American Stock Exchange News Release

Structured Products Release
Media Contact: Melanie Jacobus
American Stock Exchange
212-306-1640/melanie.jacobus@amex.com

AMERICAN STOCK EXCHANGE LISTS MERRILL LYNCH'S ACCELERATED RETURN NOTES LINKED TO THE MSCI EAFE INDEX

New York, December 1, 2006 -  The American Stock Exchange (Amex) today began trading Merrill Lynch's Accelerated Return Notes Linked to the MSCI EAFE Index.

Priced at $10.00 per unit with an initial offer size of 11,650,000 shares, this equity trades under the ticker symbol ESM and has a maturity date of February 6, 2008.

The notes are issued by Merrill Lynch. The Amex specialist unit is LaBranche Structured Products, LLC.

If you would like to receive a copy of the prospectus for ESM please visit the American Stock Exchange website at http://www.amex.com.

About American Stock Exchange

The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®) offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRSSM. In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 216 ETFs to date. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks. For more information, please visit www.amex.com