Sure there are a lot of bad things going on with wall street. However, I think the future will be very bright for investment banks that can survive this crisis. With JPM taking over Bear Stearns, there will be even less competition on Wall Street. Banks can charge an even higher price for services because there are only a few major players around. I think this is somewhat similar to the accounting industry where some people say the fallout of Arthur Anderson and introduction of SOX is the best thing that can happen to Big 4. What do you guys think?
Well, if you think this is the best thing that can happen to the surviving investment banks you can buy x% of all of them now for about what x% of MER would have cost you 1-year ago. I hope you are buying up equity like crazy.
I’m afraid I don’t think less competition is a plus. On the contrary, more competition would be very welcome if you ask me.