Merrill to raise $8.5 billion

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Looks like Merrill Lynch wasn’t too comfy with its capital position as the firm announced it’s intent to raise $8.5 billion. The impetus for this was a CDO sale that netted out a nice $5.7 billion write down. Obviously the credit crunch continues unabated. Anyone who continues to repeat that the worst is over is just plain crazy.

If you’re scoring at home Merrill has taken $18.7 billion in losses over the last 4 quarters. POW!

From Market Watch:

Merrill Lynch & Co. said late Monday that it plans to raise $8.5 billion selling new common stock as the brokerage firm tries to bolster its capital position. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has agreed to buy $3.4 billion of the new shares, Merrill added. The firm also said it sold a big chunk of its U.S. super senior asset-backed security collateralized debt obligations, cutting its exposure in this area by $11.1 billion compared to the end of June.

From Bloomberg:

Merrill Lynch & Co. said it will record $5.7 billion of pretax writedowns in the third quarter because of additional losses on the sale of collateralized debt obligations and hedging contracts with bond-insurers including XL Capital Assurance.