O'Neal's future

I'm still not sure what to make of the Stanley O'Neal news. The surprising part is that the Merrill Lynch board was supposed to be in O'Neal's hip pocket. So I guess this is a good sign as far as the corporate governance movement goes. In my humble opinion, history will be kind to this man. He was a stand up guy to the end. Yes, the credit debacle happened on his watch. At least we knew where the buck stopped. I think based on his record, he could have been given a chance to manage the firm through the crisis. Were it not for board dynamics, perhaps we would be focusing on solutions rather than a CEO search. But it's spilled milk now. We'll hear from O'Neal again. He is only 55. Plenty of time for a second act. - Jim