酷兔英语


In Christmases past, the top bankers on Wall Street would often load their families onto a private jet and head to the beaches of St. Barts or slopes of Aspen for the holidays.


以往的圣诞节,华尔街的顶级银行家通常都会携家人乘坐私人飞机前往圣巴特斯岛(St. Barts)的海滩或阿斯彭(Aspen)滑雪场共度悠闲假期。



This holiday season, many Wall Streeters are flying commercial, according to jet brokers. Those who are still flying private are jet-pooling with strangers to cut costs. Some are even skipping the catered in-flight meals, which can cost $1,000 or more for four people.


据飞机经纪商说,而今年,许多华尔街人却乘坐商务飞机。乘坐私人飞机的也会搭载陌生人以降低成本。有人甚至把机上定制餐食也省了,四个人的餐食要花1000美元或更多。



'They're telling me, 'We'll just bring our own lunch,'' said Ricky Sitomer, chief executive of Blue Star Jets, a private-jet charter company. 'They still want to travel in luxury, but they want the best value they can get.'


私人飞机包机公司Blue Star Jets首席执行长斯多玛(Ricky Sitomer)说,他们告诉我说,"我们会自己带午餐";他们仍然想奢华出行,但又想尽量获得最大价值。



Austerity is a relativeconcept on Wall Street, where year-end bonuses are measured in 'bucks' (millions) and flying private is often considered a basic human need.


在华尔街,年终分红以百万美元计,乘坐私人飞机通常被视为人的基本需要,节俭只是个相对的概念。



Yet this year, amid the largest decline in bonuses since the onset of the financialcrisis, the Street's big spenders are reining in their seasonal shopping spree in favor of more restrained indulgence. Brown-bag lunches aboard the Gulfstream are just the start.


然而今年,奖金遭遇了金融危机开始以来最大幅度的下滑,华尔街的大富豪们开始控制假日季消费,倾向于更节制的享受。乘坐湾流(Gulfstream)私人飞机时自带午餐仅仅是个开始而已。



December is usually a time when bankers crowd the showrooms and aisles shopping for their next big bonus toys. But jewelers, sports-car dealers and yacht brokers say bankers this Christmas are hard to find.


一般来说,12月是银行业者涌入展厅、穿梭于商场之间,大肆挥霍丰厚奖金之时。但珠宝商、跑车经销商和游艇经纪人说,今年圣诞季很难找到银行家们的身影。



'We haven't seen them come in yet,' says Jeff Drajin, looking out over a largely empty showroom at Manhattan Motorcars. Mr. Drajin, who sells Lamborghinis, Bentleys and Lotuses, says that in the good old days of 2007 and even 2009, December would see bankers start pouring in. 'This year is different. It's a little quiet.'


德拉金(Jeff Drajin)俯视着Manhattan Motorcars一间空荡荡的大型展厅说,还没看到他们来这里。德拉金负责销售兰博基尼(Lamborghini)、宾利(Bentleys)和莲花(Lotus),他说,在2007年光景好的时候,甚至在2009年,12月份就能看到银行家纷至沓来;而今年不一样,有点安静。



While pay may increase slightly in the broader financial-services world -- including retail banks, hedge funds and private-equity firms -- bonuses at the core Wall Street firms are likely to take a double-digit hit, analysts and pay consultants say.


分析师和薪酬顾问说,也许更广义金融界的薪水会小幅上涨,包括零售银行、对冲基金和私募股权公司,但华尔街核心公司的奖金的跌幅可能达到两位数的百分比。



Wall Street bonuses are likely to be down 22% to 28% this year, according to Options Group, an executive-search and consulting firm.


据高管猎头和咨询公司Options Group说,华尔街的奖金今年可能会下降22%到28%。



The drop follows last year's much-criticized surge in banker pay and highlights growing uncertainty on Wall Street ahead of regulatory scrutiny and weak financial markets.


去年,银行家薪水上涨遭遇诸多批评,今年的下降凸显了华尔街在面对监管审查和金融市场走弱时日益加剧的不确定性。



Bankers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. say they are being told bonus pools are likely to be down between 10% to 25%. Some divisions, like proprietary trading, could be down as much as 50%, bankers said.


高盛集团(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)、摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)、花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)、美国银行-美林(Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch)和摩根大通(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.)的银行家说,他们被告知奖金总额可能会下降10%到25%。他们说,有些部门的降幅可能会达50%,比如自营交易。



Exact bonus amounts won't be known for another month or two, since most banks pay out bonuses early in the new year. Yet seniorbankers who have seen bonus-pool estimates say many employees are likely to be disappointed.


奖金总额的具体数字要到一个或两个月后才能知道,因为大多数银行家会在新年初拿到奖金。看过奖金预估总额的资深银行家却说,许多员工可能会感到失望。



One Citi banker said colleagues who have been coming out of compensation meetings in the past two weeks 'look like they've been hit by a truck.'


一名任职于花旗银行的银行家说,过去两周参加过薪酬会议的同事看起来就像被车撞了一样。



Bankers will get less cash this year in part because of new pay structures.


银行家今年获得的现金会更少,部分由于薪酬结构有所更新。



Regulators and shareholders have pushed banks to link pay to long-term performance rather than short-term trading gains. As a result, some bankers, accustomed to getting as much as 50% of their bonus in cash, may get only 20% this year, with the rest usually paid out in deferred stock, according to Wall Street compensation consultants.


监管机构和股东迫使银行将薪酬与长期业绩挂钩,而不是短期交易收益。据华尔街薪酬顾问说,结果导致一些习惯获得现金占奖金比例高达50%的人今年只能拿到20%,剩下80%通常都以延期股份支付。



Not that Wall Street is exactly hurting. Total pay for the top three dozen publicly held securities and investment-services firms is expected to top $140 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal study.


准确的说,华尔街也算不上很受伤。根据《华尔街日报》的一项研究,最大的36家公共持有证券和投资服务公司的薪水总额将会超过1400亿美元。



Goldman Sachs set aside $13 billion for compensation and bonuses in the first nine months of the year. That is down about 20% from last year but works out to more than $367,000 per employee.


今年前9个月,高盛为薪酬和奖金拨出了130亿美元,比去年下降了约20%,每位员工能拿到超过36.7万美元。



'Let's be honest, 2010 is still going to be a pretty darn good year,' said Michael Karp, chief executive of Options Group. 'But people have been humbled. I don't think we'll see them resume their exuberant habits or the wild crazy parties.'


Options Group首席执行长卡普(Michael Karp)说,说实话,2010年还会是相当不错的一年;但人们一直很心虚;我觉得他们不会恢复以前挥霍的习惯或疯狂的派对。



Jonathan Beckett, CEO of yacht brokerage firm Burgess, said demand for weekly yacht rentals in the Caribbean this winter is 'quite poor,' in part because of Wall Street.


游艇经纪商Burgess首席执行长贝克特(Jonathan Beckett)说,今年冬天加勒比海每周游艇出租的需求状况"很糟糕",部分受到华尔街的影响。



In previous years, yachts in the Caribbean were booked months in advance for the prime week after Christmas. This year, there are dozens of boats up to 250 feet long still available. The boats usually charter for between $250,000 to $1 million a week -- food, beverages and fuel not included.


以前,加勒比海的游艇在圣诞节后的黄金周来临的几个月前就被预订了。今年,长达250英尺的几十艘船都无人问津。这些船一般每周包租价格为25万到100万美元,不包括餐饮和燃料。



Bankers booking boats are discount shopping, with some charters seeing price cuts of 20% or more, Mr. Beckett says. Many are also booking cheaper, shorter trips.


贝克特说,银行家预订的都是打折游艇,有些折扣达20%甚至以上。很多人也在预订更廉价的短途旅行。



'They used to call up and say, 'I want this boat on this date, just send me the contract,'' Mr. Beckett says. 'Now they're saying, 'Who's giving the best deals?''


贝克特说,他们以前总是打电话说,我想在这个日期用这艘船,把合约发来就行了;而现在他们却问,谁的最优惠?



Wall Street's taste in bling has also moved downscale. Wempe, a high-end jewelry and watch store in midtown Manhattan, says business is booming, especially for exclusive watches like the $65,000 A. Lange & Sohne's Datograph. Yet most of the demand is from rich Chinese and Brazilians, not Wall Streeters.


华尔街对奢侈品的品味也降低了。曼哈顿中城高档珠宝和腕表商店Wempe说,生意很好,尤其是价值6.5万美元的朗格(A. Lange & Sohne)Datograph手表一类的高级腕表。然而大部分购买者都是有钱的中国人和巴西人,而非华尔街人士。



'The overall spending of the Wall Street group has definitely shrunk,' said Ruediger Albers, president of Wempe's U.S. division. 'They've got other issues to contend with, like a roof over their head and private school.'


Wempe美国分公司总裁阿尔伯斯(Ruediger Albers)说,华尔街人士的整体支出肯定是缩水了;他们有其他需要处理的问题,比如住房和私立学校。



One area where bonus spending remains strong is real estate. But bankers are redefining their ideas of a summer cottage. Rather than buying or renting 12,000-square-foot homes, they are downsizing to 6,000 to 8,000 square feet.


房地产仍是奖金支出较多的部分。但银行家们在重新定义他们对夏季别墅的看法。他们不会租或买1.2万平方英尺的住宅,而是缩到6000-8000英尺。苏富比国际地产公司(Sotheby's International Realty)的摩尔(Beate Moore)说,像情景剧《布雷迪一家子》(Brady Bunch)里面那一家人还是能住得下的;但还是不够大。



'It still accommodates a Brady Bunch-size family,' says Beate Moore of Sotheby's International Realty. 'But it's not over the top.'


Robert Frank