Executives on Wall Street are warning that a trading slowdown is around the corner as client activity has decreased considerably, and investment-banking revenue has experienced a challenging start to June.
Wall Street not hopeful of a good second quarter
Morgan Stanley’s chief executive officer James Gorman said on Tuesday that he would be very surprised if they are able to beat the results of the first quarter. Speaking at an industry conference in New York, he said that the last two weeks had been very hard for the industry, but it experienced solid stats before that. He said that they are not going to have a bad quarter in the securities business. However, he also said that we have to “realistic with the environment.”
Gorman noted that macro trading was “challenged” and even merger activity has been “lumpy.” Citigroup’s chief financial officer Mark Mason also echoes Gorman’s sentiment. He said that the second-quarter fixed-income and equities trading revenue is expected to fall by a percentage compared to last year. It could land in the “mid-single-digit range” alongside investment-banking fees that could drop by a percentage in the “mid-teens.” He also said,
“We certainly saw a slowdown in the first quarter coming out of December where there was low volatility and heightened uncertainty. Frankly, that slowdown has persisted.”
Why are markets swinging?
Markets are reacting to the latest developments in the trade skirmishes led by President Donald Trump. The country is already facing trade troubles with China which refuse to subside. The problems with Mexico have been averted for now, but the trade outlook still looks grim. There are chances that the Federal Reserve will also make a move. David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recently noted in a CNBC interview that the quarter has been “up and down.” He also declined to give a forecast for the trading revenue of the firm.
Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase CEO also warned that revenue has declined for their business. Last month, Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat said that market uncertainties are leading clients away from trading.
Morgan Stanley’s institutional business registered $5.2 billion in revenue in the first quarter of the year. This quarter, the business is expected to decline but still bring around $4 billion for the company because of increased stability. The company’s institutional-securities business lead Ted Pick said last month that their prime-brokerage balances grew rapidly during the year. He noted that the markets still enjoy investor confidence.
Trusted & Regulated Stock & CFD Brokers
What we like
- 0% Fees on Stocks
- 5000+ Stocks, ETFs and other Markets
- Accepts Paypal Deposits
Min Deposit
$200
Charge per Trade
Zero Commission on real stocks
64 traders signed up today
Visit Now67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Available Assets
- Total Number of Stocks & Shares5000+
- US Stocks
- German Stocks
- UK Stocks
- European
- ETF Stocks
- IPO
- Funds
- Bonds
- Options
- Futures
- CFDs
- Crypto
Charge per Trade
- FTSE 100 Zero Commission
- NASDAQ Zero Commission
- DAX Zero Commission
- Facebook Zero Commission
- Alphabet Zero Commission
- Tesla Zero Commission
- Apple Zero Commission
- Microsoft Zero Commission
Deposit Method
- Wire Transfer
- Credit Cards
- Bank Account
- Paypall
- Skrill
- Neteller
What we like
- Sign up today and get $5 free
- Fractals Available
- Paypal Available
Min Deposit
$0
Charge per Trade
$1 to $9 PCM
Visit Now
Investing in financial markets carries risk, you have the potential to lose your total investment.
Available Assets
- Total Number of Shares999
- US Stocks
- German Stocks
- UK Stocks
- European Stocks
- EFTs
- IPOs
- Funds
- Bonds
- Options
- Futures
- CFDs
- Crypto
Charge per Trade
- FTSE 100 $1 - $9 per month
- NASDAQ $1 - $9 per month
- DAX $1 - $9 per month
- Facebook $1 - $9 per month
- Alphabet $1 - $9 per month
- Telsa $1 - $9 per month
- Apple $1 - $9 per month
- Microsoft $1 - $9 per month
Deposit Method
- Wire Transfer
- Credit Cards
- Bank Account