Sometimes I think that rather than becoming an investigative reporter who covers business, I should have just gone into finance myself. Instead, I get to watch as the wealth of the world is sucked up into vanity while billions of people shiver and lose their teeth. Our teeth, I should say, as I have not been to a dentist in way too long. Wall St Journal (subscription):

Overall, compensation on Wall Street is expected to go up an average of 20% this year and many executives will see even bigger gains, according to a soon-to-be-released study by New York-based executive search firm Options Group.

Investment bankers, who arrange mergers and stock offerings for corporations and have received a smaller percentage of the bonus pie in recent years, are expected to be among the Street's biggest winners this year, with compensation rising 20% to 25% on average, according to the study.

For an investment banker at the managing director level, a senior post on Wall Street, that will translate into an average pay package of between $2.2 million to $3.3 million this year. A global head of investment banking could pull in on average anywhere between $7 million to $10 million.

The study estimates that bonuses won't be so hot for some in the bond crowd. Traders and others who focus on convertible and junk, or "high yield," bonds are more likely to see their paychecks shrink by about 10% on average as their business wasn't as good in 2005 as in previous years. For a managing director level convertible-bond trader that will translate into a 2004 pay package of $700,000 to $900,000 on average.

This information does not make me envious. Instead it fires me with an emotion in which I take no pride. I am fueled with destructive hate.