This should help drag the fins down even more today..Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) today reported a net loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of $2.3 billion, or $2.85 per diluted share, significantly below net earnings of $2.22 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2007 and $3.14 for the third quarter of 2006. Third quarter 2006 net earnings per diluted share, excluding the impact of the one-time, after-tax net benefit of $1.1 billion ($1.8 billion pre-tax) related to the merger of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) and BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), were $1.97. Third quarter 2007 results reflect significant net write-downs and losses attributable to Merrill Lynch’s Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities (FICC) business, including write-downs of $7.9 billion across CDOs and U.S. sub-prime mortgages, which are significantly greater than the incremental $4.5 billion write-down Merrill Lynch disclosed at the time of its earnings pre-release. These write-downs and losses were partially offset by strong revenues in Global Wealth Management (GWM), Equity Markets, and Investment Banking, particularly in regions outside of the U.S. The results described above and herein, exclude Merrill Lynch Insurance Group (MLIG) which is reported under discontinued operations.
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