Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman in February set a goal of boosting the bank's market share in fixed-income trading by two percentage points to roughly 8 percent. That compares with JP Morgan's 15 percent share. Citigroup, Barclays and Goldman Sachs each had more than 13 percent.

Unfortunately, according to Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley has missed a key internal trading target and doesn't seem to be executing in a way that makes success likely for Gorman anytime soon. The bank "has been beset by management turnover, weak markets, bad bets and a struggle to win back clients lost when the firm retrenched during the financial crisis, according to interviews with nine current and former executives who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak." When executives go to the press with these matters, it can signal some nasty internal politics and maneuvering.

It's unclear exactly what's happening, but we'll know more when the bank releases its earnings this week. This is one of several issues that the market will focus on. It's fair to say that the environment has been weak for all banks in FICC-oriented trading. Weak results would not be a surprise. The turnaround may have to wait while. Colm Kelleher and Ken deRegt, both 20-year veterans of the company, have been tasked with righting the ship at a tough time. Their predecessors in this area have not fared well. Hopefully, their fate will be different.

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