The whole deal is confusing. They sold the CDOs but they finance 70% of the purchase. They sold stock but they give money back to the Singapore govt to cover their losses. The stock was sold at $22.50. Net-Net there are still a lot of dilution. Trading at 13 P/E, they will have to bang out ~$2 earnings. I don't think that's possible in near term.
Simple. It's a shell game. They're trying to move the little toxic pea around to confuse the rubes. Nothing has changed.
True. I used to be a broker at mother merrill, and can attest that they don't play well in the sandbox with others. Never will... I'd love the see them leave the Earth, but that would open the door to some other pompus arrogant firm to carry on what is common practice, so no real fix. On a side note, I love calling my old merrill "friends," and asking how life's treating them since they're still working for the "dark side.":eek:
Can anyone explain which Merrill products & services it actually makes sense to use? As far as I can tell, their entire business is selling worthless garbage for ridiculously expensive fees/prices.