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[eula]

Merrill verkaufen?

http://www.mmnews.de/index.php/20080905977/Borse/Merrill-ver…
Freitag, 5. September 2008

Bei Merrill Lynch drohen angeblich noch höhere Abschreibungen. Deshalb empfiehlt Goldman Sachs: "VERKAUFEN"

Merrill Lynch ist dieses Jahr allerdings schon über 50% gefallen. Auf diesem Niveau noch eine Verkaufsempfehlung auszusprechen zeigt, dass die Bankenkrise und die Kreditkrise noch längst nicht ausgestanden ist, meinen Beobachter.

Goldman Sachs befürchtet, dass bei Merrill noch längst nicht alle Karten auf dem Tisch liegen. Ähnliches könnte auch für andere Kreditinstitute gelten.

Insbesondere das Thema Kreditkarten-Schulden sorgt die Analysten von Goldman Sachs. Dieser Posten ist bei Merrill erheblich höher als das Portfolio an unsicheren Hypotheken-Krediten und Derivaten. Im Kreditkartenbereich soll Merrill angeblich über 100 Milliarden in den Büchern haben. Im Hypothekebereich hat das Haus bereits 40 Milliarden abgeschrieben.
Merrill handelt derzeit bei 1,22 fachen des offiziellen Buchwerts. Citigroup dagegen wird beispielsweise derzeit mit dem 0,91 fachen des Buchwertes bewertet.

[eula]

[Dorfrichter]

Die Bank steht auf meiner Liste möglicher Pleitekandidaten GANZ OBEN.

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Kurssturz bei Merrill Lynch

Freitag, 12. September 2008
http://www.mmnews.de/index.php/200809121026/MM-News/Kursstur…" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">http://www.mmnews.de/index.php/200809121026/MM-News/Kursstur…

Die Situation bei den US-Banken wird immer dramatischer. Panikverkäufe bei Merrill Lynch.

Zu einem massenhaften Ausverkauf kam es am Mittwoche bei Merrill Lynch. Die Aktie verlor 16% und fiel auch nachbörslich weiter auf 19 $. Am Mittwoch notierte das Papier noch über 24$. Merrill Lynch ist die viertgrößte Bank in den USA.

Händler an der Wall Street sprachen davon, dass Merrill nun auch die "Lehman - Krankheit" hätte. "Wenn es Lehman Brothers schlecht geht, warum soll es dann Merrill besser gehen?" - schließlich verfolgen beide Finanzunternehmen ähnliche Geschäftsmodelle.

Merrill Lynch stürzten besonders zu Handelsschluss unter hohen Umsätzen in die Tiefe. Kein gutes Zeichen, wie man an der Street munkelt. Einige Händler sind unverhohlen der Meinung, dass Merrill das nächste "Opfer" sein wird.

Die Aktie fiel auf den tiefsten Stand seit 10 Jahren. Insider gehen davon aus, dass Merrill noch erheblichen Abschreibungsbedarf hätte und noch nicht alle Leichen im Keller gezeigt hätte.

Immerhin ist Merrill schon einen Schritt weiter als Lehman, weil das Unternehmen letzten Monat bekannt gab, sich von 30 Milliarden Dollar toxischen Krediten getrennt zu haben, die zu einem Spottpreis an die Private Equity Company Lone Star verkauft wurden.

Doch dies konnte die Besitzer von Anteilsscheinen an Merrill in den letzten Tagen offenbar immer weniger überzeugen.

Merrill hatte insgesamt 40 Milliarden Dollar abgeschrieben. Ein Analyst von Goldman Sachs prognostizierte, dass die Firma aber noch höheren Abschreibungsbedarf hätte und noch in diesem Jahr mindestens 5 Milliarden Dollar hinzukommen.

Mit dem sinkenden Aktienkurs dürfte es aber immer schwieriger werden, neues Kapital aufzunehmen, so die Kommentare an der Wall Street.

Ben Wallace, Analyst von Grimes & Co. sagte: "Der Schwächste in der Reihe der Investmentbanken war sicherlicher Bear Stearns, gefolgt von offensichtlich Lehman Brothers und der Nächste auf der Liste ist Merrill Lynch."

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L&S

Name:MERRILL LYNCH
BID:13.84
ASK:13.98
Tendenz:tendenz
Change:-0.01
Change %:-0.07%
Kurs von 2008-09-12 08:08:13

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Hoffentlich gehen nicht Lehman Brothers und auch nicht Merrill Lynch Pleite, denn dann haben die USA und auch die Weltbörsen ein Problem, was sie nicht so schnell verkraften werden. Dann ist auch ein Crash an den Weltbörsen möglich.

http://www.mmnews.de/index.php/200809131044/MM-News/Systemko…

[0203]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 35.101.456 von eula am 14.09.08 17:56:54

BofA, Merrill in Merger Talks
Bank of America and Merrill Lynch are in merger discussions. The talks come amid a Wall Street scramble to sort out a potential liquidation of Lehman Brothers. Much remains uncertain and conditions were fluid. 4:08 p.m.

quelle wsj.com

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Bank of America kauft Merrill Lynch 15.9.2008 04:12


Der Finanzkonzern Bank of America übernimmt laut Zeitungsbericht die angeschlagene drittgrösste US-Investmentbank Merrill Lynch. Der Kaufpreis liege bei rund 44 Mrd. Dollar, berichtete das "Wall Street Journal Online" unter Berufung auf Insider. Die Aufsichtsgremien beider Gesellschaften hätten der Übernahme bereits zugestimmt. Merrill Lynch war wegen Milliardenverlusten und einem dramatischen Kursverfall immer stärker unter Druck geraten. Die Bank of America galt bis zuletzt auch als möglicher Käufer der US-Investmentbank Lehman Brothers.

http://news.search.ch/wirtschaft/2008-09-15/bank-of-america-…

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Bank of America Said to Buy Merrill for $44 Billion (Update1)

By David Mildenberg and Bradley Keoun

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. agreed to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. in a deal that values the 94-year-old firm at about $44 billion after its shares plummeted in the past week, two people familiar with the deal said.

The companies' boards approved the merger agreement this evening, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the deliberations were private. Payment will be in Bank of America stock, one of them said. The $29-a-share purchase price, while 70 percent below the stock's January 2006 record, is 70 percent more than the closing price of $17.05 in New York trading on Sept. 12.

Merrill, the third-biggest U.S. securities firm by market value, agreed to the sale after a weekend of talks at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York about the fate of smaller rival Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

By Sunday evening in New York, Lehman was preparing to file for bankruptcy, wounded by a credit crisis that has forced the world's biggest banks to book more than $510 billion of writedowns. Merrill's sale, in the wake of Bear Stearns Cos.' collapse in March, may leave Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley as the only survivors among the five biggest independent investment banks on Wall Street.

``A merger between Merrill and Bank of America is a good idea,'' said Richard Bove, an analyst at Ladenberg Thalmann & Co. in Lutz, Florida. ``If Lehman fails, the next bank to be attacked would be Merrill. They are attempting to forestall that attack by linking with Bank of America.''

Biggest Brokerage

Spokespeople for Bank of America and Merrill, which employs about 16,690 financial advisers, the largest U.S. brokerage force, declined to comment.

Bank of America, led by Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis, 61, has maintained its AA credit rating as other U.S. financial institutions, including Merrill, faced downgrades. Merrill's stock plunged 36 percent last week after Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney predicted a $6.87 billion third- quarter loss and investors speculated that New York-based Merrill may sink along with Lehman.

Bank of America, based in Charlotte, has rallied since reaching a low on July 15.

Merrill CEO John Thain, 53, was among the Wall Street chiefs who gathered the past three days for a series of meetings at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to discuss a resolution for Lehman. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and New York Fed President Timothy Geithner summoned the executives to the weekend meetings.

Bank of America's Rally

Representatives of Bank of America skipped the initial sessions because the company was bidding for Lehman.

Bank of America has rallied 82 percent since reaching a low on July 15. On Sept. 12, the shares climbed 68 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $33.74 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Merrill shares fell 12 percent on Sept. 12 to $17.05, the first close below $20 a share in a decade.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bradley Keoun in New York at [e-mail]; Jonathan Keehner in New York at [e-mail]
Last Updated: September 14, 2008 23:53 EDT

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Laut Gewährsmann für 50 Milliarden Dollar
Bank of America übernimmt Merrill Lynch

© AP

(PR-inside.com 15.09.2008 06:08:03)

New York (AP) Die Bank of America übernimmt die ins Strudeln geratene US-Investmentbank Merrill Lynch für rund 50 Milliarden Dollar. Das sagte ein mit den Verhandlungen vertrauter Gewährsmann in New York der Nachrichtenagentur AP. Die Bank of America zahlt damit etwa 29 Dollar pro Aktie für Merrill. Mit dem Deal entsteht ein riesiges Finanzinstitut, gleichzeitig wird eine Rettung der schwer angeschlagenen US-Investmentbank Lehman Brothers immer unwahrscheinlicher. Die Bank of America galt neben der britischen Barclays Bank als interessiertester Käufer für Lehman Brothers. Die US-Regierung drängte sie jedoch, Merrill Lynch zu übernehmen. Vertreter der Regierung und verschiedener Banken waren am Wochenende zu Gesprächen über das Schicksal von Lehman Brothers zusammengekommen.

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Bank of America Will Buy Merrill to Gain Brokerage (Update1)

By David Mildenberg and Bradley Keoun

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. cemented its status as the largest U.S. consumer bank by agreeing to acquire Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's biggest brokerage firm, for about $50 billion.

The bank will swap 0.8595 shares of its stock, equal to $29 a share based on Friday's closing price, for each share of New York-based Merrill Lynch, according to a statement from Bank of America today. The bank pulled out of talks yesterday to acquire Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the beleaguered securities firm. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009.

The sale would mean 94-year-old Merrill, led by John Thain and known for its familiar bull logo, won't become the next casualty of the global credit crisis, which pushed Lehman to the brink of failure. While Merrill has suffered almost $19 billion in net losses tied to mortgages, Bank of America would gain the firm's the 16,690-person staff of advisers managing about $1.6 trillion for retail customers.

``If Bank of America can put a fence around the bad assets, that retail distribution is a powerhouse,'' said Peter Sorrentino, senior portfolio manager at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati, which manages $16.5 billion in assets. ``The Merrill Lynch combination makes more sense than a Lehman deal.''

Merrill Lynch is the second bargain picked up this year by Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis tied to the collapse of U.S. mortgage markets. Bank of America paid $2.5 billion in stock last July for Countrywide Financial Corp., making the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank the nation's biggest home lender. Merrill Lynch has plunged more than 80 percent from its January 2007 high of $97.53.

Merrill's Value

Lewis, 61, has been CEO for seven years, a tenure that has included more than $100 billion in acquisitions, including FleetBoston Financial Corp. and credit-card issuer MBNA Corp.

In Merrill's case, he's buying assets worth more than $40 a share, according to a Sept. 12 Citigroup Inc. analysis. The wealth management unit alone is worth $16 a share, said the report by Prashant Bhatia.

Merrill also owns about half of BlackRock Inc., the New York-based money-management company that had a market value of $24 billion as of Sept. 12. The total value of the Bank of America bid includes stock options, restricted stock units and convertible securities, a person familiar with the deal said.

``The fact that the biggest brokerage would be bought by the biggest retail bank is certainly historic,'' said John Medlin Jr., 74, retired chief executive officer at Wachovia Corp. ``Bank of America decided they weren't going to take on the Lehman risk, but they concluded the risk wasn't as severe at Merrill Lynch.''

Staff Cuts

Bank of America employed about 207,000 people at midyear, compared with 61,900 at Merrill Lynch. ``B of A is known for making big cuts,'' said John Challenger at Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., the Chicago-based placement firm. ``They go in and thin it out,'' moving some functions to the bank's headquarters, he said.

The bank paid $3.3 billion in July 2007 for U.S. Trust Corp. to expand its wealth management business. The company had $589 billion in assets under management as of June 30 and its full-service brokerage, Banc of America Investments, employs about 5,600 financial advisers. The wealth management business contributed 14 percent of Bank of America's profit last year.

Adding Merrill's merger advisory business, led by Steven Baronoff, to Bank of America's would transform the bank into one of the top 10 players in one of Wall Street's most lucrative businesses. Merrill is the world's sixth-biggest adviser this year, and Bank of America ranks 18th.

Regrets and Retrenchment

Together, the $594 billion of transactions the two firms are working on may create the No. 3 player, behind Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc., according to Bloomberg data.

The combination may also fuse Bank of America's leveraged lending and high-yield debt underwriting with Merrill's equities unit. Bank of America is the biggest arranger of U.S. leveraged loans and the second-biggest underwriter of U.S. high-yield debt, behind JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to Bloomberg data.

Merrill ranks ninth and 10th in those categories. Merrill ranks third among equity underwriters, and Bank of America is 10th.

The Merrill purchase comes less than a year after Lewis, frustrated by proprietary trading losses at his company, said on a conference call, ``I've had all the fun I can stand in investment banking'' and vowed to cut back the unit.

While he later said he regretted the comment because it made clients question his commitment to the business, Lewis replaced the head of investment banking and cut staff, citing slower demand for many capital markets businesses. He promoted former wealth management division leader Brian Moynihan as president of the corporate and investment bank.

Countrywide Purchase

Since March Moynihan has recruited more than two dozen people including senior investment bankers and analysts from Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley and other Wall Street firms. The hires include David Glaser, former co-head of investment banking at Bear Stearns, and David Flannery, former head of leveraged capital markets at Deutsche Bank Securities.

``It's a puzzle that Ken Lewis said he didn't want to be in the investment banking business and here he is jumping in with both feet,'' said Jack Ablin, who helps manage $65 billion as chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank, including shares of Merrill and Bank of America. ``Maybe by harnessing the brain power of Merrill they can become a player.''

Lewis' willingness to buy Merrill comes two and a half months after Bank of America completed its $2.5 billion purchase of Countrywide, which was forced to sell due to mounting losses on subprime home loans -- the same assets that led to four straight quarterly losses at Merrill Lynch. Subprime loans go to home buyers with the weakest credit, and defaults are running at record rates.

Merrill's History

Because of its trading losses and slumping demand in capital markets, Bank of America's corporate and investment bank made up 4 percent of the company's profit last year, down from 25 percent in 2006. The company is the dominant U.S. retail bank, accounting for almost 10 percent of the nation's bank deposits and about one of every five newly issued home mortgages.

The deal may mark the end of Merrill's almost century-long history as an independent company. According to Merrill's Web site, founder Charles Merrill solidified his reputation by advising clients to sell stocks prior to the crash of 1929. The firm went public in 1971 and in 1974 introduced its corporate logo -- a bull that Merrill executives say embodies one of the most recognizable brands in the world.

Stan O'Neal

Merrill's stock returned more than 13 percent a year from 2000 through 2006. Then last year, the housing market began to falter, and investments linked to the subprime mortgage market made under then-CEO Stan O'Neal tumbled in value. The firm posted a $2.24 billion loss in the second quarter, and O'Neal was dismissed in October 2007.

The board replaced him with Thain, 53, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive who earned the moniker ``Mr. Fixit'' for his stewardship of the New York Stock Exchange for four years beginning in January 2004. Thain took over Dec. 1.

Merrill still had more than $50 billion of mortgage-linked ``collateralized debt obligations,'' and their value continued to tumble. Merrill posted a $9.8 billion loss in the fourth quarter, and Thain had to sell about $12 billion of equity in Merrill to bolster its capital base. At the time, Thain said he thought Merrill's troubles were mostly behind it.

``We're very comfortable with our position,'' Thain said on Jan. 30.

Stock Falls

Merrill posted another $6.6 billion of losses in the first and second quarters, and in July Thain announced the sale of $31 billion of CDOs for 22 cents on the dollar, resulting in another $4.4 billion of writedowns. With the prospect of more losses -- Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney predicted last week Merrill would post a $6.87 billion deficit for the third quarter -- the stock plunged 36 percent to $17.05, adding pressure on Thain to act and avoid the of Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman.

``The potential of a Bank of America-Merrill deal is very positive for the market,'' said Peter Kenny, a managing director at Knight Capital Group Inc., the Jersey City, New Jersey-based brokerage that handles about $1 trillion of stock transactions a quarter. ``It's a stronger balance sheet, and brings more certainty and confidence in the counterparty of trades.''

To contact the reporter on this story: David Mildenberg in Charlotte at [e-mail]; Bradley Keoun in New York at [e-mail];
Last Updated: September 15, 2008 01:01 EDT

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Merrill's Thain, Montag May Get Payouts of $47 Million on Sale

By Jonathan Keehner and Bradley Keoun
Enlarge Image/Details

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Thain and trading-division head Thomas Montag may reap payouts totaling more than $47 million if they leave or are given lesser roles after Bank of America Corp. buys the firm.

Thain, hired last December following the ouster of Stan O'Neal, stands to collect about $11 million on the vesting of free shares if he doesn't stay after the sale, said Graef Crystal, a Santa Rosa, California-based compensation consultant. Montag, who joined in August and is a former colleague of Thain's from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., would get $30 million in accelerated stock awards and at least $6.4 million in options if he's dismissed or his duties are diminished after a change of control, Crystal said.

While Thain managed to negotiate a merger even as rival Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sank into bankruptcy, shareholders may resent the executive payouts. Merrill's stock returned more than 13 percent a year from 2000 through 2006. Since Dec. 1 of last year, Thain's first day, the shares have fallen about 70 percent, as writedowns on devalued mortgage holdings eroded the company's financial results.

``Investors will definitely be disappointed,'' said Richard Bove, an analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. ``Thain's claim to fame here is that he kept them from going bankrupt.''

Merrill spokesman William Halldin declined to comment.

Under terms of the deal announced yesterday by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank America, each Merrill share will be exchanged for 0.8595 shares of Bank of America stock. Based on Bank of America's stock price of $33.74 on Sept. 12, that works out to about $29 a share.

Bonus Payments

Because the payment is in stock, Merrill shareholders would get less if Bank of America's share price falls before the deal's closing date, scheduled for the first quarter of next year.

Any payouts triggered by a change in control are on top of a $15 million signing bonus awarded to Thain last December and a guaranteed $39 million bonus Montag is due to get in January for his work in 2008.

Merrill shares were little changed yesterday in New York. They plunged 36 percent last week as investors speculated that the New York-based firm might suffer the fate of Lehman.

At a press conference yesterday, Thain, 53, acknowledged that he wanted a better result.

``This isn't necessarily the outcome I would have expected when I took this job,'' Thain said. He said his future role at the combined company hasn't been decided.

`Mr. Fixit'

Thain earned the moniker ``Mr. Fixit'' for his stewardship of the New York Stock Exchange for four years beginning in January 2004. Before that, he was president and chief operating officer at New York-based Goldman, where he served under then-CEO Henry Paulson. Now U.S. Treasury secretary, Paulson helped to lead a weekend of discussions during which Bank of America initially weighed a bid for Lehman.

Thain said Merrill's talks with Bank of America began on the morning of Sept. 13. The deal was done by nightfall the next day.

Writedowns on mortgage-linked investments have stuck Merrill with almost $19 billion of net losses over the past year, and Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney predicted last week that Merrill would post a $6.87 billion deficit in the current quarter.

``I doubt Thain understood the magnitude of risk and exposure on the Merrill's balance sheet,'' Bove said. ``I don't think anyone could have done a whole lot.''

If Thain leaves the newly merged company, he will get 379,637 shares, worth $11 million at the $29 per share offering price, according to Crystal.

Magnitude, Risk

The payouts wouldn't be much of a raise compared with the $20.2 million Thain got during his last year at Goldman Sachs in 2003.

``Thain wasn't at Merrill for very long,'' said David Schmidt, a senior consultant for New York-based compensation firm James F. Reda & Associates. ``My sense is he isn't coming out ahead relative to where he was.''

As January of this year, Thain began recruiting Montag, who agreed in April to join as head of trading and sales with a start date of Aug. 4. In addition to the $39 million 2008 bonus, Montag got 1.05 million shares subject to vesting over three years, according to regulatory filings, awarded to replace stock grants from his prior employer that he forfeited by joining Merrill.

Montag, 51, also has 10-year options on 2.4 million shares of Merrill Lynch stock carrying a strike price of $26.40, Crystal said. Those options, which would fully vest if he left the combined company, would be worth a minimum of $6.4 million at the $29 per share offer price, according to Crystal, and could be worth far more.

Direct Report

Montag's contract states that his stock automatically vests after a change of control if there's a ``qualifying employment termination,'' including a reduction in his responsibilities or a decrease in pay that is not in line with what's ``experienced generally by other employees of Merrill.'' Another triggering condition is being required to report to ``someone other than the CEO.'' Currently, Montag reports directly to Thain.

Another Thain recruit, Peter Kraus, joined one week ago and spent the past weekend helping to negotiate the Bank of America deal. Merrill's contract with Kraus, also a former colleague of Thain's from Goldman Sachs, hasn't been disclosed.

``That Thain was able to pull off any sort of deal in this market may be sufficient for investors,'' said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. ``Just ask a Lehman shareholder.''

Lehman shares dropped to 20 cents in New York trading yesterday, down 99.7 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Keehner in New York [e-mail].
Last Updated: September 16, 2008 00:01 EDT

[Chartsetter]

der Markt glaubt meiner Meinung nach auch nicht an den Erfolg der Rettungsaktionen bei ML. Dafür gings zu derbe ab. Kaum eine Gegenreaktion. Ich habe verkauft und bin mit nem blauen Auge raus gekommen. Habe heute morgen ne ganz gute Strategie gefunden hätte ich das vorher gewusst. Kann leider wohl aus rechtlichen Gründen den text rein stellen. Aber in der Lehman Analyse im unteren Teil
http://www.renditetrader.net/community/weblog/2008/09/16/leh…