**FILE** Merrill Lynch Chief Financial Officer E. Stanley O'Neal, foreground, rides an escalator into the company's World Financial Headquarters in a New York file photo from March 27, 2002. O'Neal became the chief executive in December 2002 and added the role of chairman in April 2003. Wall Street brokerage Merrill Lynch & Co. releases an earnings report Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)