EMAIL SIGN UP!
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Wall Street Pays Out Billions in Record Compensation: Report
WASHINGTON — Financial institutions on Wall Street are preparing to pay a record 144 billion dollars in compensation and benefits, according to a study published Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal.
Traders jump for joy on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. According to a new report, total Wall Street pay and bonuses are on track to break a record high for the second year in a row. (Drew/AP) The
payout, covering bonuses, premiums and stock options for the firm's
executives and employees, is a four-percent raise over the previous
record 139 billion dollars that was handed over in 2009, said the
financial daily.
The study, which covers 35 Wall Street firms -- including banks, investment banks, hedge funds and money managing groups -- found that 29 of the institutions were also expected to see revenue rise by three percent, from 433 to 448 billion dollars.
The 2010 profit for the firms of some 61 billion dollars is still a 20 percent decline on the 82 billion dollars in 2006 -- despite in that time compensation at the institutions soared 23 percent, according to the Journal.
Wall Street banks and funds have already come under withering criticism for their actions during the 2008 financial crisis and faced the fury of the US public for paying out huge bonuses even though some were propped up by taxpayer funds to keep afloat.
In June US authorities announced guidelines aimed at countering pay and bonus practices blamed for the excessive risk taking that fueled the global financial crisis.
The rules, however, did not prohibit any specific forms of payment for incentive compensation or establish mandatory compensation levels or caps.
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
57 Comments so far
Show AllFrom over here in Canada it appears that the middle class have paved the road for the rich to deliver them to the slaughter house!
Same in Canada, eh?
“Pension funds at companies in the S&P 500 faced a $260 billion shortfall at the end of 2009, according to Standard & Poor’s. Estimates of the fund deficits faced by state and local governments range from $500 billion to $1 trillion.” – John Rubino
risingdawn,
The slaughter continues. With the thieves on Wall Street taking around 40% of the profits for their own personal bank accounts, middle class pensions will continue to vanish along with jobs. The only reason many companies are showing these profits is because so many of them have cut jobs, not to mention that mega-banks can manipulate the value of their "alleged" assets, thanks to the concubines on Capitol Hill.
Sadly, most Americans are still in denial. When government food stamps and other life saving programs end and people get cold and hungry, they will finally wake up. Then all hell will break loose in this country.
Of course they make good money. they're savvy businessmen, aren't they?
And that, gentlemen, is what happens when your beloved government gets involved in business, taking your taxes and giving it to failed businesses.
No, that's what happens when business takes over government. It's the beginning stsge of fascism.
First I was never a Commie. I hated the f*ckers and still do and hope all of them, past and present, rot in hell for all eternity.
Second, the government's business is not to prop up failing private enterprises. It is only doing that because nanny staters wanted government to have power over the economy to protect them from evil capitalists. Didn't really work out that way I guess.
Odd that. In Canada the Government REFUSED to deregulate and hand power over to the banks as was done in the United States.
In Sweden the Government once gave more power to the banks, saw the banks all get themselves in trouble, then had to take over those same banks and "Clean them up".
Odd that since 1923 there have been 2 bank failures in Canada and on the order of 4000 in the USA.
Hows that "deregulation" doing for you? Give me the "nanny State" any day because allowing businesses to do as they please is a complete and utter failure.
SEE BP. Compare the number of Oil spills in the USA to Norway.
Chameleon, fixed that last sentence for you "You give power to OUR government, you get shafted." Not all governments are as corrupt as ours has become.
chameleon, You have inadvertently revealed your true colors.
May you find Heaven to be a nanny state.
"It is only doing that because nanny staters wanted government to have power over the economy to protect them from evil capitalists."
I think it is a good idea for the people to have control over their economies..
old commie: Correct!
Spot on Old Commie. I guess Chameleon would rather not have government interference so he can live in his regulation-free utopia without bad, old 'government' telling everyone what to do. Of course, when there is no one to protect Chameleon then he'll wonder where the government is, or when he needs better roads, or schools, or fire or police protection, or running water someone to pick up his trash, provide utilities, etc. Right wing libertarians live in a fantasy world and somehow think they are the solution and can live very well without the rest of us. And to your point, they can't admit to themselves that in the US corporations have taken over the government and that is really the problem, not government itself.
"Right wing libertarians live in a fantasy world and somehow think they are the solution and can live very well without the rest of us"
Uh, i never said i can live without the rest of you. I merely suggested i wanna live without the rest of you telling me what to do, tax me and give my money to your buddies.
BTW, being a libertarian is not the sane as an anarchist with no government. I just want a government that minds it's business of running country not bailing out losers (corporations and individuals alike.)
No, they are not the same, anarchists fully realize that "business" is as much of a problem as "government" and that both need to have their methods of control neutralized. To take down "government" before "Business" is dealt with is to create a power vacuum that "business" would be more than happy to fill, without the "constraints" of government holding it back from hiring Xe to keep those wanted as slaves in line and eliminate the rest.
Xe thugs is easier to deal with than government ones. First, there's not that many of them, second your remorse factor will be less as they are not "heroes protecting their country and community".
On the other hand, and I don't agree with this, but I'll entertain your suggestion, if the government would be a huge corporation the top people would still make a lot of money and make decision without asking anyone, but the place would probably be run more efficient.
Chameleon
Grow Up
I'm grown up enough not to put my faith in the government.
It is not a question of FAITH.
Faith is not what makes a Government work. Putting ones FAITH in Government or Business or in the so called "Free market" is idiocy.
chameleon,
Grow up some more, then. I would have thought Ayn Rand's ideas were cool when I was about 15 years old. Then I grew up. By the way, do you know any Commies?
There has never been throughout the history of civilization a successful Libertarian Government; however you could get a window on how successful a Libertarian society/govt would be by channeling Somalia... Clearly the dim-wits, Narcissistic Authoritarians, selling Ayn's douche are examples of the UnEducated, under educated and the willfully ignorant trying to shape govt.
The Working Class {most of you},& Poor are the Pavement for the Rich Capitalist Pigs. It is the bottom line and the goal of Capitalism to drain every nickel and dime from the pockets of all the Working Class and Poor of the world.
Fascism is the fall back factor for Capitalism in Distress... We must end Capitalism/Fascism by Nationalizing the Banks, Transportation, Big AG, Energy and Health Care INS. We must end Fascism/Capitalism before it's to late...before it Ends us.
The Health Care Ins / Improved Medicare for All could have been the first step in vaporizing the Insurance Cartel/ Corporate Dominance...but alas the DLC (democratic leadership council) Neo-Liberals have successfully killed it.
Revolt! (Take to the streets and storm the barricades.)
Um ... why not start by staging massive picketing protests on the sidewalks in front of each of these Wall Street firms? It would be difficult for even the brain-addled, Fox-propagandized public to miss the point of such protests.
But: I guess because that would require an actual investment of time and effort. And standing out in the cold. Much easier to sit at the computer keyboard and blog, complaining and waiting for the end times.
banerichter
I thought the people were behind the barricades in in a revolt and the military stormed them.
Wealth transfer.. For ever dollar made on Wall street, seven is taken out of the real economy.
This is result of the push to make us as a service economy vs. industrial.
The goal in Washington and the Corporate board rooms for the last 35 years as been this. They firmly believe that we no longer should have to get dirt under our fingernails to make a living.. That we are now past that stage in our development.
And 40% percent of the service sector is finance.
So, about the poor blue collar workers left out? The ones not fortunate enough to have been able to get an education..
Tough cookies! You missed the boat.
"an education" has little to do with it. Won't help you one bit if your "Education" is not focused on this illusion known as the stock market.
Wealth transfer.. For ever dollar made on Wall street, seven is taken out of the real economy.
This is result of the push to make us as a service economy vs. industrial.
The goal in Washington and the Corporate board rooms for the last 35 years as been this. They firmly believe that we no longer should have to get dirt under our fingernails to make a living.. That we are now past that stage in our development.
And 40% percent of the service sector is finance.
So, about the poor blue collar workers left out? The ones not fortunate enough to have been able to get an education..
Tough cookies! You missed the boat.
And they say pornography is obscene. Don't get any uglier and dirty that what is happening in the united states of corporations, particularly financial corporations.
What may be even more unsettling is that this may be a yearly corporate welfare thing, sort of like o's healthcare BS where americans are dictated to pay a tax to private corporations. Fucked but no kisses.
"THE FIRST THING WE DO, IS KILL ALL THE LAWYERS" - Henry VI, Wm Shakespeare
One can think of a modern update and a change of characters.
That was said in the context that lawyers were honest and fighting for justice. It is often taken out of context like you did. Nevertheless, Shakespeare said it at a time when lawyers were honest. So now the context in which you use it is correct.
"...come under withering criticism for their actions during the 2008 financial crisis and faced the fury of the US public..."
The Fury of the US public?? LOL as if that even remotely matters to any of the corporate/banking oligarchy who runs our government, our economy, and our country. So the masses are pissed off. What are they going to do about it??
Exactly nada.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."
...and an American Express card.
So THATS where the middles classe's life saving went...I was wondering about that...
the us treasury makes sure they get loans at zero percent interest
so they can loan to small businesses and middle class
instead they take all the money they just got for zero percent and by treasury bonds lets say at 4 percent interest
so they take the money the goverment gave them at zero percent,
give it back to the government charging them 4 percent for the privilege of giving the government back its own money
so borrow 100 billion from government, give government back 100 billion in the form of buying treasury bonds, make 4 billion a year for doing absolutely nothing
'doing absolutely nothing' is an understatement since they have monopoly on the job supply market they destroyed buying the trade legislation , so death and destruction is their hidden real trademark
edweg
agree
and the slaves continue to buy corporate products that they can do without, bank with wall street, invest in wall street, work for wall street, and shill for wall street.
but the 30 years dominative mantra that wall street growth = economy growth is no longer believable for six-packs - that's some progress
edweg
All this money is stolen from the American people.
And other ordinary people around the world.
Joe
I guess it pays to have all of Obama's economic advisors be Wall Street insiders.
I'm so surprised.
*SMH*
obama has tried to play nice and believe these people could change their stripes
but it is the republicans who are now not only wholely owned subsidaries or corporate americans, but also now owned by foreign goverments and china..thanks to citizens united decision
they are the ones who orchestrated most of the bail outs
geithner has been horrible
and that is obamas fault for believing in geithner and summers criminal nonsense
144 billion dollars is a lot of money, but without a demominator under this figure, I don't know exactly what it means. Also, how it is distributed is important. I suspect half of it goes to just a few hundred people? How could anything any individual human does warrant pay on the order of tens of millions of dollars per year?
These Wall Street gangsters are celebrating the money that they take home, which can buy them real estate on the Mediterranean, (which is worth something).
And they got it by creating fake money out of thin air which will collapse the retirement funds and social security for the rest of us! (not to mention the eventual collapse of the economy and the environment)
….Meanwhile, working people are spending, consuming and paying taxes to fund the war and keep politicians in power who give the gangsters tax breaks!
Broad daylight.
Am I a bad monkey for wanting to see every guy in that picture roasted alive on a spit?
The president of--all the people--today called for 50 billion to fix roads, bridges and other infrastructures. That evil socialist, foolish spending request is partnered to the above wealth transfer to those oh so deserving poor!(wall street impoverished)
If we the people left those few with --44 billion-- and levied the rest for infrastructure for all the people (fund the bill) the amount would be doubled and no addition to the deficit.
We all know that reasonable, just and prudent act, which is good for our "number one " country will not happen. Could the reason be that it is just and prudent.
I don't know..
But: "50 billion to fix roads, bridges and other infrastructures".
Makes it easier for the corporate army to move the tanks and guns in more easily against we the people.
Greed is an incurable disease capable of toppling Nations.
The last part of the documentary 'zeitgeit' explained the idea of this debt, especially from the creation of the federal reserve act of 1913 which was one or the most treasonous acts of collaboration of the private bankers, congress and woodie the woodpecker wilson's desire to be president if and when he signed it into law.
His later regrets of doing so basically falls on empty ears.