMC, Canelek. We need more competent DBAs and we just had a great third quarter!

Can I get there in time to cash in on this year's performance bonus?

I haven't seen the stock this low since July '05!


edit: Looks like there is going to be some news in a bit, at least internally...

Management Update
Program information is available for Greg Fleming's live broadcast at 4:15 pm Eastern time, when he will discuss news coverage of Merrill Lynch and other matters.

[Canelek]

A message from Alberto Cribiore, interim non-executive chairman:

John A. Thain Named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merrill Lynch

Dear Colleagues:

The Board of Directors has appointed John A. Thain chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch, effective December 1. Most recently, John served as chief executive officer, executive director and member of the Management Committee of NYSE Euronext, Inc. and, before that, as president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs Group.

As you well know, these have been a challenging few months, not just for our firm, but also for many companies in the financial services industry. However, Merrill Lynch is now at an exciting inflection point as we address the challenges facing one part of our business and build on our strong performance in the rest of our franchise to move forward under new leadership. John brings unparalleled leadership experience and knowledge of the complexities of global capital markets as well as the skills required to operate a large financial services company. He understands our company’s challenges and, as his track record shows, he appreciates the value associated with the Merrill Lynch global brand.

John met -- and his qualifications exceeded -- our search committee’s criteria for the company’s new chief executive. He is the right person for the job and needless to say, we are delighted to have him join our firm.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to sincerely thank all of you for your contributions and your demonstrated and continued commitment, which has helped Merrill Lynch become one of the most successful companies in the world by providing outstanding service to our clients.

Please join me in extending to John a warm welcome to the Merrill Lynch family as he helps to build upon our established record of success.

This is interesting, taking a former Sach's top. I wonder if the ripple will make it out this far... I am wondering if I should get ready to move to Jersey City or Jacksonville....with my luck, it would be Jacksonville *shudder*.