Sector Watch: Investment Banks Tumble, Led by Merrill Lynch
Financial services and investment banking companies were taking a beating in midday trading after
Merrill Lynch
(MER)
warned of a significant second-quarter shortfall.
Shares of Merrill Lynch dropped 11.7% to $58.69 in recent market activity.
Lehman Brothers
(LEH)
was also on the downside, slipping 2.9% to $74.60, and
Morgan Stanley
(MWD)
was down 4% to $61.97.
Bear Stearns
(BSC)
, which introduced a
new chairman today, fell 2.8% to $55.
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
was off 3% to $88.20, while
J.P. Morgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
slid 3.7% to $44.12.
UBS
(UBS) - Get Report
lost 1.8% to $141.25.
Merrill Lynch forecast on Tuesday that the company's second-quarter earnings would fall
well short of Wall Street's expectations. The company said it would earn between 52 cents and 57 cents a share, but analysts are looking for income of 82 cents a share. Merrill also said second-quarter revenue would drop 15% sequentially and warned of a potentially weak third quarter.