The new Meriwethers, writ large

One of the more positive outcomes of the on-going credit chaos is that the phrase ‘Long-Term Capital Management’ should largely pass into financial history after a record-breaking nine-year run as the most-cited-example-of-how-to-cause-a-systemic-meltdown. Numbers vary, but the consensus on LTCM’s loss is around $3.6 billion; according to my scorecard, as of Morgan Stanley’s conference call last night the new winners are:

• Morgan Stanley, $3.7 billion but it could be more;
• UBS, $4.4 billion but still counting;
• Merrill Lynch, $8 billion more or less so far; and
• Citi, between $8.5 and $10 billion, as a hurriedly-informed guess.

Bear Stearns and Lehman, who reported “a bit of fuzz in the drain,” rather than the kitchen sink, have yet to upgrade their numbers. Neither has Goldman Sachs, which has denied impending additional write-downs three times this week.

The other difference, of course, is that none of these fine institutions are generally characterized as hedge funds. Except, of course, in the sense that if it looks like a duck and it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck...