Merrill Lynch and Co's stock took a big hit after reports the biggest US brokerage sought to delay billions of dollars of losses on troubled assets by moving them to hedge funds. Shares in the company dropped 7.91 per cent to $57.28. Merrill experienced its biggest drop in 18 years, on Friday morning, before the company said it wasn't aware of any inappropriate transactions. Its shares have lost about 38 percent so far this year, shaving more than $35 billion off its market cap.
And while Merrill is still yet to replace its ousted chief executive. The New York Times is reporting, Citigroup is likely to name Robert Rubin, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary, as interim chairman while it searches for a permanent replacement for Charles Prince. Shares in CitiGroup also fell, dropping 2.03 per cent to $37.73.
In other earnings news, shares in EBAY rose 0.06 per cent to $35.02 after Bear Stearns downgraded the Internet auctioneer to "peer perform" from "out perform" as the company wades through its data and formulates its 2008 plan. Bear Stearns says the company must address two key aspects including, the sellers' satisfaction and economics. And secondly, growing the number of buyers shopping on the platform and their activity level.
Shares in IBM were higher, up 0.83 per cent to $114.59. The company, which plans to spend a record $1.5 billion next year to develop and market security products, is also looking at using acquisitions to help beef up its offerings in that area. The company's not saying when it will make its next purchase or whether any deal would be higher than the $1 billion it paid last year to buy Internet Security Systems.
And finally shares in Chevron dropped 0.63 per cent to $88.48, after the company posted a quarterly profit that missed analysts estimates, just a day after rival Exxon Mobil Corp also missed quarterly profit estimates. Margins to produce petrol and other refined products plummeted during the quarter as prices for the fuel failed to keep up with surging crude oil prices, dragging down earnings across the industry.
To the best and worst performers in the NASDAQ Top 100.
XM Satellite Radio was the best performer, up 5.38 per cent to $13.12. Millicom International and Sirius Satellite Radio were also higher.
Stocks that finished in the red include Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which fell 8.66 per cent to $28.90. Sepracor and Wynn Resorts were also lower.
