Morgan Stanley to pare jobs in mortgage units

You knew this was coming. Morgan Stanley has announced that it will cut about 600 jobs in its three mortgage businesses. It doesn't look like any cuts will occur on the banking side, tbough there could be some attrition that generates little publicity. Morgan's three mortgage units will be consolidated into one operation. This follows more drastic cuts at Lehman Brothers. You have to wonder what is up with Merrill Lynch. It invested heavily in the subprime industry via its acquisition of First Franklin. No one would be suprised if they announced some paring soon. We'll see. All in all the pain could have been a lot worse.  

For more:
- here's an AP article