Traders Cooperative

[Joe Stocks]

Wall St banks face earnings slowdown
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14332966/

Excerpts:
... big Wall Street investment banks are seeing a significant third quarter slowdown driven by reductions in trading volumes and new securities offerings, and a drop in US mergers and acquisitions.

The slowdown is likely to damp earnings at big brokerages that report quarterly figures next month, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.

... several analysts said slowing US economic growth, rising chief executive uncertainty and difficult international markets could exacerbate the usual seasonal trends and cut into the traditional fourth quarter recovery.

"The most important thing to track is global economic growth," said Bank of America analyst Michael Hecht. "That is the big risk here. I don't think we will slip into a real recession but if the pace of growth declines, the top line and the bottom line for the investment banks will decline."