Wednesday, October 3, 2012

There’s No Joy on Wall Street (even tho’ banks earned $63 Billion!)




Still, Wall Street isn’t enjoying its good fortune.

Those billions of dollars in profits aren’t enough, according to interviews with more than a dozen bank executives and analysts, Bloomberg reports. The lowest leverage in a decade, return on equity at a third of 2006 levels, higher capital requirements, shares trading below book value, declining bonuses, job cuts, the European sovereign-debt crisis and a backlash against bankers have damped the joys of profit, they said.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan both broke profit records in 2011 and are expected to do so again next year, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“While there are things to celebrate for the senior professionals in these institutions, sadly I don’t think they do much celebrating,” Ralph Schlosstein, CEO of New York-based boutique investment bank Evercore Partners Inc., said of the biggest financial firms. “The challenge they face is how to adjust to this new capital regime, and the new regulatory regime, and to earn an adequate return on equity. None of them have yet broken the code…..”

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