SECURITIES

Goldman Sachs Holiday Bonuses Shrink: Goldman, Sachs & Co., the most affluent firm on Wall Street, is giving relatively paltry bonuses to most employees this year, a sure sign of a grim holiday season in the financial world. In an internal memo, Goldman said it will pay year-end bonuses equal to 8% of salary for most of its 9,000 employees who aren’t partners and earn most of their pay from salary. Goldman told employees in the memo that the move was prompted by sharply lower profits this year. Wall Street sources estimate Goldman’s earnings are down 80% from 1993’s record $2.3 billion, amid a bond market downturn akin to the 1987 crash in stocks. In 1993, Goldman paid bonuses of 30%. For the prior three years, they averaged 23%.