Morning Coffee: BAML traders have a reason to love Trump. Job cuts finally slowing
Forget the Brexit boost, Trump's election is likely to see the best quarter for a long time for banks' trading desks. Whether or not Wall Street traders actually voted for Donald Trump, there is an upside.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch had its best trading day immediately after the Trump election – and it is likely to will lead to good Q4 trading results, COO Tom Montag told The Wall Street Journal. The day after Trump was elected, the bank had record volume on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nikkei.
Montag, who is in charge of the bank’s global banking and markets, says Q4 trading will exceed Q4 of 2015 by double digits. Bank of America stock has increased more than 18% since Trump was elected and shares “closed above $20 this week for the first time since fall 2008,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Like Brexit, it's banks’ macro trading and fixed income desks that are benefiting from the increase in volumes since Trump's election.
Moreover, there is some hope among bankers that the cumbersome Dodd Frank regulations could be scaled back or maybe even replaced by a proposed Financial Choice Act that could be promoted by the Financial Services Committee in the House of Representatives.
Separately, the number of banking layoffs in the U.S. financial industry has reached what appears to be the “slowest pace in more than a decade,” according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The number declined to some 1,940 per month YTD through October, Bloomberg reported, and there is speculation that the job outlook could improve if President-Elect Trump keeps his campaign promises to lessen regulations on banks and other businesses.
Meanwhile:
Bank of England governor Mark Canrey says it's fine for banks to make contingency plans to move jobs after Brexit, but they shouldn't rush into moving people (Bloomberg)
UK-based banks may move some operations to other nations at the end of 2017 depending on how Brexit plays out, he says (Reuters)
Trump could save banks billions if he cuts back on regulation (Bloomberg)
Among those helping to identify top appointees at the Justice Department as President-Elect Trump puts together his administration is Kevin O’Connor, a former Justice Department official now general counsel for Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management. (Vanity Fair).
Good news - your stock options are no longer sinking. (WSJ)
31,000 sales and trading jobs could go because of Brexit by 2024, says EY. 85,000 could go in total. (Financial Times)
Google is doubling headcount in London (Financial Times)
The Secret Service reportedly favors blocking traffic on New York’s Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower whenever President-Elect Trump is in New York City. (NY Curbed)
Rejuvenate yourself with teenagers' blood (New Scientist)
Are you part of Trump's elite? (Telegraph)
Photo: Getty Images
