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Morgan Stanley's announcement that it is slashing 1,600 jobs is only the latest in a late-year blizzard of pink slips being floated among people at the heart of American high-finance. Bonuses are also down sharply. Is the economy Grinch stealing Wall Street's Christmas?

Two recent reports on the attitudes of the "mass affluent" revealed that consumers in this wealth bracket have a relatively high level of apprehension about their financial future.

Former Washington Mutual Inc executives agreed to settle a lawsuit for less than 10 percent of the $900 million originally sought by the FDIC for their role in the biggest bank failure in U.S. history, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Sheila Bair, former chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), is said to be the leading candidate to monitor banks during a nationwide foreclosure settlement.

As unprecedented conditions continue to buffet the U.S. equities, and investors pull tens of billions out, investment managers are increasingly counseling their clients on what could be the most basic of stock market strategies: put your cash in mature high-dividend shares of mature companies, and stop fussing.

An index of consumer sentiment rose to its highest in six months in early December and the trade deficit narrowed in October in the latest signs that the U.S. economy's health is slowly improving.

An index of consumer sentiment rose to its highest in six months in early December and the trade deficit narrowed in October in the latest signs that the U.S. economy's health is slowly improving.

Consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in six months in early December as Americans adopted an improved economic outlook while the trade deficit narrowed in October, pointing to gathering momentum in the economy.

Stock in the largest American banks were particularly bullish on the developments, trading up in heavy volume during pre-market action in the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) were up more than 2 percent in very early pre-market trading. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), whose operations are generally considered to be more sensitive to developments out of Europe than its large bank peers in the U.S., was up over 3 percent.

Of the 30 companies analyzed in the report, all of them aside from FedEx didn't pay any federal income taxes from 2008 to 2010.

Third in a series on fall ratings gainers and losers.

Talk of Greece voluntarily leaving -- or being kicked out of -- the eurozone was once verboten. Now bank economists, investors, and even central bankers are talking about it as though it's a done deal. The divide between rhetoric is also growing. Those predicting the future Greek exit are calling it "manageable," while those saying it won't happen are labeling the possibility "catastrophic."

Wachovia Bank, owned by Wells Fargo & Co, agreed to pay $148 million in a settlement with state and federal authorities over allegations of bid-rigging and other abuses in the municipal bond derivatives market.

The SEC on Thursday charged Wachovia Bank N.A. -- now Wells Fargo Bank following a merger in March 2010 -- with fraudulently engaging in secret arrangements with bidding agents to improperly win business from municipalities and guarantee itself profits in the reinvestment of municipal bond proceeds.

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc said it received a $60 million loan from private equity firm Golden Gate Capital in return for two board seats and the right to buy a 20 percent stake in the teen retailer.

It turns out that credit unions did not benefit so much from fed-up customers of big banks. The Credit Union National Association said in early November that their survey showed an estimated 650,000 Americans have opened new accounts at credit unions since Sept. 29, the day Bank of America (BAC) announced the $5 debit card fee that it later cancelled due to mounting pressure. However, a newly released regular monthly report shows quite a difference scenario.

U.S. equities rallied in the last hour of trading Wednesday, before retreating in the last few minutes, as rumors that a $600 billion International Monetary Fund Bailout of the European sovereigns was about to be announced swirled the market, only to be dispelled just before trading closed for the day.

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) announced that all deposit-taking ATMs in its network of more than 12,000 machines in the U.S. are now entirely envelope-free. Citibank (C) stated in its recent edition of client manual for consumer accounts that the bank will be installing new envelope-free ATMs at Citibank branches and other Citi locations "throughout 2011."

Anti-Wall Street protesters, seeking a new focus as cities across the country shut down two-month old Occupy encampments, launched a new wave of activism on Tuesday by rallying around homeowners as they try to resist evictions from foreclosed homes.

Wells Fargo & Co is well positioned for upcoming stress tests of the largest U.S. banks, Chief Executive John Stumpf said on Tuesday.

Total construction spending has contributed to real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the past two quarters and is expected to add to economic growth through 2013.

A strange and winding day for the shares of major U.S. financial companies ended as oddly as it began, as shares of major U.S. banks seemed to brush off bad news on sovereign debt ratings that rattled the wider market and shares of five of the biggest financial institutions traded on the New York Stock Exchange ended the session on a sell imbalance.

In a research note, banking industry analyst Matthew Burnell reduced fourth-quarter earnings estimates for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). Burnell reduced the earning estimates for JPMorgan and Citi by about 4 percent, but sounded a much more pessimistic note on Goldman and Morgan Stanley.

In the wake of a lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts attorney general, GMAC Mortgage, a subsidiary of Ally Financial, said on Friday that it would stop buying mortgage loans in the state after Dec. 5.

The U.S Department of Commerce released the construction spending index for the month of October. Total construction spending rose 0.8 percent in October, the third consecutive monthly increase.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley hit five banks with a lawsuit over foreclosure practices in the midst of multistate settlement negotiations.

From the time when a statement by Massachusetts' attorney-general announcing a lawsuit against five major banks began appearing on the newswires, shares of the financial institutions being sued actually went up slightly.

The Massachusetts attorney general has filed a lawsuit against five large U.S. banks accusing them of deceptive foreclosure practices, a signal of ebbing confidence that a multi-state agreement can be worked out.

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) announced Thursday the reduction of fixed interest rates for many of its private student loans, as the company tries to coincide with peak season and appeal to graduates interested in consolidating their student loan debt, as well as those who are in the midst of obtaining financing for second semester coursework.