Bank of America (BAC) CEO Ken Lewis's swan song in front of financial analysts seemed anti-climactic. He spoke for just 25 minutes, and he took no questions. According to the AP, he had some rather dour words about the speed of the current recovery in the financial services industry, noting that it is in its very early stages.

That's not the case at Goldman Sachs (GS), but that's not a great comparison for Lewis' bank. He choose to spend most of his time on the call speaking about the Merrill Lynch deal. He noted the integration is ahead of schedule and will generate more savings than originally forecast. The fact is that when all is said and done, the Merrill Lynch deal looks like it may work out well.

He bet his career on it and lost, frankly. But not because the deal didn't make strategic sense. He lost because of all the issues surrounding the deal. He may draw some comfort from the truth that while most assume he had to step down, there are few people able to step into his shoes. Reuters calls it "the most prestigious job that nobody wants." The latest status symbol on Wall Street is to turn down the board's overtures. 

For more about the meeting:
- here's the AP article

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