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When: Thursday, January 17 at 9:30AM ET 
Where: "Squawk on the Street"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a FIRST ON CNBC interview with Merrill Lynch Chairman & CEO John Thain on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." During the interview, Thain discusses the writedowns and the fixed income business, among other topics.
BARTIROMO: WE'RE COMING TO YOU LIVE AT MERRILL LYNCH HEADQUARTERS WE'RE IN THE THICK OF THINGS ON THE TRADING FLOOR OF THE FIXED INCOME FLOOR I'M HERE WITH CHAIRMAN & CEO JOHN THAIN.
THAIN: GREAT TO BE ON YOUR SHOW.
BARTIROMO: JUST GOT OFF THE CONFERENCE CALL. CHARACTERIZE THE QUARTER AND THIS WRITEDOWN. BIG QUESTION EVERYBODY HAS IS, IS THIS ENOUGH?
THAIN: OUR BUSINESSES ARE ALL DOING REALLY, REALLY WELL. ONE AREA THAT'S THE PROBLEM IS THE CDO AND SUBPRIME AREA. OUR GOAL HAS BEEN TO WRITE OFF AS MUCH AS WE CAN, TO BE AS CONSERVATIVE AS POSSIBLE AND GO FORWARD INTO 2008 AND WITH A MUCH STRONGER BALANCE SHEET AND CAPITAL BASE AND A GREAT EARNINGS PROSPECT.
BARTIROMO: JOHN, THE BIG QUESTION ON INVESTORS' MINDS RIGHT NOW, IS THIS ENOUGH? HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU WON'T BE FORCED TO TAKE ANOTHER WRITEDOWNIN THE NEXT QUARTER AND THE QUARTER AFTER THAT. HOW DO YOU VALUE AN ASSET THERE ISN'T A MARKET FOR?
THAIN: WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ASSETS THEMSELVES, WE HAD $15 BILLION AT THE END OF THE SEPTEMBER QUARTER. THOSE ARE WRITTEN DOWN TO 4.8 BILLION. AT SOME POINT THESE ASSETS DON'T GO DOWN ANYMORE BECAUSE THEY'RE ONLY HAVE THEIR INTEREST ONLY COMPONENT, THEIR IO VALUE. THERE'S NOT MUCH DOWNSIDE LEFT IN THESE ON THE ASSUMPTIONS WE'RE USING ON THEM.
BARTIROMO: WHAT ABOUT THE RULES, DOES THAT BOX YOU IN? YOU WANT TO WRITE DOWN AS MUCH AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. THE RULES IN SOME CASES LIMIT YOU. ISN'T THAT RIGHT? YOU NEED THE MARKET TO STABILIZE HERE.
THAIN: THERE'S NOT MUCH OBSERVABLE VALUE IN THE SECURITIES.THERE WAS TRADING. WE SOLD A FEW OF THEM IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.FOR THE MOST PART THESE ARE VALUED BASED UPON ASSUMPTIONS. WE'RE USING CUMULATIVE LOSS ASSUMPTIONS BETWEEN 16% AND 21%.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes