Why are big banks cutting trading jobs in the current very long bull market?

Discussion in 'Professional Trading' started by helpme_please, Jul 30, 2019.

  1. Lately, there have been distressing news about big banks cutting trading jobs. I don't work in big banks. As a retail investor and outsider, I find it puzzling. Shouldn't traders prosper in a bull market? We are still enjoying the longest bull market which refuses to die. Wall Street traders should be celebrating and not losing their jobs in a genuine bull market.

    Can the professionals in this forum enlighten me? Does this bode badly for the current bull market?

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...cut-hundreds-of-trading-jobs-as-revenue-falls
     
    murray t turtle and wrbtrader like this.
  2. ETJ

    ETJ

    Dodd - Frank.
     
    murray t turtle likes this.
  3. ETJ

    ETJ

    There was some expectation that Trump would gut it and they did mid-2018 adjustment. Fascinating reading if you have no life. Commonly called the "Volcker" rule.
     
    helpme_please likes this.
  4. Times

    Times

    Interesting, my thoughts are as interest rates drop, obviously banks profit margins will drop too. So im guessing they need to cut cost and cutting speculative traders seems like the way to go.

    Also volume in the markets seems to be low so im guessing they can't put on the size they need.

    Overall, It will be interesting to see if this trend makes volume/liquidity even lower than it currently is.
     
    murray t turtle likes this.
  5. guru

    guru

  6. d08

    d08

    Automation plays a big part. You need fewer and fewer finance people, more tech people.
     
    bone, zdave83, dealmaker and 7 others like this.
  7. Good point. But also let's not forget banks are some of the least efficiently run corporate vehicles in the world. They hire and fire at the worst possible times (hire when markets are only a year from topping out and it's such a frenzy that they hopeless overpay. Fire right at the bottom when smart players should actually take advantage of cheaper labor and can take market share from other banks). Also, banks step from one corporate disaster into the next. Prime examples: Deutsche, RBS, Barclays, Nomura, Wells Fargo, the list goes on. When those mistaps come with billion dollar fines then CEOs and board members can only stay if they fire the chimps on the bottom rungs, else investors will demand corpses higher up.

    But having said all that, I think your point is currently the most applicable one.

     
    zdreg, d08 and helpme_please like this.
  8. And the tech people don't ask for as much money.
     
  9. Bum

    Bum

    Money leaving "active" trading accounts & moving to passive ETFs.
    No need for traders to pick & choose stocks.
    In general, traders will do worse than the overall market so ETFs outperform traders & have lower fees.
     
    murray t turtle and trader99 like this.
  10. %%
    Longest bull market, help me please ?? Most outside of media, call a 20% correction or time below 200 day moving average, a bear market/downtrend.
    That sounds bullish /good anyway - Citi cutting staff.LOL As far as C stock being $71.17/+; NOT really, they reverse split it 10 times . Citi stock is really $7.17; barely above $5.00.

    As always, check closing prices to proVe trends .......................................................................................:D:D. Thanks
     
    #10     Jul 31, 2019
    Stockolio likes this.