Wall Street Pay Reaches Record $135 Billion - WSJ.com (5.7% increase over 2009)

[UrbScotty]

Source: Wall Street Journal

When it comes to paychecks, Wall Street's law of gravity is back in full force: What goes down must come back up.

In 2010, total compensation and benefits at publicly traded Wall Street banks and securities firms hit a record of $135 billion, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. The total is up 5.7% from $128 billion in combined compensation and benefits by the same companies in 2009.

The increase was fueled by a revenue rebound as the financial crisis recedes in the rearview mirror. At 25 large financial firms that have reported full-year results, revenue rose to $417 billion, another all-time high, even though last year's 1% increase was just a fraction of the industry's revenue jolt from 2008 to 2009 as trading and investment banking sprang back to life.

"Things are shifting back to where they were before," said J. Robert Brown, a law professor at the University of Denver who studies compensation and corporate-governance issues.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704124504576118421859347048.html

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Meanwhile, I don't have steady work.

Still waiting for that trickle-down in Casa de UrbScotty!

[Lugnut]

1. This is obscene. n/t

[PoliticAverse]

2. The bailout worked... n/t

[OhioChick]

3. Shameful n/t

[Kablooie]

4. Now you know where YOUR paycheck went.

[Trajan]

5. Awww ... Poor babies ....

Let's get them another TAX CUT! .... They seem to be hurtin pretty bad ...

Here ... Take my kids milk money .... We can drink from the gutter and eat dirt !

[mrfocus]

6. For comparison

Clearly, these fine individuals are worth as much to society as 3,000,000 teachers

[UrbScotty]

12. Yeah. Crazy, isn't it?

[Kingofalldems]

7. Yeah but Ayn Rand said they take all the risks and stuff

[groundloop]

9. Exactly. Gambling with other people's money....

I'm not into bragging too much, but as an engineer I believe I contribute more to society than those people. I also believe my uncle who worked in a car factory and runs the family farm, my cousin who builds tractor parts, my brother who's a welder, and my wife who's a "lunch lady" all contribute more to society than these rich bankers. Yet I don't see any of us getting huge raises and bonuses every single year.

[Jefferson23]

8. YEA! I was concerned about them. n/t

[Lucky Luciano]

10. Average comp per employee is down though due to a lot of hiring. nt

[HughBeaumont]

11. The wants of the few over the needs of the many.

And they have no reason to fear any reprisals whatsoever.

America obviously luuuuurrrrrves them some rich peoples; hell, half of America thinks they're going to BE Lloyd BankFiend someday!

But in the meantime, let's all tighten our belts so that The Very Wealthy Man can live happily ever after at everyone else's expense . . .

[neverforget]

13. How can they live on such a paltry salary?

:sarcasm: