Merrill Lynch said almost 8% of its total assets at the end of the first quarter were illiquid or hard to value, reinforcing concerns that its recent string of losses and need for capital haven't abated.
Merrill, which posted a $1.97 billion loss in the latest quarter and a loss of $8.6 billion last year, said its Level 3 assets surged nearly 70% to $82.4 billion as of March 31 from three months earlier. Level 3 assets are those for which there are no market prices because they trade so infrequently, and include many of the subprime assets that have battered financial firms.
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