Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) signed off on its government-assisted purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. after U.S. regulators said the deal may boost the shares, e-mails from two executives showed. Instead, the stock collapsed. Bank of America shares tumbled 47 percent in six trading days, from $13.54 on Jan. 8 to $7.18 on Jan. 16 when the company announced its first quarterly loss in 17 years and the $20 billion in U.S. aid to absorb potential Merrill losses. The bank also disclosed that Merrill posted a $15.8 billion fourth- quarter loss, leading to questions about Lewis’s failure to alert shareholders before the transaction was approved. –Bloomberg

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) beat the Street numbers by 40 cents and beat whisper numbers by another 20 cents. Shares blasted through the $200 mark in the after hours as investors went berserk over the Mac company, which reported earnings for the period ending September 26, of $1.67 billion, up from $1.14 billion in the same period one year ago. Oddly enough, this quarterly release could signify the last of the salad days for Apple (AAPL). On the horizon. –Daily Finance

United Airlines parent UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) reported a narrower third-quarter loss on Tuesday on the back of falling jet fuel prices. For the recent quarter, the Chicago-based airline said it lost $57 million, or 39 cents a share, compared to a loss of $792 million, or $6.62 a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue fell 20% to $4.4 billion from $5.6 billion. Excluding one-time items, UAL said it lost 43 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected a loss of 98 cents a share on sales of $4.3 billion. -Marketwatch

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) reported higher third-quarter profit as aggressive cost-cutting offset a negative foreign exchange impact and declining sales of drugs, including those facing competition from cheaper generics. The world’s biggest drugmaker, which got much bigger last week with completion of a $67.3 billion acquisition of Wyeth, posted a net profit of $2.88 billion, or 43 cents per share in its last pre-merger quarter, compared with a profit of $2.28 billion, or 34 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding items, Pfizer earned 51 cents per share, exceeding analysts’ average expectations by 3 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Sales declined 3 percent to $11.6 billion, but that also topped analysts’ estimates of $11.41 billion. -Reuters

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) said Tuesday its third-quarter profit tumbled 53 percent to $404 million, or 64 cents per share, as customers demand for its machines remained sluggish. But the company said the latest quarter was its low point in the recession and raised its profit outlook for 2009 and better demand next year. Shares were about 5.5 percent higher ahead of the bell. –Daily Finance

-Jutia Group