Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are no longer investment banks

No more Bear Stearns. No more Merrill Lynch. No more Lehman Brothers. Now, you can cross two more investment banks off the list . . .

. . . Wall Street's existential crisis continues

From the WSJ:

The Federal Reserve, in an attempt to prevent the crisis on Wall Street from infecting its two premier institutions, took the extraordinary measure on Sunday night of agreeing to convert investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. into traditional bank holding companies.

With the move, Wall Street as it has long been known -- a coterie of independent brokerage firms that buy and sell securities, advise clients and are less regulated than old-fashioned banks -- will cease to exist.