to spin off its investment management business. Notably Mr. Peltz had previously focused on retail ventures like Wendy's and Tiffany's. His turn to financial institutions without apparent prior experience shows how that hot money is pouring into the latest Wall Street strategy. Morgan Stanley's stock price is trading at about $17, up from a low a few weeks ago of $12.47, but still down about 40 percent from the beginning of the year. Morgan Stanley's stock now trades at about 0.55 of book value, down from three times book value before the financial crisis. This number is on par with the book value of Bank of America and Barclays . At the same time, certain businesses of Morgan Stanley, like its stock-trading business, are performing well. Morgan Stanley earned $2.15 billion in its third quarter. More tellingly, Morgan Stanley's separate asset management business is weaker, losing $117 million in the same quarter as it was dragged down by real estate investing and merchant banking losses. A low price and divergently performing separate businesses make a ripe case for an activist to step in. And it is not just at Morgan Stanley. Bank of America trades at about a third of book value and is looking to get smaller. Though Bank of America denies any intent to split off Merrill Lynch , this could change if an activist stepped in or its stock price remained depressed. Many institutions may be forced to act even before the activists arrive. UBS , reeling