Take Lehman Brothers And Merrill Lynch Troubles As A Warning

Economics majors beware. In case you haven’t realized, the country’s economy is not doing so hot. So what does that mean to you? Get out while you still can. Sure, a career in investment banking promises the possibility of big bucks but right now the business sector's struggling just a bit.
 

Nothing proves this point more than the chaos that ruled Wall Street this weekend, as a financial powerhouse bit the dust and more trouble was stirred up in the economy.
 

Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after bad bets on real estate hit them hard, causing values of its shares to plummet 94 percent this year. Merrill Lynch, too, suffered from bad real estate bets, dropping its stock 27 percent in the last week. However, Bank of America bailed the company out by buying it in a $50 billion deal.
 

CNN puts the changes into perspective:

The fast-paced changes capped a roller-coaster Wall Street weekend and threatened to stir up U.S. financial markets already reeling from woes at other major financial firms and mortgage financing titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"This crisis is clearly deeper than anybody had imagined only a short time ago," Peter Stein, an associate editor at The Wall Street Journal in Asia, told CNN.
 

With Bear Stearns demise still fresh on people’s minds, this new crisis isn’t really all that new. But it should be a warning. With investment bank recruiting coming up, you may want to consider another option.
 

Because while investment banking's salary is enticing, if the economy continues the way it’s going, you’ll be left with only a closetful of suits to wear to the unemployment office.