morgan stanley

Top Morgan Stanley executive turns down E*Trade

Struggling online brokerage firm says it's close to hiring executive search firm.

FORTUNE -- E*Trade may have to pay its babysitter overtime.

One of the top candidates to run the online trading firm, which is known for its trading baby television ads, says he isn't interested in the job. Greg Fleming, who heads Morgan Stanley's brokerage division and is overseeing its integration with Smith Barney, says he has no plans to leave MORE

Morgan Stanley misses estimates, cuts staff

Despite Facebook IPO, investment banking profits fell more than 90%.

FORTUNE -- Morgan Stanley has another reason to wish the second quarter never happened. It's the only major bank to report earnings that were below analysts' expectations.

Morgan Stanley (MS) reported net income Thursday morning of $536 million, or $0.28 a share, in the latest quarter. Excluding accounting gains the firm made on an adjustment for its debt, earnings per share were MORE

Exclusive: John Mack, venture capitalist?

Ex-Morgan Stanley CEO invests in e-commerce startup.

FORTUNE -- Former Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO John Mack has invested around $1 million of his own money into an e-commerce startup called AHAlife.com, Fortune has learned.

The investment was part of a $10.1 million fundraising announced by the New York-based company last month, which remains open for "value-added investors." Other backers include Japan's Rakuten ($5m) and venture capital firms DCM ($3.5m) and FirstMark Capital MORE

Facebook IPO blunder adds to Morgan Stanley woes

In the past few years, Morgan Stanley has leveraged its investment bank more and more toward technology IPOs. Now its reputation in that area is in trouble.

FORTUNE -- Add Facebook to Morgan Stanley's growing list of woes. The company's stock was falling even before last week's bungled IPO, and is now down 21% in the past month. Despite Morgan Stanley's (MS) recent disclosures showing it has  lowered its exposure to MORE

Morgan Stanley is betting against Europe's weakest

Portugal, Italy and Spain top the investment bank's hit list.

FORTUNE -- Morgan Stanley is no "long"-er  being PIIGy.

As of the end of the first quarter, Morgan (MS) was positioned to profit if the government debt of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain fell in value, essentially betting that financial condition in Europe's weakest nations is set to get worse. Morgan's biggest "bet" is against Portugal. But it would also benefit MORE

Morgan Stanley CEO: We can manage conflicts

Morgan Stanley (MS) chief executive James Gorman isn't worried about banks playing "both sides" of transactions, according to comments made this morning in an interview with Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer.

The issue has gained renewed attention in recent weeks, after a Delaware judge criticized Goldman Sachs (GS) for playing multiple roles in Kinder Morgan's (KMI) proposed $21.1 billion acquisition of El Paso Corporation (EP). Morgan Stanley also advised El Paso MORE

Morgan Stanley CEO says no Wall Street brain drain

Despite negative press, Morgan Stanley CEO says Wall Street is still attractive, and that bank stocks will outperform the market in the next few years.

FORTUNE --Apparently, getting a bonus check for $125,000 isn't as disheartening as it may seem to some on Wall Street.

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, speaking at a Fortune breakfast series, said his firm has lost only two high-level employees since capping year-end cash bonuses for 2011 MORE

Bank investors better get used to low returns

Reduced risk has translated into a return on shareholder's equity that's more akin to a sleepy regulated utility than a top investment firm.

By Cyrus Sanati, contributor

FORTUNE -- Wall Street's cash printing machine may be finally out of ink. One by one, the big U.S. banks reported dismal quarterly earnings this week, blaming the poor results on everything from the European debt crisis to court settlements.

While tough market conditions did play MORE

For Goldman and Morgan, a year to forget

Dismal fourth-quarter earnings reports are on deck, but there could be a silver lining for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley this year.

By Cyrus Sanati, contributor

FORTUNE -- The Wall Street money-making machine looks to have malfunctioned badly in the last quarter as nervous companies and investors stayed out of the capital markets. Troubles in Europe and on the trading desks also contributed to what could be a loss-making quarter for some MORE

Bankers, quit whining about the Volcker Rule

Could constraining the behavior of dealers in the short-term have a negative impact on financial markets and therefore financing costs? Sure, it could. But reform isn't free, and it's not the end of the world.

FORTUNE -- Brad Hintz believes in free markets. The one-time treasurer of Morgan Stanley and current equity analyst covering brokers, exchanges, and trust banks for Bernstein Research is as much a defender of an unshackled financial MORE