It's a bit of a touchy subject.

Cuts are said to have down at the best paid bank on Wall Street. "Significant layoffs at Jefferies yesterday, today and more to come in IB. Nine from industrials group alone. Cuts go from 1st yr analyst to SVP. Some groups (m&a, healthcare) still waiting to hear..."

Back in the day, as in pre-crisis, bonus season on Wall Street was a happy time. Sure, you still had your miserable pricks who would bitch and moan about the fact that they hadn't gotten as much as the guy who sat next to them, even they the guy who sat next to them was a "non-contributing zero who wouldn't recognize alpha if it bit him in the ass," but prior to to fall 2008, anyone who was unhappy about his or her bonus was a) quibbling over receiving a huge sum of money instead of an imperial fuck-ton of money and b) in a position to actually make good on a threat to jump ship, since firms were hiring. Now, with a few exceptions, bonus season makes people feel sad. Angry. Impotent. Like the world is out to get them. Not only has the total amount of one's bonus come down, but many companies have decreased the cash portion, while increasing the deferral period on stock to, in some cases, almost half a decade. Then you have Jefferies. Last year it let employees decide between an all stock bonus or an all cash bonus with 25% lopped off.  This year the investment bank-cum-butcher shop isn't even forcing anyone to choose, instead dumping a bag of cash on everyone's desk and reminding them who loves 'em.

Oh you can try a lawsuit but, historically speaking, it won't do shit. Nasdaq is sending a message to firms weighing lawsuits related to trading losses in Facebook's initial public offering: winning won't be easy. The exchange operator believes it is protected by its contracts with members and by its unusual legal status, which is rooted in its dual role as a regulatory body as well as a business that makes money running markets. Exchange officials in recent weeks have pointed out to analysts that Nasdaq has never been successfully sued over a trading error. "When you look at member agreements that people sign, it's quite explicit that they're bound by that accommodation policy," Robert Greifeld, Nasdaq's chief executive, said last week at a Sandler O'Neill + Partners conference, referring to legal agreements capping the exchange's payouts linked to system problems...Banks and brokers have estimated they lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to technical problems during Facebook's May 18 debut. The glitches forced Nasdaq to delay Facebook's opening, and left trades involving millions of shares unconfirmed for hours. Amid the chaos, traders were forced to guess their positions and place additional orders based on those estimates. When Nasdaq delivered the results of the trading Friday afternoon, many firms were caught off guard and scrambled to reposition. According to Greifeld, the last guy who tried to get his money back "trades on the pink sheets now" but take your best shot. Nasdaq Claims Strong Defense [WSJ] Related: UBS Not Sweating The Small Stuff