The Grinch Who Stole Your Bonus

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Bankers Bonus

Things that come in little blue boxes: priceless.

But, probably not so much this season for the Wall Street crowd.

The Grinch is whipping up economic headwinds. Combine the cost of uncertainty overseas, layoff fears and expiring payroll tax cuts with less bonus action and you get scrooged.

Executive compensation consultant Brian Foley said many will see substantially reduced bonuses on a year-over-year basis. Others won’t receive a dime. Those lucky enough to get a big bonus will likely be paid in the form of stock or other units vested over time.

“I would expect that many on Wall Street have been and will be more conservative in their spending for, and for some time after, this holiday season when it comes to truly big ticket items,” said Foley.

Maybe trying to buy some lucky charms is the best investment right now.

There are always those bull and bear cufflinks from bullmarketgifts.com. They’re only tacky if they’re bull.

Stephanie is Squawk Box producer. Follow her on twitter @StephLandsman

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