In a note to investors Monday, Merrill Lynch analyst Jeff Fidicaro wrote that he expects those moves to be a "drag on operating margins" for Dell over the short term.
In the summer of 2006, Jeff Kronthal, a senior executive in Merrill Lynch's (nyse: MER - news - people ) structured products group, was fired after reportedly balking at then-Chief Executive Stanley O'Neal's demands that the firm get more aggressive in its risk-taking with mortgage securities.