As much as some people want to blame all of Merrill Lynch’s woes on the soon-to-be-departing Ken Lewis, you just cannot. Too much of Merrill’s problems were of their making. Its just not right to blame everything that has happened since last year on B of A, given what came the years before.
I recall VERY early in my career as a trader being given a tour of Merrill’s vast trading floor in the World Financial Center. It was where the word ginormous came from.
Those of us who know what Mother Merrill once was before it was Stan O’Nealed, before it was gutted like a pig to be roasted, can look at what happened and just shake our heads in dumbfounded amazement.
Below are exhibits A and B — the once bustling 7th floor — they come to us from a trader (still looking for work) who was retired recently as part of the BA takeover.
No wonder office rents keep dropping in NYC:
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