Merrill in Peril? Writes Down $8 Billion in Bad Mortgage Debt

Merrill Lynch reported today that it is taking an $8 billion write down for bad mortgage debt held as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).  The $8 billion totals the losses reported by Citi, UBS and WaMu combined.  Merrill Lynch stock was hammered as expected. The real story here?  Merrill pre-announced write down charges in the $4.5 billion range 3 weeks ago in advance of its earnings call.  Today that number is nearly double their initial estimates based on a self-proclaimed "more conservative approach" to write downs over the last 3 weeks of analysis.  Of course, no one now believes what Merrill is saying.  The size of the miss is insane and throws in to question how upfront other banks have been and how exactly are these banks valuing their CDO and othe