Several commentators seems to think that this may be the end/bottom. That would be nice but I'm not so sure how one could have any confidence in that conclusion.
Something that is bugging me is that the Singapore government had a Merrill-backed put on the stock they bought last time around and I was not aware of it.
"The new stock sale by Merrill is doubly painful because the firm offered price protection to Temasek, a Singapore state-owned investment company, on earlier sales in December and March of $5 billion in stock at $48 a share. Merrill said at the time that if it sold stock at a lower price within 12 months, it would compensate Temasek for the difference.
With Merrill's stock now near $24 a share, that price protection would cost Merrill $2.5 billion, though Temasek agreed to plow that money into its $3.4 billion investment in the new stock."
With Merrill's stock now near $24 a share, that price protection would cost Merrill $2.5 billion, though Temasek agreed to plow that money into its $3.4 billion investment in the new stock."
I'm pretty sure that info was disclosed somewhere but I missed it.
Merrill has lowered the bar for all financials in terms of what mortgage assets are worth. Pretty painful.
long MER
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