Alexander Hamilton founded the Bank of New York in 1784, J.P. Morgan gave his bank its eponymous name in 1895, and 31 businessmen of note established Fieldpoint Private Bank & Trust in 2008.
Lost in all the bickering between Democrats and Republicans when Bank of America officials testified before Congress last week was a seemingly crucial piece of evidence that seems to show the bank's executives relied on faulty data leading up to the December 5, 2008 shareholder vote on the $50 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
Warren Buffett came to bury Ken Lewis, not to praise him.
One of the enduring mysteries about Ken Lewis' decision to proceed with Bank of America's $50 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch last fall is why Lewis did not disclose Merrill's growing weekly multi-billion dollar losses to his shareholders before they voted on the deal on December 5. Was he pressured to close the deal by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson? Or was Lewis determined to add the investment bank to BofA's financial empire come heck or high water?
New York State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried ordered Bank of America on Wednesday to disclose information about nearly $3.6 billion in bonuses Merrill Lynch paid employees just before it was acquired by the bank.
On the morning of Sept. 27, 2007, two Merrill Lynch bankers arrived at the Rockefeller Center office of Ralph Esmerian, a jewelry dealer and art collector, and boxed up tens of millions of dollars of rare jewelry. Armed guards loaded the jewels - including a 14-carat pink diamond ring worth roughly $15 million - into a Brink's truck idling outside. Within hours the gems, some of which had been in Esmerian's family for generations, had been carted away - seized as collateral for a loan gone bad.
Merrill Lynch may have misled Congress in November about its employee bonuses, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a filing on Wednesday.
Seven former Merrill Lynch executives have been subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over $3.6 billion in bonuses paid out just before the company was acquired by federally bailed-out Bank of America last year, a source close to the investigation told CNN.
Bank of America's chief executive officer spent four hours Thursday testifying in an investigation into the $3.6 billion in bonuses that Merrill Lynch paid out just before it was acquired by the bank last year, but still refused to give out the details of those payments.
Bank of America's chief executive officer spent four hours Thursday testifying in an investigation into the $3.6 billion in bonuses that Merrill Lynch paid out just before it was acquired by the bank last year, but still refused to give out the details of those payments.
Bank of America CEO and Chairman Kenneth Lewis has been issued a subpoena by the New York State Attorney General's Office, which is investigating whether the bank violated state law by withholding information from investors, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.
On Sept. 15 last year, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis triumphantly unveiled his $50 billion deal to buy Merrill Lynch, an American icon. Lewis, 61, had coveted Merrill for years, and he planned nothing less than a cultural revolution. The steady, watch-the- nickels branch banker from Charlotte would impose commonsense discipline on the wounded bull, banishing the profligate practices he'd long reviled, especially inflated pay and the high-risk trading that had landed Merrill in so much trouble.
Bank of America has received another $20 billion from the federal government's bailout fund, along with guarantees on $118 billion of assets at the bank, to absorb its recent purchase of the ailing Merrill Lynch.
While most of Wall Street was hunkered down at the New York Federal Reserve to review Lehman's books, Greg Fleming, the president of Merrill Lynch and a former financial institutions banker, had been urging his boss, John Thain, Merrill's CEO, to call Ken Lewis to talk about a deal between the two firms. Fleming had grown concerned during the week as Merrill's stock fell to $17.05 per share, from $28.50 per share. Fleming also knew that Lewis had long coveted Merrill Lynch and that Fleming's previous boss, Stan O'Neal, had no interest in such a deal.
Bank of America said Thursday it plans to slash up to 35,000 jobs over the next three years as it absorbs Merrill Lynch and contends with the deepening recession.
Merrill Lynch's chief executive John Thain has reportedly dropped his request for a $10 million annual bonus after being blasted by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Bank of America shareholders approved the company's bold acquisition of Merrill Lynch on Friday, paving the way for one of the biggest mergers ever in banking.
Another quarter, another massive loss for Merrill Lynch.
Question: I have had several money managers over the years from Merrill Lynch, to UBS to currently Wachovia. I am paying a fee of about 1% on average but am sure there are other fees that I don't know about. I'm not sure this is working. What should I do?
To reach the new power center of Wall Street, hop a cab to La Guardia, board a flight for Charlotte, stride into a beige granite tower, go past the allegorical murals of the common man at work, then take the elevator to the 58th floor. You're at the headquarters of Bank of America, and you're about to enter the glass-framed suite of CEO Ken Lewis.
Bank of America agreed to buy Merrill Lynch early Monday in an all-stock deal valued at as much as $50 billion, the clearest sign yet of the upheaval reshaping the nation's banking and securities industries.
When others get fearful, Bank of America chief Ken Lewis finds opportunity.
Stocks tanked Monday, amid the largest financial crisis in years after Lehman Brothers filed for the biggest bankruptcy in history, Bank of America said it would buy Merrill Lynch and AIG slumped on fears that it can't raise cash.
The venerable Lehman Brothers investment bank said early Monday that it will file for bankruptcy, while Bank of America unveiled plans to buy Merrill Lynch -- two pieces of news that profoundly alter the American financial landscape.
Economists are gauging whether the current meltdown will have long-term ramifications beyond Wall Street
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Bank of America Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co. are in talks about a possible combination of the two financial companies
U.S. stocks looked set for a higher start Tuesday as Merrill Lynch's move to shore up its financial condition appeared to boost the banking sector.
Merrill Lynch & Co. on Thursday reported a $4.9 billion loss amid massive write-downs from soured mortgage positions and other risky investments
The business of "carbon farming" is growing fast -- and Merrill Lynch is the latest big company to bet that it will become profitable.
Ouch! The pain isn't over for Merrill Lynch & Co.
When Citigroup and Merrill Lynch each fessed up to nearly $10 billion in losses last quarter, investors believed the companies had finally scrubbed their books clean.
Three chief executives with ties to the mortgage crisis were paid $460 million over five years, according to a congressional report issued Thursday.
In a possible antecedent to a criminal investigation, the Justice Department has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about its investigation of Merrill Lynch & Co., according to a Friday Wall Street Journal report.
The worst housing financial crisis in decades is only going to get worse, a Merrill Lynch report said Wednesday.
Stocks tumbled Thursday morning as investors mulled Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's support of a government stimulus plan, Merrill Lynch's big quarterly loss and more troubles for the housing and manufacturing sector.
Stocks tumbled Wednesday, with investors giving up a late-session attempt at a rally, as disappointment about Intel's earnings and outlook and more worries about the economy caused another sell off on Wall Street.
Stocks looked set to slide Friday after the prospect of a big writedown from Merrill Lynch, combined with a profit warning from American Express, spooked investors.
Stocks closed higher Monday afternoon, at the end of a half-day, as investors cheered news from Merrill Lynch and worried that last-minute holiday shoppers may not have pulled through for retailers.
Stocks held gains Monday afternoon as news from Merrill Lynch helped boost the financial sector and an upbeat retail sales report suggested consumer confidence is stronger than expected.
updated: Mon Dec 24 2007 12:20:00
CNN's Charles Hodson gets some perspective on the 2007 subprime crisis from David Buik and Robert Parker.
Stocks made headway Monday morning as news from Merrill Lynch helped boost the financial sector and an upbeat retail sales report suggested consumer confidence is stronger than expected.
Stocks opened higher Monday, a half-day on Wall Street, as investors cheered an upbeat retail sales report and mulled mixed news from Merrill Lynch.
updated: Fri Dec 21 2007 17:54:00
CNN's Charles Hodson asks Max King of Investec Asset Management what lessons from 2007 can be used for 2008.
Stocks surged Tuesday, with the Dow climbing nearly 320 points, after comments from executives at Goldman Sachs and other major banks reassured investors worried about the ongoing fallout from the credit market crisis.
The precipitous, crisis-ridden exit of Stan O'Neal from the pinnacle of trouble at Merrill Lynch and the near-certain departure today of Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince hammer one point home: In today's financial institutions, which are invincibly complex, it is the responsibility of the CEO to be the chief risk manager and to do the work well. This is a job that cannot be delegated.
Stocks dipped Tuesday afternoon, as a weak consumer confidence report and news that Merrill Lynch's CEO has resigned gave investors a reason to retreat ahead of an expected rate cut from the Federal Reserve Wednesday.
Stocks slipped Tuesday morning as investors stepped back ahead of an expected quarter-percentage point interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve Wednesday.
Merrill Lynch stunned Wall Street this week when the company said it would take a loss totaling $8 billion, punctuating a particularly dismal earnings season for the banking sector.
U.S. stocks retreated at Wednesday's open after Merrill Lynch took a larger-than-expected writedown, leading to more concern about the housing sector.
A Goldman Sachs analyst slashed his earnings estimates and price target on Merrill Lynch & Co. on Wednesday, predicting a rough third quarter for the investment bank, including a $4 billion writedown in assets.
Merrill Lynch & Co. said Friday it has recorded adjustments to the value of certain investments in the third quarter, acknowledging they have continued to lose value as the debt markets remain in seizure.
Remember when it was all the rage to screen socially and environmentally irresponsible stocks, like sweatshop employers or polluters, from your portfolio? Now a new class of niche investment products has emerged to weed out what some see as even worse: the hoi polloi.
A federal appeals court on Friday struck down a judge's ruling in favor of Merrill Lynch in a dispute with Allegheny Energy over Allegheny's 2001 purchase of the investment bank's energy trading group.
Profits at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. could take a big hit if the U.S. brokerage heavyweight cuts the value on nearly $1 billion in subprime lender assets it bought just eight months ago.
updated: Fri Aug 24 2007 02:36:00
Global market outlook
Life insurer Aegon said late Monday it will buy Merrill Lynch Life Insurance Co. and ML Life Insurance Co. of New York for $1.3 billion in cash.
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. said Tuesday second-quarter net earnings rose on the strength of its investment banking business.
Wealth is becoming ever more concentrated among the richest of the rich worldwide.
Merrill Lynch (MER) ranks no. 22 on FORTUNE's list of America's largest corporations.
Analysts may be hailing Merrill Lynch's appetite for acquisition, but new fears are rising on Wall Street that Merrill's foray into the subprime mortgage lending market could put the kibosh on its plans to continue to target more companies aggressively.
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. annouced Wednesday former congressman Harold E. Ford will join the firm as vice chairman and senior policy advisor, effective March 5.
Most Widely held 1
Merrill Lynch talks a good game when it comes to saving the earth.
All indexes posted gains in November, with energy producers benefiting from a two-month peak in the price of oil. Widely held ExxonMobil led the way with an 8% gain, and the S&P's energy sector soa...
The major indexes all advanced in October, and high oil profits and rising oil prices pushed the S&P 500 energy sector from worst performer to best. Among the month's biggest winners was ExxonMobil...
Despite the choppy market over the past week, the Dow Jones industrial average has still rebounded more than 14 percent from this year's lows. Nonetheless, lots of blue-chip growth stocks remain unusually cheap.
Merrill Lynch's third-quarter earnings more than doubled from last year as the investment bank benefited from the closing of its merger between Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and BlackRock.
Merrill Lynch ranks no. 110 on FORTUNE's Global 500 this year, with $47.8 billion in revenues, up 47.2% from the previous year. The New York, New York-based company was ranked no. 151 on the 2005 list. Its 2005 profits were $5.1 billion, up 15.3% from a year earlier. 2005 was a banner year for most Global 500 companies.
Concern about rising interest rates continued to push all stock benchmarks down for the second straight month. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks was hit the hardest, and the 5.1% drop ...
Hedge funds appeared headed for another negative month, an industry tracker found, though the losses do not appear as significant as they were in May, when a meltdown in global markets and falling prices for metals dealt a tough hand to many funds.
Despite a mid-month rally, all stock benchmarks suffered losses in May. Stocks in the information technology sector, down 6.9% on average, took the biggest beating and helped drag down the Nasdaq b...
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - It's not your imagination. The rich are getting richer, but they're welcoming fewer new members into their club than they have in the past few years, according to a survey released Tuesday.
Following a jump in both oil prices and home sales, the stock market got skittish in late March as the Fed hiked rates for the 15th consecutive time. But overall, returns were still strong. Only th...
The November rally in all major stock indexes slowed in December, as the Fed increased rates for the 13th straight time and investors engaged in year-end selling. The energy sector--up 35% in 2005--managed to notch an 8% gain even as gasoline prices dropped. Shares of automaker General Motors plunged 20% for the month and 49% for the year (as of late December), in part because of a slump in car sales. The yield is 9%--and rising. But don't bet on that payout.
Dear Armchair Millionaire: I'm 52 and haven't saved much for retirement, but I figure that once I hit 65, I can work part time to make ends meet and still have time and money to do the things I want to do. Do you see any problems with my plan?
As financial instruments that steadily throw off cash, corporate bonds are a no-brainer. But until a few years ago, they were a tricky proposition for the average investor. Bond mutual funds charge...
The NASD is looking into the way Wall Street's top firms are marketing white-hot hedge funds to individuals, according to a Bloomberg report.
Like a muscle car mired in the mud, the stock market is spinning its wheels, and you're probably tired of how it's spinning yours. Even after a pickup in May, the major stock averages are down as m...
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The number of millionaires in the United States grew nearly 10 percent in 2004, trumping the growth rates of high net worth individuals in other regions across the world, according to a report released Thursday.
You've probably heard the old advice about paying off your home faster by adding a little extra to each month's mortgage payment. For some small-business owners, a contrary strategy could make sens...
Seems Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell III have some new neighbors: A survey by Merrill Lynch and consultancy Capgemini finds that the number of millionaires in the U.S. jumped a staggering 14% last ye...
There's been a lot of fuss this week about whether Google should really be worth $36 billion when it goes public.
Finally! After years of enduring an unending litany of downbeat reports on baby boomers' prospects for retirement and suffering countless lectures from finger-wagging pundits talking 'bout my generation's total cluelessness about saving for our golden years, I've come across what appears to be actual positive news.
U.S. stock markets were barely higher early Tuesday as strength in IBM and other tech issues tempered the impact of a weaker-than-expected earnings report from Merrill Lynch.
U.S. stocks closed mixed Monday, with blue chips managing a late session rise as oil fell below $40 a barrel, while technology shares declined, thanks to a bearish Merrill Lynch note on the semiconductor sector.
They're back!
If you haven't moved some of that mounting pile of cash into the stock market, odds are that after a 25 percent or so gain for Standard & Poor's 500-stock index in 2003, you're thinking hard about taking the plunge.
Corporate profits are suddenly, amazingly, pumped up. After the worst collapse in at least 50 years, reported earnings for companies in the S&P 500 have risen 41% from a December 2001 low. And the ...
Frank Sinatra sang that love is better the second time around, and Wall Street must believe it. The same sector that just a few years ago broke investors' hearts and helped devastate their portfoli...
The rich are getting richer--but not in the U.S. According to a new report by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch, the number of millionaires* increased during 2002 in every region of the wo...
--1907 A chart published after the Great Panic argues that the stock market peaks every 40 months or so. The unknown analyst misses the next peak by only three months. His prediction of a 1912 cras...
With seemingly random number grades and cloak-and-dagger banking alliances, Merrill Lynch's stock rating system is suddenly looking shadier than French skating scores. The firm's antics came to the...
For an instant take on how 2001 treated investors, all you had to do was flick on your TV. Gone were the frenetic performance-touting spots of years past. In their place: dour Schwab ads in which f...
Yet another fund company has decided it needs the help of salesmen after all. Strong Funds plans to convert several of its portfolios into load funds on Nov. 30. Soon you'll have to pay a commissio...
Merrill Lynch used to be known for its value funds, which became a pretty tough sell during the aggressive growth craze of the late 1990s. So last year the firm persuaded PBHG star Jim McCall to de...
Merrill Lynch has a bull; T. Rowe Price, a ram; and Dreyfus, a lion. But recently, a more modest-size creature has become the financial mascot of choice: the bulldog. KPMG, Franklin Templeton and B...
It's hard to believe that online brokers have Steve Langdo's feathers in a ruffle. After all, he doesn't need a lot of hand-holding, and he doesn't want lots of fancy tools to manage his $350,000 p...
Finding the stock market's ride too wild? Then consider parking some of your portfolio in convertible securities. A cross between a stock and a bond, a convertible pays interest but can be swapped ...
Investors have had a lot of their illusions shattered in the past few months. Not long ago everyone was convinced that globalization was always a good thing, that the little guy was in it for the l...
Twenty years ago, back before he became Ronald Reagan's first Treasury Secretary, Donald Regan used to give a stock speech about the future of Merrill Lynch, the firm he ran with an iron fist throu...
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