It was the fourth consecutive quarterly loss for the giant brokerage based in New York. It came as the company absorbed huge write-downs resulting from the mortgage crisis and other risky investments, Time magazine reported Thursday.

Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain told analysts during a conference call Thursday the second quarter was "difficult and disappointing" but he said the company will "likely have in our last two quarters more than replaced the capital that we lost."

The firm announced Thursday a plan to raise funds by getting rid of some assets, Time said, including selling its 20 percent interest in Bloomberg LP for $4.43 billion and its controlling interest in Financial Data Service Inc. for more than $3.5 billion.

The $4.9 billion second quarter loss -- or $4.97 per share -- compared with a $2.01 billion profit during the corresponding quarter of 2007. Citing Thompson Financial, Time said analysts had expected Merrill Lynch to report a loss of $1.91 per share.

Moody's immediately downgraded Merrill Lynch's debt and Standard & Poor's followed suit.