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In the land of vampire squids doing God's work and bonuses so EXTREME!!! that Mountain Dew takes notice, Streeters finally seem to be doing something right.
CNNMoney reports that many Wall Street banks are foregoing holiday parties this year. I don't begrudge a company its holiday party -- especially since apparently 81% of companies are planning to throw one in this down year.
However, it's a very good move. Can you imagine how quickly any extra-exuberant holiday partying at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) or Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) would get on YouTube? Faster than you can mash the "Like" button on Facebook. Still, we can rejoice in some unintended comedy, courtesy of the article:
Example 1: A Morgan Stanley spokesperson said the company plans on giving the money that would have been allocated for a party to a yet-to-be-determined charity.
This is a great Catch 22 situation ... I hope hope hope it slips out how much money they give ... if it's a ton, they'll be taken to task for how expensive their holiday parties usually are. If it's not much, people will either say they aren't generous or that they're sandbagging the party costs.
Example 2: Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) workers are free to organize a donation to a local charity, while [Citigroup (NYSE:C)] employees can celebrate outside of work, although they would not be reimbursed, according to company spokespeople.
I wish B of A's spokesman would just come out and say it: "Well, we don't usually like our employees helping those less fortunate, but it is the holidays and we want to look good, so we told them to feel free to organize a donation to a local charity. Just don't come to my desk."
Example 3: And if reports about rival JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) hosting its own party at the former Bear Stearns headquarters are to be believed, the event promises to be a relatively tame affair.
So JPMorgan is essentially dancing on Bear Stearns' grave. Now that's an image.
Anything I missed? Let me know in the comments section below.
