End of I-banks

The saying - 'Every dog has its day' has never been more apt. Investment Banking is having such a bad time that even my house maid has an opinion or two on its future.

A couple of days before I had a conversation with my taxi wala

Driver : Saab, aap kaam kya karte ho?
Me : Stock market mein kaam karta hoon
Driver : Sunaa ki bahut bure din chal rahe hain and logon ko nikala ja raha hai, fikr mat karo is ke neeche market nahin jaayega. Bhagwan se prarthana karoonga. Aap log nahin hoge to raat ko 1-2 baje kisko le jaaoonga?

So much so for the predictions by the hotshot bankers sitting at Wall Street!!!

And lately even my batch mates in marketing companies seem to be taking keen interest knowing about the Subprime lending and how Lehman managed to lend so many billions in bad housing loans ( and some even add that they never knew Lehman gave housing loans !) Some wise ones even take a dig at you with an irrefutable argument- " People might stop buying CDOs, but would they stop taking bath?"

To irritate you further, you get to see headlines such as " End of I-banks", "I-banking no longer a sought after job in the IIMs" and consultant batch mates grinning at you and saying - " I told you so!".

Meanwhile the cartoonists are having a field day, I liked especially the one above...

And with Sensex crashing the way it did yesterday, a terrible diwali at the Dalal Street this time around and some more time for my taxi driver to hone his Buffet skills...