This is not a surprise. They had hinted they were going to do that that was one of the things they need to do to accomplish double-digit earnings growth, ... I would think Citigroup has a lot of potential to cut out some expenses when you look at all the mergers over last couple of years.

The key with Merrill is they're not as dependent on some of the venture capital private equity gains some of these companies earned earlier in the year, but have now lost.

They have not done that. Have they hinted at it? Are we well aware they may want that to happen? Yes. But they said early on they're not going to try to press him into the situation.

This gives them a good platform to build on, but I don't think this is the last deal you'll see, ... You'll continue to see them building on these types of transactions.

You have probably been hearing about how well they've done as far as integration goes, how steady and slow they've gone. The ... earnings here are really core earnings, not about ... stretching by security gains or one-time items. Their reserves are strong, the future looks strong for them.

A bull market can cover a lot of sins and cultural issues.