Gothamist: Fighting Words on Wall Street

maggie

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 22:43:06 -0500

pretend giant swingers with no dreams or sports teams of their own.

TinyPenis-BigWallet

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:09:56 -0500

I make more money than you! chumps.

your sister's gay boyfriend

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 18:04:18 -0500

Could Americans enjoy the same standard of living that they do now if every art history major committed suicide? likely. Could they enjoy the same standard of living if every person in the financial industry killed themselves? Not a chance Well, given the disparity of wealth in this country and how the middle class owes more than it owns, the standard of living could actually improve if the American finance industry, well, maybe not disappeared, but downsized a little.

wake up people

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:05:32 -0500

For the last time, bankers don't "make" anything. They are a speed bump on the capitalist road althouth hey like to tell you that they grease the wheels of capitalism. If there is money flowing anywhere they try to steal a cut of it. Comparing an M&A banker to a real estate broker is about right. Neither of them is going to get paid unless a deal is made. So just how unbiased do you think their advice is? At least you can live in house. I bet Time Warner wished they never met the banker that gave the thumbs up to being acquired by AOL. Of course, they can just reset their options to a lower price and get an eight figure bonus anyway. And you can thank the hedge fund crowd for about $15 dollars on the price of a barrel of oil. Be grateful most of you don't own car. and when the CLOs implode in the next downturn it's going to make the S&L debacle look like a tea party.

yawn

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:45:36 -0500

i'm not impressed by bankers and traders. they simply push money around from one place to another, and take a percentage. like the mafia. if this were the french revolution, it'd be off with their heads!

b

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:40:35 -0500

traders also take on a lot more risk than ibankers, so you can lose a lot plus it's not til 4pm anymore, most of them trade beyond NYSE hours in the after and foreign markets

Difference

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:34:56 -0500

there is a huge difference btwn I-bankers and traders. I-bankers may work 100 hours a week, etc. Traders work 7.30AM til 4pm and go home. No overtime, no late nights. EVER. and they still make a ton of money. i am not one of them, but if i was, i'd rather be the trader then the I-banker. great pay and great hours, cocky attitude notwithstanding.

jtg

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:33:10 -0500

William may be bragging a bit but the rest of you are just haters. So what they get huge bonuses, they make huge amounts of money for people. I-Bankers are a drain on society? Come on! Do you people really believe this? And an "oh you must love Ayn Rand comment"? Never heard that comeback before...

Kojak

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:27:32 -0500

lol William your such a douche.

William

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:20:54 -0500

175K? My assistant made near that (after bonus). You guys in liberal arts land dont have a clue.

Samantha T

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:10:42 -0500

Pedestrian, I'm a lawyer, but I certainly don't read Ayn Rand. Not to mention that investment bankers love to talk about what suckers lawyers are because they work for peanuts.

asa

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:03:36 -0500

i can think of a long list of people who contribute far less to society than ibankers...e.g., apartment brokers, half of the legal community, and this years Yankees

brian

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:01:01 -0500

considering I'll most likely be retiring on my investments tied to the stock market rather than what's left in social security...as long as these bankers can keep my portfolio up, let them have their bonuses

edEx

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:45:09 -0500

the following poem/song has been sung my the greats of the music industry; ben harper, joan baez, johnny cash, jeff buckley and pete seeger to name a few. words to live by: -- Satisfied Mind How many times have you heard someone say "If I had his money, I could do things my way?" Little they know that it's so hard to find One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind. Once I was winning in fortune and fame Everything that I dreamed for to get a start in life's game Suddenly it happened, I lost every dime But I'm richer by far with a satisfied mind Money can't buy back your youth when you're old Or a friend when you're lonely, or a love that's grown cold The wealthiest person is a pauper at times Compared to the man with a satisfied mind When my life is ended, my time has run out My trials and my loved ones, I'll leave them no doubt But one thing's for certain, when it comes my time I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind. —Red Hayes and Jack Rhodes

pedestrian

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:43:51 -0500

Hey Warren, could you hurry up with my latte? Thanks. Samantha T, aren't you a lawyer? You really shouldn't be crashing the ragging-on-professions party here.

Kojak

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:42:36 -0500

Well said reckoning.

day of reckoning

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:37:22 -0500

most ibankers work 100+ hours a week, so a large bonus seems justified...not to mention ALL bonuses are taxed at upwards to 50%, so they also probably make a larger financial contribution than most of us do If you define "contribution" as paying taxes. You apparently don't question the source of the income. I suppose that's pretty easy when you live in New York and don't see the mess that this style of capitalism has made of the rest of the US and much of the world. And I know you're knee-jerk retort is going to be that I am jealous of the paycheck. I am not. I know people far wealthier than the average New York I-banker - people that actually earned or their wealth through building companies that create jobs and things of value. Investment banking is the furthest thing from an open market that can still be called capitalism. The banking scene is essentially an oligopoly where conflict of interest means nothing. How many industries do you know where you could act as advisor to both sides of a acquisition AND own a piece of the target company? And I did work in M&A for three years before my conscience finally kicked in.

fishtale

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:33:03 -0500

pretty spot on warren. will, i don't think you making 5mil a year (although you are probably an analyst or something who makes more like 175k) means you will be happy or unhappy. it has more to do with self-importance and the 100 hour work weeks. can someone really sit back and tell us they sometimes work 80 or 100 hours a week but they have a great marriage and are satisfied with how they're raising their kid and the relationship they have with the kid? i suppose anything's possible, but i would be surprised

warren the great

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:15:43 -0500

You completely miss the point, Will. Nobody thinks that money causes or doesn't cause unhappiness. What people like you will never be able to understand is that money is simply a facilitator to do things that actually matter. people who produce and create things contribute to society. the investment community is a parasite that leeches off of everybody else.

William

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:43:02 -0500

The fact that you chumps think that making money causes unhappiness shows what jealous losers you are. For the record, I am married and have a child. Life is good, there are many things to worry about in life and I'm glad that money isn't one of them. And about the car, a proper midlife crisis car is about $130K these days. Merry Christmas and remember to pay the rent - chumps.

warren the great

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:38:26 -0500

actually, will, the world could easily do with goldman sachs and your kind. that would mean no more firing people and getting rid of their pensions under the guise of restructurings. beside, what do you think people would miss more? the museum of modern art or the new york stock exchange. thought so. make sure you leave a note when you off yourselves, otherwise nobody will ever know that you existed.

fishtale

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:35:09 -0500

will- it doesn't matter if you can retire at 50 because by that point, rest assured, you will be disconnected from your family and probably have no hobbies or interests to devote yourself to. or maybe you'd prefer to stay single or get divorced and at 50 be driving around in a 70k car, buying drinks for 20-somethings, supplying miss usa with coke in your spare time, and then having a breakdown once every few months

mihow

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:31:07 -0500

Oh, samantha t, how you make me laugh.

Samantha T

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:24:33 -0500

Will.xls - is Ayn Rand your favorite author? Thought so.

Krista

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:17:11 -0500

NYSE mayhem aside, I'm still stuck on the concept of shit English Lit jobs that pay $60K. I must be an even bigger chump than I realized. Thanks i-bankers for the wake up call.

mihow

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:02:45 -0500

Having a brother who works there, and hearing all the stories he's told over the years, this doesn't surprise me at all. But what did surprise me (a little) and him as well was that it made the cover of the Post! Email received from him on the floor this morning: I bet fights at your workplace don't make the front page of the paper. http://www.nypost.com/ -ryan Awesome.

will.xls

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:01:35 -0500

Spelling is not my strong suit. My actions, however, enable capital formation and liquidity that help necessary goods and services to come to market. Can you say the same? Could Americans enjoy the same standard of living that they do now if every art history major committed suicide? likely. Could they enjoy the same standard of living if every person in the financial industry killed themselves? Not a chance. ....There is a word; I am not sure how it’s spelled: superfluous. Are you angry because that word describes your chosen profession?

warren the great

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:46:31 -0500

wow, we might not think that you're a completely dishonest, self-hating tool if you could at least spell "necessities". people like will are a drain on society's resources who give nothing back. end of story.

edEx

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:45:24 -0500

Mara, like Old Yeller, should be taken to the street and shot. [Iranian-style]

will.xls

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:23:21 -0500

Apparently a bitter chump with a smug sense of superiorty that lacks the capacity to fathom the logisctical necessitys that underpin his/her enjoyable lifestyle. Bankers are worth every penny. If you like equality of suffering move to Belarus.

b

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:19:34 -0500

anomalous, that's why there is such a high burnout rate in this field of work, most of them say that the money just isn't worth it

anomalous

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:16:04 -0500

100 hrs/week = 14 hours a day, seven days a week, or 20 hrs/day, five days a week. No human can physically work that much for more than a short period (weeks-months) before going batshit insane.

William

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:11:12 -0500

Ha. I can retire before 50 - how about you?? Chump...

fishtale

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:09:47 -0500

it's mara's son, not his grandson

bitter chumps

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:02:59 -0500

bitter chumps who enjoy their lives and don't die of a heart attack at 50

b

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:01:56 -0500

William

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:48:35 -0500

I'll say it again, you clowns with English Lit degrees and $60K jobs are just bitter chumps. Sorry, you lose.

squeal like a pig

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:38:59 -0500

At first, he got me in a bear hug and bent me over a trading post. If I had a dime for every time a broker said this . . .

tien

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:27:39 -0500

the giants defense could use someone like mara. maybe that would have helped against some of those runs that the eagles had.

warren the great

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:20:06 -0500

respectfully, i still think the big bonuses story is much bigger. i-bankers shouldn't wonder why the entire world thinks of them as scum: they produce nothing, don't contribute anything to society, are responsible for a lot of people other than themselves suffering economic hardship, and then are rewarded obscenely for it.

S.D.

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:03:53 -0500

Used to be a lot more common. I bet if it were no one linked to anyone famous, it'd not have hit the news. He tried to apologize? For being Psychotic? Hey, most traders are... ;)

Tim N.

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:03:01 -0500

"Oh, shit, you're *that* Mara?!" And then he hit the floor. Where did I read that Igles fans just weren't that bright?