Posted on 01/11/2006 5:58:18 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever
NEW YORK - Bonuses at Wall Street firms climbed to a projected record of $21.5 billion last year as revenue grew, according to the New York state comptroller's office.
Comptroller Alan Hevesi said Wednesday that 2005's bonus tally was $2 billion more than the old record, which was set in 2000. In 2004, Wall Street bonuses came to an estimated $18.6 billion.
Last year's average bonus was pegged at $125,500, also a record, Hevesi said.
Revenue at Wall Street firms rose 44.5 percent through the first three quarters of 2005, climbing to the highest level since 2000, the year when the stock market peaked, Hevesi's office said. The mergers-and-acquisitions business accounted for most of the surge.
"The securities industry had a very good year during 2005," Hevesi said.
fine, but that still does not explain how legitimate, well respected firms on wall street pumped and dumped these enterprises. my point was, this is not a "legitimate function of the market", its fraud.
it would be as if a travel agency trade group got together and said that the existence of travel agencies who take people's vacation money, and they reneg on their trip plans and walk away, is somehow a "legitimate function" of the travel agency business. its not, its fraud.
Do we need engineers to to seek out and evaluate investment opportunities in a world that is driven more and more by technology? If you are an tech entrepreneur who employs engineers, has a great product and business plan, but doesn't have enough capital to go to market with this awesome product, what do you do?
Inefficient? Where? Our markets offer the most efficient allocation of capital in the world. Do you realize how much capital is required to grow a $12 trillion dollar economy at 4% a year?
I guess investment banks really don't do any investing then? Companies underwriting stock offerings never take positions? No venture capitalists on Wall Street? Yeah, sure, all risk is removed from their business yet they realize huge returns. Is that what you think? The relationship of risk and return has not been repealed. You just don't understand how it works.
I agree. There has been fraud in the market in the past and there will be fraud in the future. Even so, our markets remain the most reliable and transparent in the world. However, individuals need to take responsibility for their investments. If something sounds to good to be true...well, you know the saying. Investing in a company selling dog food on the internet, regardless of what they tell you, is just stupid. These kind of investors should be buying money markets and CD's.
There always have been and still are some shady characters; however, that is true of every business.
The people who lose money in some "get rich quick" scam, have nobody but themselves to blame. And nobody should ever play the market, with money that they can't afford to lose.
Go back to Victoriana, dear friend, and forget the tinfiol! :-)
I guess you are having financial/job problems, so to you, everything has been "pretty bad". Case closed.
And what 1930s, grade b movie did that line come from? LOL
within the past few years we DID have the highest unemployment rate in years.
The DOW was below 7500 at certain points.
What? are you blind or something?
I don't know what kind of agenda you have or why but thats about all it amounts to is some sort of agenda.
To say the economy hasn't had its problems is up on the same level with that Iranian nutjob who said the holocaust never happened or a bunch of Chinese nutcases who believed Mao saved the world and refuse to acknowledge that the US actually ended the war with a couple of little A-bombs...
Denial is a river, I don't think you otta live in it.
Even during the best of times, some people do poorly.
There was this wee thing that happened on September 11, 20001, which did have quite an impact on our economy. And being neither "blind" nor stupid, I know and understand what's been going on.
Sweetums, I remember when the DOW was at 3,000. SO?
What's YOUR "agenda"?
Yeah. You're right. Can you go to GE and send them check and have them send you stock certificates? Why do we have to pay a broker to buy them for us?
No investment banks don't do any investing, unless you count the deposit and reinvestment of their profits (which is the same as any other company). They take the money from the people who deposit into their banks and invest it.
I'm not talking about the venture capitalists. They are also investors. The people getting the bonuses are simply moving the money of the venture capitalists from one basket to another.
Why would I? I don't want to become a leech.
Wall Street has been OPEN for more than 30 years; as has other exchanges. And even when it was more of an "old boy" network, it was still more open than you are claiming. Neither, I might add, is it a "scam".
Really? Can I go and trade on the floor?
There are companies that will sell stock directly without a brokerage fee and you can get paper certificates if you request them.
Yeah. I only made 1200% on my APPL stock in these last two years. /s
As of yesterday, my original $75k bumped seven figures. Damned stock market...
"Really? Can I go and trade on the floor?"
The stock exchange is a business, not a public service..If you want to trade on the floor, you buy the right..
If I did have an agenda it would be to call it like I see it. Some of the posts I see are to 'slap doom and gloomer', howbeit unduly.
Basically put don't go off passing personal judgement on me (or other freepers)...There are those who went 6 or 9 months on a job search.
Excuse me if I didn't care too much for hand delivering a few thousand resumes over a 6 month term through 3 different cities. But hey, 'we weren't in a recession' according to you... and 'everything is great'.
I found a job eventually, but does that qualify me as a gloom and doomer?
If I did have an agenda it would be to help other freepers not come across as condescending a-holes because the reality is out there.
In a much larger picture if any elected official anywhere near me made any insensitive (and ignorant) comments as the ones posted here, I would lead the charge to remove said politician from office. I would man the phones and go door to door even if he/she did have an (R) behind their name.
Why? Because who needs an idiot in congress?
If you want to cheerlead the economy thats fine. I do it all the time. One doesn't do that by insulting the people they are trying to cheer up. What kind of cheerleader is that?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.