Whoa. Did I really write that? Did Morgan Stanley
Amazingly, yes, it's true. Well, kind of.
This patient's still got a pulse
Morgan Stanley earned $1.4 billion, or $1.32 per share in the third quarter, just pennies below the $1.38 per share earned in the same period last year, when investment banking was still an admirable trade. Net revenue came in at $8 billion, a hair more than the same period last year. All in all, it was a pretty impressive quarter.
But that was last quarter. What about going forward?
Underlining all the good news lies the same issue Goldman Sachs
For Morgan Stanley and Goldman, that could mean one of a few things. Either they end up merging with a retail bank like Wells Fargo
Please don't wait until it's too late
Both Morgan Stanley and Goldman expressed their reluctance to give up their current independent structures. For both firms' shareholders, that's probably not the best of news. If the prevailing thought that the current investment banking system is broken turns out to be correct, holding onto the past and not addressing problems until the last second is a recipe for shareholder destruction. Every financial collapse this year -- Bear Stearns, Lehman, Mac 'n' Mae, and AIG -- came extremely suddenly and with little warning. After a wretched week of financial failures, let's just hope the remaining survivors won't bury their heads in the sand.
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