"Morgan Stanley, the No. 2 U.S. investment bank, reported a $9.4 billion writedown on Wednesday from bad bets on mortgage-related debt, leading it to take a $5 billion infusion from an arm of the Chinese government." AP via Yahoo today.
And so begins the Wednesday before Christmas, where still another firm announces losses of an extraordinary measure. One wonders if John Mack will be sufficiently tarnished to the point where he has step down. I doubt it.
Forgive me for beating a dead horse, raising it from the dead, and rebeating, but one thinks back to Mr. O'Neal of Merrill and the feathering (post tarring) he took, and the continued story arc that Merrill under Thane is returning to a more sensible and loving corporate environment, including the bringing back of previously hacked off hands.
Can we cross our fingers and see Mr. Mack on the unemployment line? For consistencies sake? Or is Zoe Cruz his stand in and the sole responsible party for the dark arts of efficiently losing a lot money?
Not that I think Mack should be fired. Nor do I think Mr. O'Neal should have been fired. Well, actually, they all should, or they all shouldn't, and one should make a case for consistency in standards.
In an industry where everyone was running the same plays, one ought not to penalize some while others get a free pass.
Merrill aside, Morgan now joins the long list of companies self pimping to foreign buyers, following in the footsteps of Citi with China, and Bear in selling a little bit of its soul to Abu Dhabi*.
(*I have no qualms about foreign owners, as I think it's a good sign of western ways becoming the norm in places where they were not in the past. However, there is some loss of dignity in the manner in which this is taking place, or is that me?)
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