Banking, finance, and taxes

Cramer Attacks John Thain of Merrill Lynch (MER, NYX)

Thain_image_2Cramer_picOn CNBC’s MAD MONEY tonight, Jim Cramer came out and added the Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) CEOJohn Thain to his "Wall of Shame" full of CEO’s that he wants to see go away. 

He noted that the problems of Thain go all the way back to when Thain was CEO of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: NYX) for lying to him then about making up market share losses to NASDAQ.

Tonight Cramer called Thain’s Merrill Lynch tenure as essentially oneof misleading information.  This is based upon saying that the firmdidn’t need dilution, wouldn’t do any dilutive financing, was hedgedagainst much risk, had CDO exposure under control, and more.

Last night we echoed some of the same after noting the Merrill Lynchcall of "We need no cash! We need cash!" after this $8.5 Billion 20%dilution financing. 

We used to dislike much of Thain’s policiesourselves, except that it was more around his policies of keeping theexchanges open a full day rather than a half-day in front of holidays(despite thinking he’s a belt and suspenders guy).

Here was our own list of CEO’s that need to go for 2008 from earlier this year showing how many have gotten the boot.

Jon C. Ogg
July 29, 2008

Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts

Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.

It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.

We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today.  Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.

 

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.