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To: GST who wrote (132191)10/1/2001 4:12:51 AM
From: H James Morris  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 164685
 
Gst, lean on the leaders, and you can't go wrong.
Who are the leaders? They're all inside hiding in Billy's "new economy productive" portfolio.



To: GST who wrote (132191)10/1/2001 4:48:17 AM
From: H James Morris  Respond to of 164685
 
September 30 2001 22:25

Wall Street investment banks are reviving plans for staff cuts that were put on hold after the attack on the World Trade Center.

Morgan Stanley is moving to cut about 200 jobs in its investment banking operations. More cuts are likely to follow as securities firms grapple with an industry downturn that began before the attack and is worsening.

"This is just the beginning," said Kim Fennebresque, president and chief executive of SG Cowen Securities. "There is going to be more downsizing."

The cuts at Morgan Stanley are expected to fall heavily on specialists in the telecommunications, media and technology sectors.

Other Wall Street firms expected to resume job cuts include Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs.

Goldman, which declined to comment, had said it intended to keep its headcount flat at about 23,000 at the end of its financial year in November.

However, because of increases in staffing since last year, some 2,000 jobs are having to be cut to bring the total back to last November's level.

Investment banks have shed more than 25,000 jobs this year, and many were considering additional layoffs at the time of the terrorist attack. The business case for further cuts become clearer as leading banks reported dismal results for the quarter ending in August.

Third-quarter profits fell 43 per cent at Goldman Sachs, 41 per cent at Morgan Stanley, 32 per cent at Lehman Brothers and 26 per cent at Bear Stearns. The banks agreed that the terrorist attacks and the resulting rise in political tensions would further harm their prospects, particularly in high-margin areas such as equity underwriting and merger-and-acquisition advice.

However, managements hesitated to lay off workers amid the grief that followed the attack. Such sensitivities were particularly evident at Morgan Stanley, which was the largest tenant at the WTC and suffered casualties.

"People have been reluctant to cut jobs after what happened but the economics of the business are what they are," said the head of investment banking at another company.

In addition to layoffs, investments banks are virtually certain to slash year-end bonuses, particularly in such sluggish areas as equities and M&A.

Guy Moszkowski, an industry analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, estimates that bonuses for bankers in such areas may be 30 to 50 per cent below last year's levels.