Caught

Merrill Lynch and CEO John Thain sought to get out in front by playing fast and loose with reckless disregard for other peoples money and today those other people, if not Merrill saw that risk catch up.

Merrill Lynch & Co. posted its third straight quarterly loss and said it will cut about 3,000 more jobs after the credit seizure forced the investment bank to write down at least $6.5 billion of debt.

For the fiscal first quarter 2008 Merrill wrote down $6.6 billion to CDOs and another $3.1 billion to the plummeting value of mortgage-related securities on hold at its U.S. banks, giving a total of $9.7 billion written down this year so far.

In the bigger picture the company has written down $18 billion on CDOs alone in the past nine months, and has also written off about $29 billion worth of risky asset-backed securities and leveraged loans.

The reality for Merrill Lynch is as it was for Bear Stearns-STARKE. John Thain, was hired as chief executive four months ago, but not to save the company. For a major bank that rose to the top on ponzi finance, which knows only that finance system, now dying in the end of days of ponzi finance, there is no salvation. No it is more likely the only reason Thain is in is to hit one out of the park. That best explains psychotic frenzy of risky double down dealing that Thain has engaged his company in since his arrival. It is a low probability desperate attempt to squeeze a few cents out of each share for the cadre of elite insiders, ala Bear Stearns, but its no true rescue just another part of the scam.