Merrill Lynch just lost $9.8 billion.

After taking write-downs totaling $16.7 billion, the firm posted a $9.7 billion fourth quarter loss and a yearly loss of $7.78 billion.

For comparison's sake, Merrill Lynch made $7.5 billion in 2006. So that's, like, really bad.

So what do you say when you're the new CEO of a company that just lost almost $10 billion in one quarter?

John Thain, who took over as Merrill's chief executive officer in December, called the firm's results "unacceptable"...

Merrill Lynch Posts a $9.8 Billion Loss [NYT]