Stock market news today August 3

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Wall Street bonuses are set to soar 

Wall Street workers who trade stocks or derivatives linked
to equity markets may see annual bonuses surge as much as 20% as
market volatility picks up and more startups head to the public
markets to sell shares,
according to a new report. 

People who work in sales and trading, regardless of their
product area, are in line for a strong year, compensation
consultant Johnson Associates said in its second-quarter report.
At this rate, equities personnel will see incentive compensation
climb 15% to 20% compared to last year, while fixed income sales
and trading staff will likely see a 5% to 10% increase, the
report said. 

The owner of the New York Stock Exchange is building an
‘ecosystem’ for crypto

ICE, the parent company of the iconic New York Stock Exchange,

is making a big move into the crypto market with a digital asset
platform.

The firm, which previously dove into the market for digital
assets via a data feed product earlier this year, had reportedly
been exploring a cryptocurrency exchange platform. On Friday, the
company officially announced it had been developing out such an
offering.

ICE is teaming up with Microsoft to build out Bakkt, a new
company that will serve as a “ecosystem for digital assets,”
including bitcoin.

The platform would allow folks to buy and sell digital assets.

Barclays has the fastest growing stock trading team
around 

The hottest stock-trading team on the planet in 2018
isn’t one of Wall Street’s giants from the United States.

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs may dominate
the equities industry in terms of raw market share, but British
lender Barclays has the fastest-growing operation in the business
so far this year.

The bank reported stellar
second quarter earnings results Thursday,
and its equities business was a key reason why, growing to $807
million from $588 million in 2017 — a 37% increase.

No other major bank’s stock-trading team grew faster in the
second quarter.

Professional investors say Lazard should consider
breaking itself up

Boutique investment bank Lazard has a 170-year history of
providing expert financial advice to clients.

But according to the results of an industry survey, many
professional investors think the bank should consider a shift in
its own strategy to boost shareholder returns.

The anonymous survey was carried out by Devin Ryan at JMP
Securities, who said he received more than 50 formal responses
from various hedge funds and mutual funds.

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