Merrill Lynch's earnings in the spotlight

Bank earnings for the second quarter have been surprisingly strong, so far. Of course, expectations were really, really low, which helped JPMorgan Chase handily top estimates (by 10 cents a share). That follows news of Wells Fargo's move to actually hike its dividend. But what the industry is really waiting for is Merrill Lynch's earnings, scheduled to be released today as the market closes. It likely will formally announce a sale of its 20 percent stake in Bloomberg. It's less likely to divest its lucrative stake in BlackRock, which announced strong earnings. The Bloomberg sale--and there may be other moves--will certainly offset the $5 to $6 billion in writeoffs analysts expect, due mainly to mortgage-backed and mortgage-insurance exposure. Analysts on average expect a loss of $1.91. Revenues are expected to come in at $3.3 billion from $9.5 billion a year earlier. Whew! That puts the crunch in perspective.

For more:
- here's an AP preview
- here are JPMorgan's numbers
- BlackRock's earnings beat expectations. Article

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