Craig Woker Interest Quotations

The banking industry got pinched with short-term rates in 2005. But now that it appears the (Federal Reserve's) rate tightening is coming to an end, net interest margins should stay stable as banks get more visibility on how to price loans.

Merrill ends up with just as much exposure, if not more, to the asset management business as they did before, but they're able to remove the asset management business from under the Merrill umbrella, thereby reducing the potential conflicts of interest of running both an asset management business as well a brokerage business.