Memo from Oz--Merrill Lynch and Google
Merrill Reports $4.9 Billion Loss on Write-Downs
Merrill lost $4.9 billion in the quarter, or $4.95 a share, results far worse than the $1.8 billion loss expected by financial analysts. Just a year ago, Merrill recorded a profit of $2.067 billion for the second-quarter.
The bank said its mortgage assets and other investments are now worth $9.4 billion less than it once thought they were, bringing its total write-downs to close to $40 billion. It is a striking backtrack, more than wiping out the $25 billion in profit the company earned in the four and a half years before the credit crunch began.
Google Earnings Are Below Forecasts, and Shares Fall
By BRAD STONE
SAN FRANCISCO —Google, the search giant, gave an uncharacteristic disappointment to investors on Thursday, failing to meet at least some of Wall Street’s expectations for its second-quarter performance.
The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., said its profits, excluding the costs of stock options, were $4.6…