VOA慢速英语 2007 1102b

ECONOMICS REPORT - Finance: Merrill Lynch CEO O'Neal Is Out After Huge Loss
By Mario Ritter / Broadcast: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 16:00:00 UTC
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Stan O'Neal

This week, directors of investment bank Merrill Lynch forced out its chief executive officer, Stan O'Neal. He retired¹ less than a week after Merrill reported its first quarterly loss in six years, and the biggest in its ninety-three-year history.

Merrill is the world's largest brokerage company. It lost over two billion dollars in the period from July through September. That was because of more than eight billion dollars in write-downs. A write-down represents a reduction in the value of investments or other assets.

The results were mostly related to subprime mortgages -- housing loans to people with risky² credit histories. Merrill has had the largest losses so far of any American bank with investments tied to subprime loans. Many of these investments are complex securities called collateralized debt obligations.

Merrill had almost eight billion dollars in write-downs on C.D.O.s and subprime mortgages. That was even more than the four and one-half billion dollars expected. Its other divisions, however, remained profitable.

Stan O'Neal worked for Merrill Lynch for twenty-one years. He held the top job since two thousand two. Board members were angry at the losses and at reports that he proposed a merger³ deal with Wachovia Bank without their approval. He chose most of the members of that board.

Critics say he failed to listen to warnings about the risk of subprime debt. Yet his decisions to make riskier⁴ investments than chief executives before him helped produce record profits for the company. He also pushed to reduce costs, including thousands of job cuts -- a culture change for a company that was known as Mother Merrill.

He leaves with about one hundred sixty million dollars worth of stock and retirement⁵ pay.

Stan O'Neal was the first African-American to lead a major Wall Street investment bank. He rose out of poverty. As a boy he picked cotton on a family farm in Alabama. Later he was a factory worker at General Motors.

Some market watchers think Merrill Lynch may have to write down an additional four billion dollars in the fourth quarter of the year. But the company was not alone in reporting big third-quarter losses.

In Europe the investment bank UBS said it lost about seven hundred million dollars. It wrote down more than three billion dollars of investments linked to subprime loans. And UBS warned that it could end the year with more losses.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

4 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

5 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。