Sour Q3 for MS

Morgan Stanley on Monday warned that there was little hope for a quick turnaround in its key trading business given the persistence of global growth concerns that helped pummel the bank’s thirdquarter earnings.

Chief Executive James Gorman was put on the defensive after a 42 percent slide in bond trading, one of its worst performances since the financial crisis, and a drop in its privateequity business sent net income skidding.

“We’re by no means complacent about this,” Gorman told analysts after the forecastlagging results. “We want to make sure this isn’t a longterm trend and we’ll take whatever steps we need to take.”

Gorman said recent management changes, such as the promotion of global equities head Ted Pick to oversee all of trading, would allow better coordination between the firm’s bond and equities desks.

Morgan Stanley’s bondtrading performance was the worst on Wall Street, outpacing a 33 percent drop at arch rival Goldman Sachs.