"optic" = seeming "narrative" PLUS "Wall Street"

[Baker, John M.]

        As to the meaning of "investment bank," at least, I can give an answer:  an investment bank is a large broker-dealer that participates in corporate transactions such as public offerings and mergers and acquisitions.  An "investment bank" is distinguished from a "commercial bank" that accepts deposits and makes loans.  Unless the context otherwise indicates, a "bank" is a commercial bank.

        I don't have time at the moment to research the term's history, but it certainly predates the Great Depression.  However, it's essentially an American term, so a different meaning in international use is not surprising.  The British counterpart, more or less, is a "merchant bank."

        Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are still investment banks, notwithstanding the change in their regulatory structure.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Victor Steinbok
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 4:37 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "optic" = seeming "narrative" PLUS "Wall Street"

The "Wall Street versus Main Street" is a moderately old juxtaposition.

http://bit.ly/9lnMaM
Sylvia Porter. Automation on Wall Street. The Spartanburg
Herald-Journal. Oct. 14, 1961. p. 3/6
> This is the way it will be in the Wall Street and Main Street of
> tomorrow for the tens of millions of us who will be buying and selling
> stocks and for the brokers who will be serving us.


But "Wall Street" as a semi-generic markers (e.g., "Wall Street lawyer"
and "Wall-Street man") predates WWI easily. "Wall Street" as a
stand-alone is only slightly younger.

There is also a question as to what is meant by "investment bank". For
example, in 2008, UBS "shed" its investment bank subsidiary and GS and
Morgan Stanley "reformed" into bank holding companies so that they can
no longer be called "investment banks".

http://bit.ly/bBuuU1
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley give up investment bank status
Published: 8:55AM BST 22 Sep 2008
> Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have given up their cherished
> investment banking status to survive the financial turmoil that the US
> government is tackling with a $700bn (£400bn) bailout plan.
> The Federal Reserve approved the two bank's transformation into bank
> holding companies regulated by the central bank,
> _effectively_ending_Wall_Street's_investment_banking_model_ and
> subjecting the two to much tighter regulation. In return it gives
> Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley greater access to central bank funds
> and makes it easier for them to buy retail banks.

What is more interesting about "investment bank" is that its application
to a private entity is fairly recent--older use that appears to have
been dominant in /international/ news refers to singular government
entities, e.g., British Foreign Exchange and Investment Bank (NYT, 1876)
or China Investment Bank (1980).


Here's an odd one:
Business men play ball like old professionals. The Norwalk Hour - Aug 2,
1901. p. 1/6
Wall Street Nine Defeats Main Street Team by Only One Run
> "Oh, there are some others who can play ball," was the confident
> comment of a Wall street "fan" after the game on the Fair grounds,
> yesterday afternoon, when  some one spoke of league teams and other
> things. And he was right too. The game that many went to see did not
> turn out the comedy of errors that was expected, but a hard-fought
> contest, and the Wall street business men walked away with the scalps
> of their Main street opponents hanging at their belts. The score, 5 to
> 4, tells the closeness of the battle.

     VS-)


On 4/26/2010 2:17 PM, Baker, John M. wrote:
>          I think that, for many decades before 2008, "Wall Street" meant
> "large investment banks," of which Goldman Sachs was and is perhaps the
> premier example.
>
>
> John Baker

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org