People are brilliance and discernment and vision.
Merrill Lynch used that advertising slogan this spring to emphasize its commitment to personal service. But the words also underscore a deep divide within Merrill that has left the company confused about how to approach on-line trading and that threatens Merrill's very future. On one side stand the brokers, many of whom are as involved in their clients' lives as any priest, rabbi, or therapist. Across the divide stand the techies, who have religion about the prospects of on-line trading in ways that only young propellerheads seem to be able to muster. But this time, the two sides have butted heads because on-line trading has little place for brokers.