by Calculated Risk on 10/24/2007 08:47:00 AM

From the WSJ: Merrill Lynch Posts Wide Loss, Discloses Bigger Write-Downs

Merrill Lynch & Co. swung to a wider-than-projected third-quarter net loss because of $7.9 billion in write-downs on collateralized debt obligations and subprime mortgages.

Merrill had warned earlier this month that it would post a net loss of up to 50 cents a share because of writing down $4.5 billion in collateralized debt obligations and subprime mortgages and recording a net $463 million on leveraged finance commitments.

But the CDO and subprime write-downs were much higher than that and even above that of some analysts who were projecting Merrill to record write-downs at or above $7 billion.

Talk about a shocking visit to the confessional!