NYTimes retracts Morgan quote

Paul Tharp of the New York Post writes Friday that a quote used in a New York Times story about Morgan Stanley has now been retracted.

Tharp writes, “The editors of The Times ran an embarrassing note yesterday discrediting one of its most attention-getting stories about the Wall Street crisis: that troubled Morgan Stanley wanted a quick marriage with equally troubled Citigroup to save their respective hides.

“It turns out the sole quote on which the tale was based was never uttered, the editors’ note admitted.

“The original story said Morgan Stanley chief John Mack was talking with Citigroup head Vikram Pandit, when Mack remarked, ‘We need a merger partner, or we’re not going to make it.’

“Both banks emphatically denied the remark, and after an internal probe, so did the paper.”

Read more here.Â