On Wall Street, equity trading hasn't been the place to be for a long time. Let's face it-- the margins are really thin and the services seem commoditized. The places to be were in exotic securities with big margins and less than transparent markets. Investment Dealers' Digest notes, however, the bond turmoil may be leading some firms to build out their equity teams. Bank of America is a good example. It won't comment on its larger plans but it seems to be staffing up. It recently tapped Hank Erbe to head its equity capital team for financial institutions. This may reflect the normal churn in the industry but equities have been hot lately, and the need to diversify away from fixed income is palpable.    

For more:
- here's the Investment Dealers' Digest article