Adding Merrill Lynch to Bulge Broker Equities Analysis

As we approach the completion of our initial bulge broker analysis in equities - leaving Citi, Barclays and BNP Paribas modeling among some of the remaining work to be done - today's addition to the thread is none other than the masthead for what used to be known as the "Thundering Herd": Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith. Kudos to those of you who acknowledge the oft-forgotten role played by Messrs. Pierce, Fenner & Smith. Anyway, we add this one to the rankings at an unusual time, given that - now over a decade since their shotgun wedding - Bank of America has spent some time and energy in 2019 rebranding all but a few of the Herd's remaining jewels. One impact of this effort will now place BofA Securities, LLC as the group's institutional broker-dealer arm. To wit, from the bank's latest 13F report: "Effective May 13, 2019, the U.S. brokerage operations of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (MLPF&S), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of America [...]