EXHIBIT 99.1 - PRESS RELEASE

Exhibit 99.1

Merrill Lynch Reports Second Quarter 2005 Earnings Per Diluted Share of $1.14,
up 9% from 2004;
Best-Ever Second Quarter EPS and Net Earnings;
Record First Half EPS and Net Earnings

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2005--Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER)
today reported quarterly net earnings per diluted share of $1.14, up
9% from $1.05 for the year-ago quarter and down 6% from the first
quarter of 2005. Pre-tax earnings of $1.6 billion were up 15% from the
prior-year period, and net earnings of $1.13 billion increased 6% from
$1.07 billion in the 2004 second quarter. These are the highest
earnings per diluted share, pre-tax earnings and net earnings Merrill
Lynch has recorded in a second fiscal quarter.
Second quarter net revenues of $6.3 billion were up 20% from the
prior-year quarter, including revenue increases in each business
segment, and increased 2% from the first quarter. The second quarter
pre-tax profit margin was 25.2%, and the annualized return on common
equity was 14.3%.
Net earnings per diluted share were $2.36 for the first six months
of 2005, up 4% from the first six months of 2004. Pre-tax earnings of
$3.3 billion increased 6% from the prior-year period, on net revenues
that grew 11%, to $12.5 billion. Net earnings of $2.3 billion
increased modestly over the 2004 period. These are record first half
earnings per diluted share, pre-tax earnings and net earnings for
Merrill Lynch. The first half pre-tax profit margin was 26.0%, and the
annualized return on common equity was 14.9%.
"Revenues were up strongly from a year ago and drove record first
half earnings," said Stan O'Neal, chairman and chief executive officer
of Merrill Lynch. "We were pleased with the breadth of the company's
operating performance in the quarter. Net revenues and pre-tax
earnings were up from the year ago quarter in each of our three
business units. Our performance reflects our focus on revenue
diversification and disciplined execution against our growth plans
through organic investments, complemented by targeted acquisitions. We
continue to believe in our commitment to invest across market cycles,
and that our execution of those plans will position us for strong
long-term growth."

Business Segment Review:

Global Markets and Investment Banking (GMI)
-------------------------------------------

GMI performed well during the quarter despite challenging market
conditions for most of the period. Both Global Markets and Investment
Banking contributed to the segment's increased net revenues during the
quarter.

-- GMI's second quarter 2005 net revenues were $3.4 billion, up
30% from the year-ago quarter and 4% from the first quarter.
This represented the segment's highest net revenues since the
first quarter of 2000. GMI's second quarter pre-tax earnings
of $1.1 billion were up 11% from the year-ago quarter, but
down 2% from the first quarter due to higher non-interest
expenses associated with growth investments and increased
litigation costs. The second quarter pre-tax margin was 31.9%.

-- Global Markets net revenues increased 33% from the 2004 second
quarter and were essentially unchanged from the first quarter.

Compared with the prior-year period, Debt Markets net revenues
increased 30%, driven by trading credit products and the
contribution of the recently acquired commodities business.
These results were partially offset by lower net revenues in
trading interest rate products. Sequentially, Debt Markets net
revenues declined 2%, as a decline in Global Principal
Investments and Secured Finance from record first quarter
levels was partially offset by increased net revenues in the
trading of credit products.

Equity Markets net revenues increased 39% from the prior year
quarter and 6% from the first quarter. Year-over-year, the
increase was driven primarily by revenues of approximately
$235 million associated with the change in the value of a
private equity investment, triggered by the receipt of a cash
distribution funded by the recapitalization of the underlying
company. Also contributing to the improvement was growth in
equity financing net revenues. These results were partially
offset by lower equity-linked trading revenues. Sequentially,
apart from the private equity revenues, equity-linked and cash
equity trading revenues declined in an environment where
client trading volumes and market volatility were low.


5

-- Investment Banking second quarter net revenues increased 21%
from the year-ago quarter and 15% sequentially. Compared with
the second quarter of 2004, equity origination, debt
origination and merger and acquisition advisory revenues all
increased. Sequentially, strong growth in advisory and debt
origination revenues more than offset a decline in equity
origination. For the first half of 2005, Merrill Lynch
continued its momentum with gains in market share in global
equity and equity-linked origination and announced mergers and
acquisitions, where it ranked #3 and #4, respectively.

-- GMI's year-to-date pre-tax earnings were a record $2.2
billion, up 5% from the prior year period, on net revenues
that rose 15%, to $6.8 billion. The year-to-date pre-tax
profit margin was 32.9%, compared with 36.0% in the first half
of 2004.

Global Private Client (GPC)
---------------------------

GPC continued to perform strongly in a challenging market
environment, benefiting from its business strategy of revenue
diversification, annuitization and client segmentation. GPC achieved
year-over-year increases in net revenues and pre-tax earnings and
strong net inflows of both annuitized and total client assets.

-- GPC's quarterly net revenues of $2.6 billion and pre-tax
earnings of $457 million were up 7% and 5%, respectively, from
the prior year's second quarter, driven by higher net interest
profit and record fee-based revenues, partially offset by
lower transaction-related and mortgage-related revenues. GPC's
pre-tax margin for the quarter was 17.8%. Compared with the
2004 second quarter, non-interest expenses were higher,
primarily due to increased compensation costs associated with
higher revenues and growth in the number of Financial Advisors
(FAs).

-- Total assets in GPC accounts increased 6% from the year-ago
quarter, to $1.4 trillion. Net new client assets into
annuitized products were $8.1 billion for the quarter and
$21.6 billion for the first half, matching record levels for
the first half of 2004. Total net new client assets were $7.8
billion for the quarter and $18.6 billion for the first half -
the latter more than double the net inflows in the first half
of 2004.

-- Financial Advisor headcount grew by approximately 240 during
the quarter, reaching 14,420 at quarter-end. Turnover of top
producing FAs remained low.

-- Year-to-date, GPC's net revenues were up 5% to $5.2 billion,
and pre-tax earnings were a first-half record, up 3% to $967
million. GPC's year-to-date pre-tax profit margin was 18.7%,
compared with 19.2% in the first half of 2004.

Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM)
----------------------------------------

MLIM continued to focus on broadening the distribution of its
products and maintaining operating discipline during the second
quarter, leading to improved flows and consistency in profitability
despite challenging market conditions.

-- MLIM's second quarter 2005 net revenues were $404 million, up
6% from the 2004 second quarter, driven principally by higher
average long-term asset values. Pre-tax earnings were $121
million, up 9% from the year-ago quarter. MLIM's pre-tax
margin was 30.0%.

-- Firmwide assets under management totaled $478 billion at the
end of the quarter, down 2% from a year-ago, but essentially
unchanged from the first quarter of 2005. This decline was due
principally to net outflows and negative currency translation
adjustments, partially offset by positive market movement.
During the second quarter, MLIM experienced net outflows of $2
billion, directly attributable to short-term institutional
liquidity products.

-- More than 70% of global assets under management were ahead of
their respective benchmarks or medians for the three- and
five-year periods ended May 2005. That total for the one-year
period was 70%.

-- MLIM's first half pre-tax earnings were a record $248 million,
up 13% from the prior-year period, on net revenues that grew
5%, to $818 million. The year-to-date pre-tax profit margin
was 30.3%, compared to 28.0% in the first half of 2004.


6

Compensation Expenses
---------------------

Compensation and benefits expenses were $3.1 billion, or 49.5% of
net revenues for the second quarter of 2005, compared to 49.3% in the
year-ago quarter. Year-to-date compensation expenses were 49.6% of net
revenues, down from 49.8% in the prior-year period.

Non-compensation Expenses
-------------------------

Overall, non-compensation expenses were $1.59 billion for the
second quarter of 2005, up 25% from the year ago quarter and up 8%
from the 2005 first quarter largely due to technology spending
associated with growth initiatives and litigation-related costs.

Details of the significant changes in non-compensation expenses
from the second quarter of 2004 are as follows:

-- communications and technology costs were $395 million, up 10%
due primarily to higher systems consulting costs related to
investments for growth and higher market information and
communications costs;

-- occupancy and related depreciation increased 12%, to $227
million, principally due to higher office rental expenses,
including the impact of acquisitions, and occupancy-related
taxes;

-- brokerage, clearing, and exchange fees were $216 million, up
16% due in part to higher transaction volumes;

-- professional fees were $183 million, up 12% due principally to
an increase in recruitment costs and other professional fees;

-- advertising and market development was $160 million, up 21%
due primarily to an increase in sales promotion and
advertising costs, as well as higher travel expenses
associated with increased activity levels; and

-- other expenses were $325 million, up from $147 million, and
included higher litigation provisions.

Income Taxes
------------

Merrill Lynch's year-to-date effective tax rate was 28.1%, and was
higher than the 24.5% for year-to-date June 2004. The higher rate in
2005 resulted from the net impact of the change in business mix, tax
settlements and the utilization of Japanese net operating loss
carryforwards, which reduced the effective tax rate in 2004.

Staffing
--------

Merrill Lynch's full-time employees totaled 51,800 at the end of
the second quarter of 2005, a net increase of 900 during the quarter.

Share Repurchases
-----------------

As part of its active management of equity capital, Merrill Lynch
repurchased 20.2 million shares of its common stock during the second
quarter at an average price of $54.48 per share.

Jeff Edwards, senior vice president and chief financial officer,
will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss the
company's 2005 second quarter results. The conference call can be
accessed via a live audio webcast available through the Investor
Relations Web site at www.ir.ml.com or by dialing (888) 810-0245 (U.S.
callers) or (706) 634-0180 (non-U.S. callers). On-demand replay of the
webcast will be available from approximately 1:00 p.m. ET today at the
same Web address.


7

Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management
and advisory companies with offices in 36 countries and total client
assets of approximately $1.6 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a
leading global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic
advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals
worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is
one of the world's largest managers of financial assets. Firmwide,
assets under management total $478 billion. For more information on
Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

Merrill Lynch may make forward-looking statements, including, for
example, statements about management expectations, strategic
objectives, growth opportunities, business prospects, investment
banking backlog, anticipated financial results, the impact of off
balance sheet arrangements, significant contractual obligations,
anticipated results of litigation and regulatory investigations and
proceedings, and other similar matters. These forward-looking
statements are not statements of historical facts and represent only
Merrill Lynch's beliefs regarding future performance, which is
inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors, many of which
are beyond Merrill Lynch's control, which affect the operations,
performance, business strategy and results and could cause its actual
results and experience to differ materially from the expectations and
objectives expressed in any forward-looking statements. These factors
include, but are not limited to, financial market volatility; actions
and initiatives taken by current and potential competitors; general
economic conditions; the effect of current, pending and future
legislation, regulation, and regulatory actions; and the other
additional factors described in Merrill Lynch's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 and in its subsequent
reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, which are available on the Merrill
Lynch Investor Relations website at www.ir.ml.com and at the SEC's
website, www.sec.gov.

Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which
they are made. Merrill Lynch does not undertake to update
forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or
events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements are
made. The reader should, however, consult any further disclosures
Merrill Lynch may make in its future filings of its reports on Form
10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.


8