Merrill Lynch’s announcement this past week of a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion and a $8.4 billion charge for failed credit and mortgage-related investments generated a large number of comments from around the blogosphere on the future of Merrill’s CEO, E. Stanley O’Neal, none of which were better than this one from The Epicurean Dealmaker:

I cannot speculate what will happen next at Mother Merrill, but I can guarantee you O’Neal’s days at the helm are numbered. Being a CEO at an investment bank is not unlike crowd surfing at a mosh pit: it’s a pretty cool way to move around quickly, you are supported entirely by other peoples’ efforts, and everyone tries to get a piece of you. Unfortunately, when the crowd loses interest in supporting you, you tend to fall fast, hard, and painfully. In addition, after dropping you lots of your former investment banking subordinatesóboth friend and foeóhave the added charming tendency to skewer you repeatedly with long knives. Et tu, Brute?

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