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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dealer who wrote (46087)	1/9/2002 4:19:03 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Merrill to Cut 9,000 Jobs, Take Charge NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc. (NYSE:MER - news), the No. 1 U.S. brokerage, on Wednesday said it will cut about 9,000 jobs, or 16 percent of its work force, and take a $2.2 billion charge as it wrestles to rein in costs and eke out profits in the slack U.S. economy. The New York-based firm, like other brokerages, is fighting a stock market slump and a sharp drop in revenues from advising companies on mergers and new stock offerings. The Sept. 11 attacks on the United States that shut down stock markets for four days further damaged the economy and created widespread uncertainty on Wall Street. Merrill cut 6,100 jobs last year and in October offered severance packages, potentially worth more than a year's salary, to all of its employees in an effort to reduce its work force and cut costs. On Wednesday the company forecast lower fourth-quarter earnings of 48 cents to 50 cents a share, excluding the charge. Wall Street had expected earnings of 41 cents to 58 cents a share, with a consensus estimate of 48 cents, according to market research firm Thomson Financial/First Call. Merrill earned 93 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter. Merrill said it expects fourth-quarter revenues to be down about 8 percent from the third quarter, mostly because of slack bond trading revenues and less investment banking business. It said the steps to cut jobs and costs should save it about $1.4 billion annually. Merrill employed about 57,000 people around the world at the end of the fourth quarter. ``Based on a detailed review of all our businesses over the past three months, and our current market outlook, we are moving aggressively to make Merrill Lynch leaner, more competitive, more focused than ever on serving clients in our chosen markets around the world,'' David Komansky, Merrill chairman and chief executive, and Stan O'Neal, president and chief operating officer, said in a joint statement. About $1.2 billion of the charge relates to severance, about $500 million relates to consolidating and closing some offices, and about $300 million relates to the write-down of technology assets, Merrill said. dailynews.yahoo.com

To: Dealer who wrote (46087)	1/9/2002 8:07:20 PM
From: BirdDog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Politians have got to be such big shot know it alls I agree with you. McCain is an idiot. They shouldn't even let him go on such a trip again...ever. BTW: Basically, all the market did was to close that gap open this morning. BirdDog@OhHomeOnTheRange.com

To: Dealer who wrote (46087)	1/10/2002 4:47:27 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Blue Chip Poll: Recession Just About Over Thursday January 10, 12:02 am Eastern Time By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. recession's days are numbered, an influential panel of economists predicted on Thursday. Blue Chip Economic Indicators, a monthly newsletter, said that more than 90 percent of the private economists it surveyed for its January issue pegged the end of the recession as taking place sometime before the end of March. ``Fresh evidence has emerged that suggests a bottoming in U.S. economic activity is well advanced and that a recovery will take hold relatively soon, barring some new shock,'' the Kansas City, Mo.-based newsletter said. Blue Chip cited gains for the past three months in consumer confidence and a more stable employment picture as two of the signals of an imminent recovery. The U.S. economy lost 124,000 jobs in December, according to the Labor Department's monthly employment report released last week. While the shrinkage of payrolls implied continued weakness, economists were encouraged that the job losses amounted to a fraction of the 400,000 monthly job cuts averaged in October and November. They also took heart at an increase in worker hours, which suggests companies are working their employees harder to meet increased production demands. In economic downturns, companies often boost worker hours just before they are about to start hiring again. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, viewed as the arbiter of U.S. business cycles, the U.S. economy slipped into recession in March. NBER dates recessions and expansions after the fact, and likely will not offer its own declaration on the timing of the recovery until well after it is under way. Among the Blue Chip forecasters, 37 percent picked March as the most likely time for the recovery to take hold. Twenty-six percent chose February, while 22 percent zeroed in on January. Nearly 7 percent of the economists said a recovery had already begun in December. Consistent with a recovery, the Blue Chip panel projected gross domestic product would eke out a small gain in the first quarter of 2002, rising 0.7 percent. GDP fell 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2001 and the consensus forecast sees a drop of 1 percent for the fourth quarter. Figures for fourth-quarter GDP are due out later this month from the Commerce Department. Under the Blue Chip consensus scenario, the economy will pick up momentum as 2002 progresses but its pace will be rather lackadaisical. GDP is seen growing 2.6 percent in the second quarter, 3.6 percent in the third quarter and 3.8 percent in the fourth. During 2002 overall, GDP growth was projected at an anemic 1 percent.