They are putting their hopes on a sharp snap-back in the market. Management has been in denial for a while, and they continue to be in denial. If the snap-back isn't reasonably sharp, they have to think about very, very deep cuts in spending.

We are concerned with bills that have a tendency toward over-regulation and micro-management.

It's a very risky market.

Paul's considerable development experience, team leadership skills, and knowledge of scalable data and security management will significantly enhance our testing and trading infrastructure. As we continuously work to develop the next generation of alternative investments, Paul will ensure our critical real-time data systems meet our evolving needs.

Merrill ends up with just as much exposure, if not more, to the asset management business as they did before, but they're able to remove the asset management business from under the Merrill umbrella, thereby reducing the potential conflicts of interest of running both an asset management business as well a brokerage business.

My dad (Joel Berger) has always told me to make other people look good and that's what I've always tried to do. I've found that if you make other people around you look good, you'll end up looking decent, too.