The challenger: Merrill. The opponent: Merrill. With John Thain at the helm, the New York Times gives this showdown two thumbs up, suggesting the bank’s CEO has never faced a fight he couldn't win. So, what's the prognosis for him winning this one? Good question.

John A. Thain never said that turning around Merrill Lynch would be easy. "We have not seen the bottom," he declared in December, when he took the reins of the troubled Wall Street giant.

But not even Mr. Thain expected Merrill, the nation’s largest brokerage firm, to go downhill so fast or so far. On Thursday, Merrill reported its fourth consecutive quarterly loss, a $4.9 billion deficit that exceeded even the most pessimistic forecasts. The numbers are staggering. During the past 12 months, Merrill, known for its "Thundering Herd" of stockbrokers, has lost about $19.2 billion, which works out to about $52 million a day. It suffered $9.7 billion of write-downs in its latest quarter, bringing its charges since the credit crisis first flared last summer to more than $41 billion.

It is quite a comedown for Mr. Thain, 53, who won praise for revitalizing the embattled New York Stock Exchange before taking the top job at Merrill.

The firm’s problems underscore how bankers and policy makers are struggling to contain the damage to the financial system and the broader economy caused by the collapse of housing-related debt.

"I'm generally a very optimistic guy, but this is as difficult a market environment as I've seen in my entire career," Mr. Thain said in an interview Thursday evening. The turmoil in the markets, he said, was likely to persist into next year.

The magnitude of the problems seems to have caught Mr. Thain by surprise.

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