Bloomberg - "Merrill Loaded for Bear in Mortgage Market That Humiliated HSBC" (2-12-07)

"Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive Officer Stanley O'Neal was willing to lose $230 million to catch Bear Stearns Cos. and the shakeout is just beginning. That's because Merrill is determined to capture a dominant share of trading in bonds backed by home loans, the fastest- growing debt market since 1995 and this year's most troubled. O'Neal's enthusiasm for mortgages to potentially delinquent borrowers coincides with the highest default rate in more than six years, a record contraction in demand for so-called subprime loans and descending bond prices."