Investment banks are now of the view that the current market presents an opportunity to pick up some top talent at knock-down prices, according a report by Financial News. But hiring is not universal just yet – sales, trading, origination, structuring, marketing and relationship managers within credit and the broader fixed income sphere are very much in demand. Senior executives in rates, foreign exchange, credit trading and sales are still able to command packages of between $3-4m.

In fact, fixed income generally seems to be the place to be, with JPMorgan's chief European banks analyst predicting that it will be the main earnings driver "not just in 2009".

Bloomberg says that the UK is set to sell around £5bn worth of bonds through banks this week, with Barclays, Goldman Sachs and HSBC to offer the gilts.

And while City AM says that boutiques are still scrambling for senior staff, The Times suggests five banks are emerging to form a new "financial elite" this year - Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and (to a lesser extent) Deutsche Bank and Barclays Capital.

Deutsche Bank tops year-to-date advisory rankings ( Financial News)

UK may be out of recession by 2010, but it's not guaranteed (Reuters)

"The truly terrifying thing is how quickly a supposedly chastened City, having led us to the brink of ruin, is back to its old ways: to wit, demanding freedom from irksome rulebooks while still expecting taxpayers to pick up its bills." (Guardian)

Dimon pours cold water on Bear Stearns exposé (Dealbreaker)

Barclays Capital's ambition to become top three investment bank (Times)

Bank of America Merrill Lynch to beef up PR campaign (Financial Times)

Slowdown in M&A, private equity and leveraged finance driving legal redundancies (Times)

But one firm is offering associates $80k to defer their place (Business Insider)

Richmond Park builds private equity team (Financial News)

We all heart Bob (FT Alphaville)

Financial services directors still get £50k for company cars (Financial Times)

Things are looking up for hedge funds (FTfm)

Unfortunate typos around BlackRock reporting…(Independent)

Michael Moore warms up for his new movie with a little bit of (rather tedious) banker bashing (YouTube)