Wall Street bonuses
An Empty Wall Street BMW Dealership--But 'You Should See It Around Bonus Time'
If Manhattan’s masters of the universe are not buying baubles for their partners on Valentine’s Day, what other obvious signs of belt-tightening does one see on Wall Street these days? I visited the Street's BMW dealership—another product of the boom—to see if bankers are skimping on their own toys as well. read more »
Bear Stearns Reports First-Ever Quarterly Loss, Top Execs to Skip Bonuses
Investment bank Bear Stearns has reported its first-ever quarterly loss. The loss of about $854 million over the fourth quarter of 2006 exceeded fears about how badly the bank's investments in subprime mortgages would affect it, according to The New York Times.
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that top executives at Bear Stearns would skip year-end bonuses for themselves.
Goldman Sachs Bonuses to Average $600,000 Per Employee
Goldman Sachs, the world's largest investment bank, is set to report on Tuesday a record annual profit of $11 billion, according to news reports this morning. More importantly for New York City and its real estate market, the average Goldman Sachs year-end bonus is expected to average an astounding $600,000 per employee--about double the average paid at other firms.
Wall Street on Jesse Jackson Foreclosure March: 'These People Are Not Victims'
Despite Jesse Jackson’s warning of an impending “economic tsunami” from the subprime mortgage crisis, the only people marching on Wall Street on Monday afternoon were the business people whizzing past the few dozen protestors chanting “Restructure Loans—Don’t Repossess Homes” on the corner of Broad and Exchange streets.
Most business people strode past picket-wielding demonstrators, nonplussed by the accusations of “predatory lending” and “white-collar crime” being lobbed from the podium inside the metal barricades one block south of the New York Stock Exchange. As one speaker called on “Wall Street to help out the main street," a suited passerby shook his head and muttered, “Yeah, well, don’t buy something you can’t afford.”
Some spectators, like lawyer Angelo A. Paparelli, agreed that the government needs to do more to stem the two million mortgage foreclosures that are expected in the next two years. read more »
Wall Street Bonus Estimates Delayed
The city will have to keep waiting to find out how much Wall Street will take home in year-end bonuses. The state Comptroller's office usually releases by mid-December estimates of the total bonus amount and average bonus per Wall Streeter, but Comptroller spokesman Robert Whalen tells us today that the estimates won't be out until early January. read more »
Wall Street Bonus Estimate: $38 B.
Bloomberg News reports that the leading Wall Street investment banks could hand out $38 billion in year-end bonuses--or, about $201,500 per employee. read more »
Comptroller's Wall Street Report: Meh
We had a chance to parse state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's report (PDF) on Wall Street's 2007 performance. Contrary to some earlier media coverage, the report looks mild in its pessimism, preferring a sort of not-too-hot-not-too-cold assessment of the Street's performance and its chances for a prosperous new year. read more »
So What If Wall Street Bonuses Drop 10 Percent?
Wall Street bonuses this winter may be less than last winter's, but so what?
Even if bouses drop 10 percent--as state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli predicted yesterday--that would still mean that 2007's total would be higher than every year's total except for 2006, when bonuses hit a record total of $23.9 million. Really, now, would a bonus season of $21 billion or thereabouts be so bad? read more »
