Back on topic:
local NY paper NYPost:
Wall Street fear
September 2, 2007 -- NEW York's army of fixed-income traders are preparing for a big disaster - as the mess in the credit markets threatens their highly paid jobs and Hollywood lifestyles. Thousands of layoffs - and a collapse in lavish bonuses - are predicted in the coming months unless the markets recover soon.
Bill Singer, a noted securities industry lawyer, said the number of distressed calls he has fielded from trading pros and firms in the fixed-income markets - smack dab in the middle of the troubled subprime and CDO sectors - has skyrocketed fivefold in August compared to previous summer months, to about three dozen. The month of August was a rude awakening, he said.
"In my 15 years in private practice, the only other time I got this volume of calls was during the market turmoil of 1999 and 2000 and briefly after 9/11," Singer, of Stark & Stark here in New York, told The Post. "The main difference now is that there is a sense that there is no future for these professionals this time around," he said.
Singer said callers sometimes seek his advice on their employee rights, which covers touchy areas like big bonuses, deferred compensation and contracts. He said he also took more calls recently from some big fixed-income houses on Wall Street preparing for a potential meltdown, layoffs and a drying up of bonuses.
These bond pros take home as much as $250,000 a year - but it is the lavish bonuses that turn them into rock stars.
"We are going to have a tsunami in New York City when the big bonuses do not materialize next February and March," Singer said. "These young traders won't have the money to buy the pricey co-ops and condos, the Bentleys and Rolls Royces."
"We could be talking about several thousand layoffs on the fixed income front by next April," said Singer. "I don't think people in New York have thought this through. Wall Street is the blood that has been poured on the soil to nurture everything the last few years - and it is drying up."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09022007/business/wall_st__fear.htm
local NY paper NYPost:
Wall Street fear
September 2, 2007 -- NEW York's army of fixed-income traders are preparing for a big disaster - as the mess in the credit markets threatens their highly paid jobs and Hollywood lifestyles. Thousands of layoffs - and a collapse in lavish bonuses - are predicted in the coming months unless the markets recover soon.
Bill Singer, a noted securities industry lawyer, said the number of distressed calls he has fielded from trading pros and firms in the fixed-income markets - smack dab in the middle of the troubled subprime and CDO sectors - has skyrocketed fivefold in August compared to previous summer months, to about three dozen. The month of August was a rude awakening, he said.
"In my 15 years in private practice, the only other time I got this volume of calls was during the market turmoil of 1999 and 2000 and briefly after 9/11," Singer, of Stark & Stark here in New York, told The Post. "The main difference now is that there is a sense that there is no future for these professionals this time around," he said.
Singer said callers sometimes seek his advice on their employee rights, which covers touchy areas like big bonuses, deferred compensation and contracts. He said he also took more calls recently from some big fixed-income houses on Wall Street preparing for a potential meltdown, layoffs and a drying up of bonuses.
These bond pros take home as much as $250,000 a year - but it is the lavish bonuses that turn them into rock stars.
"We are going to have a tsunami in New York City when the big bonuses do not materialize next February and March," Singer said. "These young traders won't have the money to buy the pricey co-ops and condos, the Bentleys and Rolls Royces."
"We could be talking about several thousand layoffs on the fixed income front by next April," said Singer. "I don't think people in New York have thought this through. Wall Street is the blood that has been poured on the soil to nurture everything the last few years - and it is drying up."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09022007/business/wall_st__fear.htm