It all started during the financial crisis. Banks and brokerage houses were tumbling down one after another. One of the biggest was the collapse of Merrill Lynch. Bank of America (BAC) negotiated the purchase of Merrill, but there was one hitch. BofA failed to appraise its stockholders that Merrill had approved $5.8 billion in bonuses to Merrill employees.

The agreement was struck. Everything was kept under the table until the SEC started an investigation into the matter. The SEC is famous for just giving a slap on the wrist to the biggest offenders. In this case the SEC agreed that BofA should pay a measly $33 million fine.

The financial crisis, employment market and social media explosion have converged, providing a new level of clarity into what is happening in the world around us. Where was ground zero for this financial catastrophe? Well, according to the LinkedIn blog, five companies have shown the most action: Barclays (BCS), Credit Suisse (CS), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Interestingly, Goldman Sachs (GS), among the biggest winners now that we're pulling out from the recession, didn't see as much play.

John Thain -- whom you may recall as the man who presided over the spectacular implosion of Merrill Lynch -- is looking to have some new business cards printed up. Over the weekend, CIT Group (CIT) officially announced that its board of directors has elected Thain as chairman and CEO.

Due to his controversial past, the decision to elect Thain wasn't an easy one. After shelling out a small fortune to tart up his office digs at Merrill Lynch -- and doling out lofty bonuses amid the bank's hasty takeover by Bank of America (BAC) -- Thain became something of a poster boy for Wall Street excesses.

At the height of the financial crisis, Bank of America (BAC) acquired Merrill Lynch for $50 billion. Over the past year, Merrill's ranks have thinned from 18,000 down to 15,000.

Merrill's "thundering herd," as it was once known, was a powerhouse dealing largely with retail customers. Interestingly enough, even with the advent of electronic trading, many wealthy clients prefer to deal directly with a broker. B of A has a big book of 17 million "mass affluent" customers who need advice and services. "Mass affluent" customers are those whose income is between $100,000 and $1 million in investable assets.

• Current Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan was the general counsel of Bank of America at the time of the alleged disclosure improprieties. Just saying.

Were we all too fast to blame AIG (AIG)?

The insurance giant's role in precipitating the worldwide financial crisis has been covered at length since it teetered on the edge of disaster in September 2008, thanks to a series of high-risk transactions executed through its financial products group. Well, Goldman Sachs (GS), which has recovered quickly from last year's woes and is already figuring out how to pay some hefty bonuses, may have played a larger role in these transactions than everyone realized.

Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) was shot out of a proverbial cannon Thursday morning, gaining more than 5% in the first minute of trading.

Ahead of the opening bell, Merill Lynch/Bank of America upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and lifted its price target by five bucks to $28.

The bank noted that fourth-quarter sales could be better than expected, as recent cold weather trends might send people into the stores looking to supplement their cold-weather wear. (Side note: negative 16 wind chill in Chicago today, and yes, I still love living here).

In a case of buy low, sell high, Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund just unloaded its $4.1 billion stake in Citigroup (C). In doing so, the fund scored a $1 billion profit -- and a 37% rate of return on its investment -- according to the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).

The fund invested in Citigroup in January 2008, before the financial industry came to the brink of collapse last year, but well after the impact of the mortgage crisis had been identified. The fund also invested $2 billion in Merrill Lynch, which was acquired by Bank of America (BAC) in September 2008.

If you've become comfortable with the current state of the housing market ... don't. Economists at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Bank of America's Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) say there's still plenty of risk in the housing market.

Alec Phillips, the head of Goldman's Washington office, said, "The risk of renewed home price declines remains significant." His "working assumption" is a drop of between 5% and 10% by the middle of next year.

According to a Wall Street Journal report (subscription required) on Monday, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is set to choose an emergency chief executive officer (CEO) -- just in case Ken Lewis (the current CEO) is forced to step down thanks to legal issues. The decision was in the works before Lewis announced he would retire effective New Year's Eve, but the situation ramped up after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo hinted that he may file civil charges against Lewis.

Five people comprise the committee that was formed earlier this year, with Bank of America Chairman Walter Massey leading the way. The committee was originally created to respond to concerns raised by U.S. banking regulators, but it has now shifted its focus a bit. The committee will give the choice to the full board for approval, but then the U.S. banking regulators will have to approve the choice, basically allowing the government to hand pick their choice. Once this process runs its course, the plan will then be shuttered until it is needed.