One measure of firms' trading prowess

Do you recall Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis' statement that he's had about all the fun he can stand in investment banking? This after the bank decided to scale back dramatically? Well, new filings indicate that the bank lost money by trading on nearly one in three days last year, a sixfold increase from the previous year, according to Financial News Online. Goldman Sachs was the only top bank to lose money on fewer trading days in 2007 than in 2006; days with losses dropped to 52 from 56 in 2006. Losing days at Lehman Brothers rose from just five in 2006 to 33 last year, still the fewest loss days of the premiere banks. It's getting tougher out there. We'll see if banks can collectively navigate 2008 any better.  

For more:
- here's the Financial News Online article

Read more on: losses | trades | investment banking

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