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Banking's Titans Finally Get Their Comeuppance
With Bank of America’s recent announcement that it plans to lay off 30,000 workers, the Great Recession has finally spread its shadow over a sector of the economy that had seemed inured to hard times. Investment consulting, mortgages, mergers and acquisitions and the rest of banking’s most lucrative concessions have fallen into a more or less permanent funk, and so the banks are faced with the prospect of earning their money the hard way – i.e., through ruthless cost-cutting, and via fees on checking accounts, credit cards and other transaction-based services. How dull! Embarrassing, even, since financial bigwigs who were pulling down seven-figure bonuses just a year ago thanks to the Federal Reserve’s extravagant bailout terms will now be fighting to earn their base pay by nickel-and-diming their customers to death. Imagine a loan officer having to concern himself with something so mundane as a local businessman’s request for money to finance inventory.
We feel sorry for the many bank employees who are about to lose their jobs, especially since they face such bleak prospects for re-employment. With respect to the fate of banking’s top brass, however, it’s going to be hard to hide our schadenfreude if a few of these prodigious paper-shufflers wind up living out of shopping carts. Ditto for securities traders at the big banks, for they have turned the markets into a giant casino, exploiting mathematically arcane opportunities that have absolutely nothng to do with the business of making, buying and selling real things. In recent years, stock and bond markets have almost completely decoupled from the real economy – so much so that they will probably have to collapse into ruin before honest markets can re-emerge – markets that serve the real commerce of the real world. The epic fraud of financial markets reached its apotheosis with high-frequency trading, a tactic that uses computer-driven algorithms to exploit bid/offer spreads that exist for mere nanoseconds. Because these trades can move no more quickly than the speed of light, it is necessary to execute them on servers that sit on the trading floor rather than on microprocessors associated with distant satellite feeds. How long could that game have gone on?
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This sadness has me so depressed.
I only have one thought that words can not express.
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I hope that all of those having their lives up-ended (that actually did nothing wrong) know who to blame for their coming misery.
Their lives/families are being sacrifice so that the "heroes" of capitalism will still be able to enjoy the finer things in life. None of this shared sacrifice and leadership bullshit. The Executive Vice President of toilet paper acquisition must be protected at all costs...
Around the start of this financial fiasco, wasn't the banks at that time laying people off also. I think we haven't seen anything yet and they see whats coming.
Let's hope BofA has a member of fight club in their ranks.
He/She will be remembered here.
"We feel sorry for the many bank employees who are about to lose their jobs, especially since they face such bleak prospects for re-employment."
Spare me the crocodile tears. Sure they are just the grunt workers but when these ex-employees lose their credit, autos, houses and everything else they will be on par with a lot of other ex-employees who started going into hard times 4 and 5 years ago. When will enough of the sheeple wake-up AND more importantly do something about it? My forecast, NEVER.
Amen Rick. I am the optimist of the bunch apparantly, as I am scaling in WAY long and have my patience and wits about me. The return to normal banking aka Glass Steagall = Winning. Fuck the IB leaches off of productive society. That banks would actually have to loan to ...gasp... small businesses wanting to expand and hire. Hell, they are more interested in the Chinese success at this point. Bring out the guillotines!
BAC is laying of 30,000 low end workers like tellers, etc which won't really help them, while what they should be doing is getting rid of Countrywide & it's pile of toxic shit.
They have a LONG way to go before they've received their "comeuppance".
I want a pony. I'm waiting.
Ackerman, seriously, I don't know how you can say that *Arbitrage* doesn't belong in a market economy. Blaming the traders???? PLEASE. Put the blame where it belongs, on the Federal Reserve, the politicians, and the populace, whose politicians give them exactly what they have wanted.
Ivan Boesky. From "investment banker" to squeejee guy at the corner of Houston & Canal. May it happen to them all.
Seven-figure bonuses? You're kidding, right? How about eight? How about nine?
http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/2011/09/06/nassim-taleb-the-american-economy-will-transfer-5-trillion-to-banker-pay-and-bonuses-over-the-next-10-years/
Once upon a time the banking sector serviced the economy.
NOT the economy servicing the bankers.
Back to square one.
Unfortunately this still does not appear to be the case. Maybe if the entire planet stopped killing Wall Street long after it was dead that would help? This whole "she loves me/she loves me not" thing truly does have a life of its own.
Uh huh. I assure you NONE of the upper management, board or CEOs will be pushing shopping carts or spend a second in jail. Any of those SOBs could stop working today, never work again and still have enough money to live 100 upper middle class lifestyles.
The whole thing makes me sick.
And they're very sorry for your illness as well. Now enjoy your Obama-care!
Rich Retired Bankers....not the fucks like Paulson and such who are on their private islands....I'm talking your runofthemill fuck who retires to his gated community in FL....
I think these folks are going to end up being hunted down and killed like rabid dogs one day. Seriously. Those gates won't do shit when the horde comes....and it will come one day.
Poor people aren't completely stupid. They know they are getting fucked.
And they know who is fucking them. There will be blood.
I know I wouldn't trade places with any of them....
I had to use BoA on an Army post [Ft. Ord] when I was stationed in Cali. Worst bank I have ever had, ever. They were known for making "mistakes" that cost the customer and made profits for them. You had to watch transactions like a hawk because they would charge late fees, etc, even though you did nothing wrong. Then you had to fight them to get your money back.
That bank needs to die.
I'm still waiting to meet the first person that "likes" B of A. I hate them too. Their idea of "customer service" was to kick you in the balls on the way out the door. But; the stock is up today, very convincingly; 7.46 Million shares traded; the chart for the day is a nice forty degree up-channel; not crazy. I don't regard this as a moral issue; I'd trade wet dog shit if there was a market maker and a chart service for it. They made a wire transfer of mine dis-appear for "exactly" a month; and then "found it", (thirty day interest rates); no apology, no nothin. I remember my phone bill was over a hundred dollars calling them every day trying to find out what the fuck they did with the money. I suppose I should consider myself lucky; there are worse stories; far worse. "Unfortunately" perhaps, I think they really are on the Too Big To Fail list; I expect them to anounce profits in December that will be a "positive" surprise. Average analyst target price for the thing is $14. I plan on jumping ship at $11.
Barney Frank.
I have a roommate who loves her BofA account. I tried explaining a few times, the corruption her bank was involved with and why it may not be a bad idea to take her business elsewhere. Well, her account is somehow tied to her parent's account. Her parents are wealthy individuals and get special features on their accounts that she benefits from. She loves those benefits and does not want to give them up. Apparently, they also treat you better if you have more money... go figure.
Another person I knew once explained "Why would I give up my BofA account, it's guaranteed by the government!"
Other people I've met, have their mortgage through BofA, and are stuck having their paycheck direct deposit there to avoid extra charges on the mortgage, and to "make payments easier".
Oh, and a lot people are pretty used to being treated like shit at this point. I think a lot of people feel it's going to be the same no matter where they go.
Oh, and a lot of people don't think about finance further than how they are going to spend their next paycheck.
I hear wet dog shit only costs $5 to get out of the ground!!
Had the exact same experience with BoA in Florida
The Wheels on the bus are coming off in slomo
Ahh the Banks are having to shed jobs and (finally) face recession having ridden it out to date untouched on a fluffy feathered cushion of political largesse and wonderous executive bonuses... and behind these spoilt bankrupt corrupt worthless over-paid brats of the economy will come the final bloated spoilt brat of all, that fattened snorting bloated pig of society called Govt, that has for the past 3 years done the exact opposite of business and consumers who have faced reality, downsized their spending and lived within their means
Welcome to reality Banks. Welcome (soon) to reality politicians and public sector ...you've been running from the truth but you just can't hide ...now you both face an even bigger kick between the legs than facing the music 3 years ago ...get popcorn and ear muffs, the bleating and toys outta the pram from these 2 rotten diseased old dinosaurs is going to be epic
Dumping the employees cuts overhead, the stock analysts love it, (speaking of psycopaths); makes it much easier to pump the stock.
Please stop Mr. Ackerman, the sadness that is overcoming me when thinking of the upcoming trama to the banking sector is almost too much to think about....almost :)