BofA's decision to spend $20M on Merrill relaunch a bullish idea

In the hectic days that led up to Bank of America's (BAC) shotgun wedding with Merrill Lynch last year, lots of mistakes were made. Not the least of those was the nondisclosure of $3.6 billion paid in bonuses to Merrill executives prior to the $29 billion deal's closing, which has led to both federal and state investigations.

Another bone-headed decision on the part of Bank of America's management was to kill off Merrill's iconic bull logo, an image so associated with optimism and prosperity on Wall Street that a 7,000 pound bronze sculpture of a charging bull graces a nearby park in Manhattan and has become a popular tourist attraction in its own right.