lehman bros bankrupt, merrill lynch sold Options

[brooklyneast05]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street was a vastly different world Monday from what it looked like just days earlier, following one of the most harrowing days in the history of U.S. financial industry.

In less than a day, Lehman Brothers, one of the nation's oldest investment banks, filed for bankruptcy - the largest ever announced in the United States. And Bank of America executed a bold and swift $50 billion takeover of Merrill Lynch, while the fate of other brand-name financial institutions remained in doubt.

Merrill, known for with its famous bull logo, has been an icon of Wall Street and investing in America. Still, billions in losses in the last year due to fallout in the U.S. mortgage market proved too much for the 94-year old firm.

Certainly, the disappearance of Merrill Lynch and Lehman will result in heavy job losses in the already hard-hit financial services industry. (More)

Lehman Brothers employees, which totaled some 26,000 as of the end of June, were seen carting off their belongings from corporate headquarters in midtown Manhattan as early as Sunday evening. Still, company officials at either Lehman or Merrill provided little indication about how many jobs would be lost as a result of Monday's announcement.

Wall Street firms have lost close to 10,000 jobs, or more than 5% of the work force, so far this year, according to the latest figures from the New York State Department of Labor.

wow, the stock today.

[karmakiller]

Weird, though, how close to the 9/11 anniversy this happened. I feel for the people who are losing their jobs... just when you thought the job market couldn't look any dimmer.