A slap in the face...I was planning to drop my CV there on Monday.
The underlying problem IMHO is short-sightedness by management and a broken business model - overdependence on brokerage commissions as a revenue stream.
Trading volumes have been low in stock-markets worldwide. 4 months ago on the NYSE & on NASDAQ,volumes were low....and even that was actually high-speed computers trading against each other.
Still most banks went on to declare some of the biggest profits in their operating history; partly because of cheap TARP funds but also because they have diverse revenue streams.
The key word here is PROPRIETARY TRADING.
A look at Goldman Sachs' 2009 3Q earnings (versus 2008 vs 2009 2Q) reveals that IB,AM & Security Services revenues declined as did commissions from trading. The bright spot was in Proprietary Trading (FICC & Equities) and Principal Investments.
http://www2.goldmansachs...ngs-releases/index.html
I don't know much about our local industry but from what I can remember of the financial statements from most IB's & Brokerages (circa. August 2009) trading revenue were missing as a line item or if it actually featured,was not prominent enough to stand alone or 'Prop' the business.
What we need is:
1. Proper regulation put in place to guard against abuse of the system.
2. Skilled,bright,imaginative minds manning those trading desks and playing both local and global markets.
3. The 'old-guard' in back office managing risk and compliance
PS. If you're looking for number 2 e-mail me.
1. Risk arises when you don't know what you're doing.
2. People diversify their portfolios to counter unsystematic risk.
3. People who diversify their portfolios don't know what they're doing.