What's Merrill's Next Move?

The much-anticipated ouster of embattled CEO Stan O'Neal may have left Merrill Lynch's (ML Quote) investors with more questions than answers.

Not least of these questions is what sort of firm Merrill will be after it has identified who will lead the high-profile U.S. securities firm.

The firm's rapid firing of O'Neal Tuesday morning came a week after the firm announced huge losses in collateralized debt obligations and other shaky paper, to the tune of nearly $8 billion. The firm announced a loss of $2.2 billion, or $2.85 a share, for the quarter -- nearly six times the size of the loss O'Neal had projected earlier in the month. ...