The intimate, fly-on-the wall tale of the decline and fall of an America icon
With one notable exception, the firms that make up what we know as Wall Street
have always been part of an inbred, insular culture that most people only
vaguely understand. The exception was Merrill Lynch, a firm that revolutionized
the stock market by bringing Wall Street to Main Street, setting up offices in
far-flung cities and towns long ignored by the giants of finance. With its
"thundering herd" of financial advisers, perhaps no other business, whether in
financial services or elsewhere, so epitomized the American spirit. Merrill
Lynch was not only "bullish