Profits from the 200,000 shares could therefore total almost $10 million.

Over the next six months, the profits from those funds totaled $679 million.

In 1988, its profits totaled $952 million, or $6.25 a share.

In the industry's best year, 1985, profits totaled $18.1 billion.

In 1989, profits totaled $412.7 million, or $3.05 a share, on sales of $4.19 billion.

For 1990, profits totaled $89.2 million, or $1.54 a share, on sales of $1.5 billion.

A year earlier, profits from operations totaled $786 million, or 38 cents a share.

Merrill's previous best year was 1988, when profits totaled $463.2 million.

In the comparable period last year, profits totaled $178 million, or $2.03 a share, on sales of $2.64 billion.

During that time, Fannie's profits have totaled about $24 billion.