There's a sense that the top investment banks are looking at another fine year in 2010, to follow their surprisingly strong finish in 2009. Which was driven in large part by FICC activity. Banks like Goldman Sachs (GS) really benefited from the void of competition, which will slowly close.

But Sanford Bernstein analyst Brad Hintz thinks 2010 will be strong year for mergers and acquisitions. Global activity could rise 35 percent, he predicts, as noted by Reuters. However, despite a strong bump from depressed levels this year, Hintz doubts that M&A activity will top the volume record set in 2007 over the next four years. The most active sector? Financial services, he expects. The big winners: Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs, though JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and some boutiques may beg to differ. 

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