Let me tell you about the very rich.

F. Scott

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.

Should bankers get bigger bonuses?

By Michael Corones, Reuters

October 17, 2014

Morgan Stanley reported strong third-quarter earnings today, up 12 percent to $8.91 billion in quarterly revenue, while rival Goldman Sachs yesterday reported an increase of 25 percent to $8.39 billion.

As this Reuters interactive shows, the share price for both investment banks healthily beat the S&P 500, with Morgan Stanley’s earnings per share coming in at $0.84 and Goldman’s boasting an EPS of $4.69.

If there’s any bad news-and bad is a relative term here-it’s for bankers at the two financial titans, as both credit restraint in compensation (aka, flat bonuses) for helping earnings growth. Reuters’ Lauren Tara LaCapra reports that similar changes to bonuses are taking place across Wall Street. Still, Goldman estimated its average compensation per employee at $320,000 or the first nine months of the year.

Somehow I don’t think Joe Sixpack-or F. Scott Fitzgerald, for that matter-are shedding any tears.

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    • on 10/20/2014 at 19:54
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