Merrill Lynch will live to fight another day, having latched onto B of A Sunday night. On the evidence, neither deserves to die, at least not as badly as most other giants in their line of business, and we can only wish them well as they attempt to avoid the vortex still gathering strength in the banking sector. MER shares promise to be a thrill circus on Monday, since quite a few put options traded toward the end of last week. But the large open interest in October puts — more or less matched in boxed sets at the 17.50 strike — implies that once the stock settles somewhere below the takeover price ($29) today, it will be under very tight control by DaBoyz.