Does Anyone Really Believe Merrill’s Thain?

Why does he insist on going out there and setting himself up? Why?

Lest we forget, some “Thainisms”….:
In January:
* “We’re very confident that we have the capital base now that we need to go forward in 2008.”

In March / April:
* “Today I can say that we will not need additional funds. These problems are behind us. We will not return to the market.”
* “We have more capital than we need, so we can say to the market that we don’t need more injections. We can confirm that we have tackled the problem.”

Now, after financing the dumping of assets for 22 cents on the dollar, and breaking yet another of the above promises, Thain is at it again.

Watch the “explanation”:

The best part of the interview? “If the world stays as it is today, we will not need additional capital”. What?????????? When has it ever not changed?

Now, Thain recently bought $11.3 million of stock in the secondary offering recently. Before we get all excited about that, let’s not forget he received a $15 million bonus for joining Merrill (MER) last fall and is buying because the options he received to buy shares at prices between $60 and
$100 are, well, worthless.

John, just stop talking and let the performance of your company speak for itself. Had you just never said anything, all the CDO dumping and write-downs could be blamed on your predecessor and you would be “cleaning up his mess”. But, since you keep telling us “everything is fine” only to then have it not be, now you are on the hook.

Nobody believes bankers now. Just stop talking..

Has anyone else wondered why we do not hear promises from execs at Wells Fargo (WFC), Goldman Sachs (GS) or Bank of America (BAC)? They are too smart to make them.

Disclosure (“none” means no position):Long WFC, GS, none

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