Bank of America shareholders will vote on the Merrill Lynch deal this week, and most expect they will approve the deal. Heck, they approved the Washington Mutual deal. A Bank of America-Merrill Lynch deal is good news for all of us. Breakingviews notes that the bank would likely have gone the route of Morgan Stanley, or worse, if it weren't for the deal struck in September. It might have gotten Bear Stearns-like ugly.

With the agreement, Merrill's stock held up better than Goldman and Morgan. The deal looks a bit expensive, however, and I expect a few gadflies to stand up and make that point, but the consequences of rejecting the deal would be severe. That said, it does seem to be a decent fit with Bank of America.

For more:
- here's the Breakingviews article [1]

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