A record year for Wall Street pay

[Hannah Bell]

According to the Wall Street Journal, the major US banks and financial firms are on track to hand out a record $140 billion in compensation this year. This is a 20 percent increase from 2008 and $10 billion more than the previous record, set in 2007.

The stock market celebrated the news, outlined in a front-page Journal article on Wednesday, along with the release of JPMorgan Chase’s third-quarter earnings report, which showed a seven-fold increase in profits from last year to $3.6 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 145 points, closing above the 10,000 mark for the first time in a year.

The record pay being handed out by the 23 largest publicly traded banks, hedge funds, asset management firms and stock and commodity exchanges (the report did not include privately held companies) underscores the class interests being served by the Obama administration and the subordination of the entire political system to a financial aristocracy which essentially dictates government policy.

The American financial elite, aided and abetted by the White House and Congress, is profiting from an economic disaster that is driving hundreds of millions of working people in the US and around the world into poverty—a disaster precipitated by its own methods of financial speculation and fraud and its manic pursuit of personal gain.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/oct2009/pers-o15.shtml

[LooseWilly]

1. I am Jack's utter lack of surprise.

I mean... of course. Bail 'em out... and they'll make a profit. In making a profit, they'll raise the "average" for the whole country... and the statistics will look better.

This is just business as usual... but you know that.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Should we bet on how many bodies will be "found" around New York.

Do these ass holes have no idea the hard times people are having while they live it up.

[Greyhound]

3. "You can't fix stupid".

The fools going wild over the DJIA and touting it as a "recovery" is simply astounding.
:kick: & R

[tomm2thumbs]

4. These people are devouring the organs of a dying country. They should lose their citizenship.

They are feeding on this great country like so many maggots.

[HamdenRice]

5. There's a news story in there somewhere, but it's lost in WSWS word salad.

"Because He makes a twirl in life, my box is broken help me blue elephant. Isn't lettuce brave? I like electrons, hello. Acute does runs shaky lovely very"

[Subdivisions]

6. Of course. n/t

[Orwellian_Ghost]

7. K&R

[Hannah Bell]

8. k