Can Wall Street survive?
Byline: Brooke Southall Ever since the great crash of 1929, Wall Street has endured every imaginable regulatory change, scandal and market upheaval. But the most recent binge of greed and excess, and a market that may be chronically weak for years to come, are posing a threat unlike any other to the hegemony of Wall Street’s five powerful wirehouses. “It’s like the Berlin Wall,” says Richard Steinberg, president of Steinberg Global Asset Management in Boca Raton, Fla. “It hasn’t fallen yet, but the cracks are in the wall,” says Mr. Steinberg, whose firm has $230 million under management. “Once it falls, it’s hard to put back up.” A personal event To be sure, the five pillars of Wall Street – Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.,…
