Wall Street Winces at Writedowns

Morgan Stanley(MS Quote) may soon join the ranks of the big writedown elite.

Shares of the brokerage firm were down nearly 6% in trading Wednesday. At their intraday low just above $50 a share, Morgan Stanley shares have lost a quarter of their value in the five trading days since Halloween.

The plunge comes as Wall Street analysts race to predict the next big brokerage firm to be whipsawed by steep losses on mortgage-backed securities and related holdings. Rival Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) has also seen its shares dragged down by speculation that the two institutions were not as untouched by the mortgage market collapse as many had previously believed. ...