Alan 'Ace' Greenberg chose his nickname to improve his chances with girls at the University of Missouri. But it is an apt (1)_____ of his wading skills on Wall Street. This week, as the 73-year-old (2)_____ down (3)_____ chairman of Bear Stearns, the investment bank where he has worked since 1949 is in a high. It (4)_____ an increase in post-tax profits in the second quarter of 43% on a year earlier, (5)_____ a time when many of its Wall Street rivals have (6)_____. On June 26th Merrill Lynch (7)_____ a warning that its profits in the second quarter would fall by half, far (8)_____ of expectations. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have also reported lower profits. Strange that this surprised. (9)_____ Alan Greenspan's frenetic cuts (10)_____ interest rates, times are good for underwriters and waders of bonds, core activities for Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, (11)_____ also recorded a sharp increase in profits. It has been a terrible (12)_____ for equity underwriters and for advisers on the small amounts of mergers and acquisitions (M＆A) this year. Merrill, Goldman and Morgan Stanley are three of the investment banks that gained (13)_____ during the boom in equity and M＆A business, and they are now (14)_____ the most. Of the three, Merrill is weakest in bonds. It cut (15)_____ its fixed-income activities after the collapse of Lung-Term Capital Management (LTCM) in 1998. As it happens, both Bear Stearns and Lehman have long been criticised for their weakness in equities. Mr. Greenberg is famous for worrying about even the price of a paper-clip at Bear Stearns. This used to seem terribly (16)_____,but these days other Wall Street firms are (17)_____ about costs. Lay-offs are (18)_____ though not yet alarmingly—not least, because banks saw how Merrill Lynch lost (19)_____ when the markets rebounded quickly after the LTCM crisis. Still, if few (20)_____ of improvement show soon, expect real blood-letting on Wall Street.