• 25 Feb 2009 at 4:14 PM

You’ll See….You’ll All See.

By

Picture 625.pngKen Lewis had something big to say about Bank of Amerillwide today but rather than put it in one of his famous memos, disseminated the word via Bloomberg TV, presumably because he didn’t want an e-record of having ever said it. Also, because bourbon to Boone’s he was drunk and that can make typing difficult.

Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis said Merrill Lynch & Co. and Countrywide Financial Corp., the two acquisitions that some analysts say helped push down the bank’s share price, have been “stars” so far this year.
Lewis, speaking today in a Bloomberg Television interview from his Charlotte, North Carolina headquarters, said Merrill will be “a thing of beauty” over the long term. Merrill, the New York-based securities firm, lost $15.8 billion in the fourth quarter.

The 61-year-old banker’s views on the acquisitions counter criticism from analysts such as Paul Miller of Friedman Billings Ramsey Group, who contend the bank overpaid when it agreed in September to acquire Merrill and took on excessive risk as it acquired Countrywide, formerly the largest U.S. home lender.

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Comments (60)

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  1. 1
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:19 PM

    Ponzi!!

  2. 2
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:22 PM

    Poor, frightened, deluded hillbilly.

  3. 3
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:22 PM

    Best tag yet.

  4. 4
    Posted by Anal_yst | February 25, 2009 at 4:24 PM

    ditto #3…Lewis, watch out for the Event Horizon…whoops, too late

  5. 5
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:27 PM

    That’s authentic, feel-good Southern jibberish … where they pour honey on the hot poker before they shove it up your ass.

  6. 6
    Posted by Lowly Assistant | February 25, 2009 at 4:29 PM

    What a fucking window licker.
    That deal was on par with getting anally raped by Stan O’Neil, while John Thain is wearing a singlet, pouring sugar in your gas tank, and whistling “I Would Die for You.” I mean, some would pay good money for that, so whatevs. Ken did.

  7. 7
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:30 PM

    Yup….he was drunk alright!

  8. 8
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:30 PM

    I love your sardonic wit B, but black holes are not technically stars.

  9. 9
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:31 PM

    He needs to STFU. He’s like the flamboyant homosexual at the party that’s funny for a minute or so, then starts to get on everyone’s nerves.

  10. 10
    Posted by MarshallStack | February 25, 2009 at 4:32 PM

    Was he hanging with Sir Charles?
    PS – fuck FBR – they don’t even have the balls to sponsor a golf tourney. Swanky.

  11. 11
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:37 PM

    is that a cold sore that KL is sporting in that pic? my bad if someone already picked up on that.

  12. 12
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:39 PM

    @11 He cut himself shaving his pussy.

  13. 13
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:40 PM

    …do they have a Ken Lewis bobble head yet?
    Bess – why don’t you open a bobblehead store for all of the govt. and business flunkies on DB. They would be big sellers.

  14. 14
    Posted by Anal_yst | February 25, 2009 at 4:41 PM

    Reminds me of the T-Rex in “Meet the Robinsons”…
    “why aren’t you seizing the boy?!?!?”
    T-Rex (in garbled 1/2 english): “Because I have a big head…and wittle arms!”

  15. 15
    Posted by Lowly Assistant | February 25, 2009 at 4:47 PM

    “[...]government forced the bank to purchase Merrill.”
    Did they force them to purchase MER for that price? If so, Ken Lewis should crash his fucking plane into Bald and Beard’s tree fort, sans parachute.
    “Countrywide positions the bank ‘to take advantage of one of the few bright spots in the entire industry right now: the surging market for mortgage financing,’ Hugh McColl Jr. and Thomas Storrs said in the Charlotte Observer.”
    Huh. LONGEVITY, people.

  16. 16
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:47 PM

    tha mark on his lip is from kissing Bernanke’s a$$ and taking punches from Thain….

  17. 17
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 4:51 PM

    Depends on how you define “a thing of beauty”. You spend a lot of time on ratemypoo.com?

  18. 18
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 5:31 PM

    @10 no pun intended

  19. 19
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 5:31 PM

    Nah, great purchase. All those Merrill retail customers that are going to Schwab are going to need to have commercial bank accounts somewhere…. maybe they can convince them to sign up on the way out…
    –
    Unemployed? Stay in the loop at http://www.freeagentnet.com

  20. 20
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 5:32 PM

    If…
    He looks like a crook;
    He acts like a crook;
    Then?

  21. 21
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 7:42 PM

    15 – No one forced Ken to do anything. He’s just a pussy. Should’ve called off the deal. Clearly his balls are just way too small. Kinda like those appendages that look like his hands…

  22. 22
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 8:25 PM

    What does it take to be a star in Lewis’ shop?

  23. 23
    Posted by guest | February 25, 2009 at 9:02 PM

    Spirit Award points expire on Feb. 28. WTF

  24. 24
    Posted by Lowly Assistant | February 25, 2009 at 11:02 PM

    21,
    In all fairness, it was an arranged marriage. I’m not willing to give Ken a free pass, but I’m sure “incentives” were discussed between the fed, Thain, and Lewis. I’m sure if Ken would’ve opted out, they’d find/force another buyer…but, just saying.

  25. 25
    Posted by Lowly Assistant | February 25, 2009 at 11:08 PM

    24 (addendum),
    And by “just saying,” I mean dowry of some sort.
    I mean, all the shotgun weddings of (latter) 2008 contained heavy government “intervention,” in one way or another. I’m sure they didn’t have them sifting through the books and combing the bullshit, but each acq. grazed Washington’s fingertips.

  26. 26
    Posted by guest | February 26, 2009 at 3:04 AM

    No I would not buy a used car from this man.

  27. 27
    Posted by guest | February 26, 2009 at 8:51 AM

    This CEO survives after screwing shareholders, clients and employees… So there must be something else going on beneath the hood. folks who are working overtime for the integration can share their experiences about how crappy were the books and technology that came it. Just doesn’t make sense that stuff which screwed Cfc and mer, is bringing profit for kenny. The only profit they made so far is the free taxpayer’s $$

  28. 28
    Posted by guest | February 26, 2009 at 9:51 AM

    there will be nothing left of MER, its people and its customers in a year. way to pay for nothing. BAC’s management has the subtlety of a boot kick to the head. way to go kenny.

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