train is falling off the tracks, epic disaster for all parties…

Bank of America will continue to let Merrill be their own firm.  They are not going to get involved in Merrill’s business.  I don’t see things changing one bit for Merrill.

Not to say we told you so.  But, we told you so.  Next will be the compensation plan changes, due to blah blah blah.  Its a never ending story here at BAC.

If you’re an FA at ML, I don’t care if you’re LOS 2 or 25, you’re a FOOL if you’re not actively exploring your options.  

Who will replace Thain? Sallie?

What happened to, "Thain saved Merrill???"

Also, this is just my hunch but, does Thain wear a toupee?

This is the standard BAC operating procedure.  Nothing will change until the signatures are secured and we decide to change it.

Lewis has a history of buying high and selling low.....He bought BAC and that is also proving to be right in line with his outstanding record of spotting deep value.

I think Thain is getting a bad rap…If it wasn’t for him, ML would been gone ala Lehman Bros. He got a Great price for a overrated firm in terrible market conditions.

Thain is a freakin’ piece of work. Check out this excerpt concerning his 2008 lower Manhattan office remodel:

Thain’s
purchases include: $87,000 for an area rug in Thain’s conference room
and another area rug for $44,000; a “mahogany pedestal table” for
$25,000; a “19th Century Credenza” in Thain’s office for $68,000; a
sofa for $15,000; four pairs curtains for $28,000; a pair of guest
chairs for $87,000; a “George IV Desk” for $18,000; 6 wall sconces for
$2,700; six chairs in his private dining room for $37,000; a mirror in
his private dining room for $5,000; a chandelier in the private dining
room for $13,000; fabric for a “Roman Shade” for $11,000; a “custom
coffee table” for $16,000; something called a “commode on legs” for
$35,000; a “Regency Chairs” for $24,000; “40 yards of farbric for wall
panels,” for $5,000 and a “parchment waste can” for $1,400.

I am sad to say that I am smiling as I read this.  BAC wiped out all of its market level management team in favor of going with Merrill’s.  Now there will be no ML management team to turn to.  Get ready for a bunch of consumer bankers to step in and “lead” the remaining FA’s to prosperity.  Make sure you wear your badge and a smile as you are a banker now.  Good luck…

Does he get to take the office goodies with him?

I call dibbs on that sweet trash can!

McCann and Thain out in the first 30 days…not good.  I wonder how many top producers leave in the next 30 days.

Thain is a freakin’ piece of work. Check out this excerpt concerning his 2008 lower Manhattan office remodel:

Thain’s purchases include: $87,000 for an area rug in Thain’s conference room and another area rug for $44,000; a “mahogany pedestal table” for $25,000; a “19th Century Credenza” in Thain’s office for $68,000; a sofa for $15,000; four pairs curtains for $28,000; a pair of guest chairs for $87,000; a “George IV Desk” for $18,000; 6 wall sconces for $2,700; six chairs in his private dining room for $37,000; a mirror in his private dining room for $5,000; a chandelier in the private dining room for $13,000; fabric for a “Roman Shade” for $11,000; a “custom coffee table” for $16,000; something called a “commode on legs” for $35,000; a “Regency Chairs” for $24,000; “40 yards of farbric for wall panels,” for $5,000 and a “parchment waste can” for $1,400.

That “commode on legs” better do some pretty cool stuff…

I wonder how much his toupee was?

Thain out, Moynihan in! 

I've posted at least twice in this forum somewhere that it just a matter of time before BAC would replace key leadership at ML with BAC lackies like Moynihan.

Sure BAC wanted a premium wealth management business. Want to know what the future of ML is? Just look at the lackluster investment management business BAC built with their best efforts!

An excerpt on this from newswires:

Lewis, in the past, has spoken out about his dislike of the investment banking business. In October 2007, after Bank of America posted a 32 percent drop in third quarter profit, hurt heavily by investment banking results, Lewis said: "I've had all of the fun I can stand in investment banking at the moment. So to get bigger in it is not something I really want to do."

Soon after the announcement of Thain's departure, Bank of America named its general counsel, Brian Moynihan, to succeed him.

With Thain gone, Paul Miller, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., said Lewis is likely to wind down many parts of Merrill's operations as he integrates the investment bank.

Lewis picked up Merrill with his eyes on the retail brokerage business, Miller said. Internally, Bank of America has spent heavily in recent years to build out an investment banking group, but it was still much smaller than Wall Street peers.

While retail brokerage might be appealing to Lewis and Bank of America, Miller said the riskier parts of the business are likely to be shut down, possibly including the fixed income and structured finance divisions.

When you picked up your FT this morning did you think Thain would make it through the day? That kind of news, in this kind of environment?

These companies will all probably end up going through “Public Recapitalization”, Steve Pearlstein’s suggested euphemism for nationalization. The Thain news just makes it more likely that the taxpayer will want very wealthy scalps as payback.

[quote=avise]The Thain news just makes it more likely that the taxpayer will want very wealthy scalps as payback.


[/quote]

I mean the cynical $4B in bonuses just before the BAC takeover, not today’s firing.