Filed under: Earnings reports, Industry, Initial public offerings

Blame the tight credit markets and fear of recession: IPOs hit a 50-month low in January. According to the Telegraph, “figures showing the extent of the slump comes as investment banks across the world are cutting jobs on expectations of a continued lull in activity over the coming year. ” M&A activity has also hit its slowest pace since late 2004.

The real damage from the slowdown may be to investment and large money center banks. Now that mortgage-related write-offs have damaged their balance sheets, they might have hoped that earnings from underwriting and M&A divisions could help with earnings in 2008. It looks like that will not happen.

Financial executives will be looking for more lay-offs at their firms to try to offset falling revenue. That means the loss of high-paid jobs in cities like New York, London, Paris, and Zurich.

A depression may be coming to the M&A sector.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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