BBC: Ripples spread from Wall Street losses

[marmar]

Ripples spread from Wall Street losses

By Dumeetha Luthra
BBC News, New York


"What I've noticed is, the drinks are going down faster."



That's the analysis of one barman who works around the corner from Wall Street.

A crisis - the biggest shake-out since the Great Depression - which is unparalleled in recent finance history, has brought the sector to its knees.

As you walk by the financial powerhouses, which are now crumbling, you can easily make out those who work in the sector.

It is not only the suits that give it away, it's the eyes, which are slightly glassy, and a walk that is rather uncertain.

A sigh of relief is not that there is good news, it's just that the news is not as bad as it could have been. But right now even that sigh is hard to come by.

"We've gone from a golden era of banking and financial services," said Kenneth D. Lewis, the chief executive of Bank of America as the bank he heads prepared to buy Merrill Lynch.

"It's going to be tougher," Mr. Lewis said. "There are going to be fewer companies, and we are going to have to be better at what we do." .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7620847.stm