Almost every other big bank doing business in the U.S. has taken a big subprime write-down, so why should Barclays (NYSE: BCS) be any different? It's not.

The big British bank announced that it would take a $2.7 billion charge for the four months ending in October. As Reuters writes, "In a surprise trading update on Thursday, Barclays Capital announced a write-down of 500 million pounds for the July-September quarter and a further 800 million pound write-down for October. The write-down was less than many estimates of Barclays' exposure to problems."

As perverse as it may seem, Barclays stock will probably do well because the number was not larger. There had been rumors that the charge could be as large as $10 billion.

The message from big banks and Wall Street firms that is now emerging is that they are, for the most part, OK. The worst of the subprime problems may well have passed and it is time for investors to consider that shares of these institutions may have bottomed.

But, there are other ghosts still hiding in the basement. Consumer credit may have been damaged by the housing mess and LBO loans still sit on the balance sheets of several large financial institutions.

The fun is not over yet.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.