Two weeks back, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse perpetrated against young boys, including an alleged incident in which Sandusky raped a 10 year-old in the shower. Since then, even more victims have come forward, and it’s been difficult to imagine how they’re coping, particularly when Sandusky will only admit to “enjoying” young people, with whom he claims he has only ever touched on the leg (though not with sexual intent), hugged, showered and just generally “horsed around.” Beyond the actual victims, which is to say, the people who were touched in highly inappropriate ways by a man 40 and 50 years their senior who was often times naked when doing so, we’ve also heard about the aftermath struggles of others affected (in their minds) by the alleged crimes, such as Joe Paterno, the PSU undergrads for whom getting drunk and watching sports on a Saturday has been ruined!!! and the school store, where merchandising sales have taken a hit.
And yet there is another group of people who, in the last couple weeks, have been overlooked. People who’ve had their entire worlds turned upside down. People for whom we should consider saying a prayer. Naturally, we speak of the legion of Merrill Lynch brokers who graduated from Penn State in the last several decades. How are they holding up? Barely hanging on by a thread here, is how. Continue reading »
Probably not, no. The Wall Street Journal reports today that the Fed asked BofA what it would do, just hypothetically, if it got sued even more than it’s already been sued. You might expect “find forty more Warren Buffetts” but BofA has actually got a trickier trick up its sleeve:
Executives of the bank recently responded to the unusual request from the Federal Reserve with a list of options that includes the issuance of a separate class of shares tied to the performance of its Merrill Lynch securities unit, these people said. Bank of America purchased Merrill Lynch in 2009, and it has become the bank’s most profitable division.
Chief Executive Brian Moynihan isn’t expected to pull the trigger soon, if ever, on the creation of a so-called Merrill Lynch tracking stock. Such a move would raise money from investors but could be viewed as counter to Mr. Moynihan’s strategy of knitting together the disparate parts of the franchise into a cohesive whole.
This seems like a pretty far-fetched, low-down-the-list option. The Journal points out that BofA probably wouldn’t get any valuation bump for Merrill by issuing a tracking stock, and that “If anything, a tracking stock would call into question whether the business is being fully integrated into BofA” and whether BofA is committed to holding on to it. Henry Blodget, on the other hand, thinks that selling tracking stock wouldn’t go far enough – that BofA could raise more cash, and please Merrill Lynch bankers who feel undervalued at a North Carolina commercial bank, by actually re-IPOing Merrill. Continue reading »
Thanks to Merrill Lynch. Continue reading »
Let this be a lesson to anyone considering “drugging and bludgeoning” their spouse. Continue reading »
Take a good look at the picture up top. Mom. Kids. Hanging out on a Saturday, like a family. But where’s dad? At the office? A strip club? None of the above. He’s working out, which is why mom wants to divorce and/or kill him. Continue reading »
Say what you want about them but they knew their Harry Potter references. And shouldn’t that count for something? Continue reading »
Counterpoint: Merrill Lynch “enhanced risk management before crisis.” Continue reading »
