NEW YORK, NY July 18, 2008 —Merrill Lynch continues to get a thumbs down from investors, as the firm tries to manage the fallout after reporting its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: On a conference call after the market closed Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain said the firm had gone a long way to "de-risk" the securities giant by writing down over $9 billion in mortgage backed securities and unprofitable hedge funds positions.

Step two in rehabilitating the firm, symbolized by the lone bull - selling off its 2O precent stake in Mayor Bloomberg's Bloomberg LP back to Bloomberg, and the sale of a Merrill Lynch subsidiary that manages mutual funds.

Those moves added just under $8 billion to prop up the balance sheet. This past quarter the company reporting cutting 4,000 jobs. It wasn't all bad news with the firm reporting growth in overseas business and profitable commodities trading. Thain says the bull has cash on hand, with $92 billion in liquidity. For WNYC I am Bob Hennelly.