We’ve been writing about it since January. Trends researcher Gerald Celente predicted it in his newsletter in late December 2007 and talked about it on IN Your Head Radio. Celente said we were headed for an “economic 9/11” and he has been right.
The latest is Bank of America buying Merrill Lynch for $50 billion as the 94-year-old brokerage firm tries to avoid the financial issues that have forced Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy.
According to the Wall St. Journal:
At $50 billion, Merrill is being sold at about two-thirds of its value of one year ago and half its all-time peak value of early 2007. Bank of America said it would exchange .8595 shares of its common stock for each Merrill Lynch common share, valuing Merrill at $29 a share. Merrill’s shares changed hands at $17.05 each on Friday, after falling sharply in the wake of Lehman’s looming demise. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009.
Read the WSJ article