The good news is that Morgan Stanley (MS) ended a string of three straight quarterly losses in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley posted a profit from continuing operations of 38 cents a share. Which handily beat the average estimate of 27-cent profit. It seems to have recovered its appetite for risk. Its VAR rose to $118 million, higher than it has been for nearly two years.

Goldman Sachs' (GS) VAR is above $200 million. But the results on the bottom line have yet to fully materialize. Sales and trading, however, plunged nearly 90 percent. Outgoing CEO John Mack acknowledge the bank had work to do in this area. The bank was able to put away $5 billion for compensation, bringing the total to nearly $11 billion. Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, has built up nearly $17 billion. 

For more:
- here's the release
- here's a CNNMoney article

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