Merrill reports $8.6 billion loss for 2007

Merrill Lynch, an investment bank, on Thursday reported $11.5 billion-worth of subprime-related writedowns for the fourth quarter of 2007, taking its losses for last year to $8.6 billion. The bank recorded losses for the fourth quarter alone of 2007 was $9.8 billion, or $12.01 per diluted share.

The poor figures came in spite of record revenues for the equity markets, investment banking and global private client divisions, an indication of the extent to which Merrill's subprime-related exposu