Paydays That Make Even Wall Streeters Blush

Investors, homeowners, banks head to court, but obstacles lie ahead

(NEWSER) - The troubles plaguing Countrywide and Bear Stearns’ hedge funds will move from the boardroom to the courtroom. Homeowners and banks are suing mortgage lenders, shareholders are suing funds, the SEC is investigating executives, and Congress may conduct hearings into credit agencies' practices. The current mess ensnares “an incredible range of parties,” one legal expert tells the Washington Post. More»

Quant fund eggheads screwed up just as badly as everyone else

(NEWSER) - The eggheads who run Wall Street's "quant funds," using complex algorithms to play the markets but neglecting the human element, screwed up as badly as everyone else during the Dow's recent dive. "They are very smart in front of a textbook but not smart enough to understand very elementary things in reality," one critic tells the Washington Post. More»

Wall Street's anxieties force Bear Stearns to make major changes

(NEWSER) - The securities firm Bear Stearns will oust its stocks and bonds trading chief, the WSJ reports, and soften its emphasis on short-term trades. The extraordinary moves come in the wake of Friday's market sell-off, partly triggered by investor concern about Bear Stearns after the collapse of two of its mortgage-bond funds. More»

(NEWSER) - Wall Street is dizzy after mixed signals threw traders into buy mode despite an abundance of bearish indicators today, making for one of the most volatile days in weeks. The Dow finished up 150.38 points at 13362.37, even after Asian markets plummeted across the board last night, a buyout for Bauch & Lomb failed, and a troubled Bear Stearns put another subprime-backed hedge fund on hold. More»

Wall Street workers finding it difficult to get by, or so they say

(NEWSER) - Wall Street bankers received smaller bonuses this month, and it is really hard for them. If you're having trouble dredging up any sympathy, perhaps that's because you just don't understand what it's like to be in the 1%: "People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress," one Marks Paneth & Shron partner explains. "Could you imagine what it’s like to say, 'I got three kids in private school, I have to think about pulling them out?' How do you do that?" Bloomberg says that cuts to 2011 discretionary pay were at least 25% at Goldman Sachs and Barclays and that cash bonuses were capped at $125,000 at Morgan Stanley, but the New York Times says bonuses have been "merely bruised," and that total payouts are predicted to drop just 14% this bonus season. More fairly unbelievable tidbits from Bloomberg's tales of woe: More»