Verbal Ability :: Para-Jumbles - Discussion

P. Investment banking income -- primarily fees from putting together initial public offerings and other deals -- is very volatile.
Q. Like many financial-services companies, Merrill has long wrestled with the cyclical nature of revenues.
R. One reason, says Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel , "is the fact that the large brokerage firms have not done well. Anyone who objectively looks at them sees that very few have done well. The fees are high and the performance is extremely mediocre."
S. Trading on the firm's own account creates gains in some years, losses in others. Commission revenue depends on investors' eagerness to trade, which varies as the market goes up or down.
T. The specialists, such as free-standing mutual fund companies like Fidelity and Vanguard, have done far better at attracting fund investors than the multi-function firms like Merri