Wall Street bonuses up 6% to $38 billion while valuation drops $74 billion

For the individual investor who might have held stock in these Wall Street giants, it will be of little comfort to know that these Wall Street employees will earn over four times the $48,201 median household income.

There are three interesting things going on here:

• First, 2007 was going gangbusters until August when the mortgage meltdown began to cut into the profits of the firms. So 2007 is really the tale of two years -- the good first part and the bad second part.
• Second, Wall Street executives need to retain the people who will make money for them in 2008 and beyond. If they don't pay competitively, those money makers will bolt.
• Third, the payment in stock may mean that the bonuses will be worth far less than the 2006 bonuses -- particularly if Wall Street stock prices take a further hit in 2008.

The rich get richer and everyone else falls further behind. But for that segment of everyone else who owns stock in Wall Street firms, the bankers could be feeling more of the burn if Wall Street market values don't rebound in 2008.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.