Anya Schiffrin Silicon Valley's investment banks have greeted the slowdown with fortitude, hanging on to workers on the assumption that the market will snap back. Through the 1980s and '90s, the Valley became a financial center, spawning firms that specialized in raising capital for tech startups. Now these small, tech-focused firms are the most vulnerable to the slowdowns in IPO underwriting and mergers and acquisitions. If this level of business continues, there will be many more layoffs. Most of the IPOs that get out go to the big banks.
Smaller banks insist they'll weather the downturn just fine.
It's a desperate time. Privacy Policy Stock data provided by Stockpoint and its data suppliers.