Reverse Spin: Industry job losses keep on coming

File this under “help not wanted.” TD Waterhouse Group Inc., the No. 2 U.S. discount brokerage, said Thursday it may cut its work force by 18% through attrition, which is company-speak for not replacing staff members who quit.

Unless the New York-based company has plans to play Britney Spears’ latest CD nonstop on the trading floor, it seems pretty optimistic – or pessimistic, depending on how you look at it – to hope that 1,480 workers will voluntarily walk away from their jobs by Oct. 31.

Of course, there are other (albeit less-humane) ways to achieve work force reductions. On Monday, insurer Conseco Inc. in Carmel, Ind., said it would cut 2,000 jobs, or 14% of its work force, over the next 21 months.

U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., meanwhile, said Tuesday it is cutting about 1,500 jobs, or 2.4% of its work force, in response to the global economic slowdown. And T. Rowe Group Inc. laid off 55 employees, or about 1.4% of its work force of 4,000. Most worked as phone representatives in the Baltimore company’s call centers, processing transactions and answering questions about mutual funds.

Nasdaq strikes public pose

* There’s nothing like striking while the iron is hot. With all eyes focused on the travails of the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. on Thursday discussed its plans to become a publicly traded company.

Nasdaq is being tight-lipped about its timing, saying its public debut depends on a variety of factors, including market conditions and recognition by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Nasdaq meets its requirements for exchange status.

“Offering shares to the public is a natural next step in the evolution of Nasdaq,” Chairman Frank Zarb said in a statement. “When the time is right, we will do it. The result will be a Nasdaq with more resources, better able to compete and improve its market for investors and companies around the globe.”

The good comes with the bad

* On Thursday, it was a classic case of good news, bad news.

The good news: American International Group Inc. in New York, the world’s largest insurer by market value, reported that operating earnings had risen 15%, coming in at the high end of Wall Street forecasts.

The bad news: Franklin Resources Inc. in San Mateo, Calif., posted an 8% drop in quarterly earnings, citing a sagging stock market that ate into the mutual fund company’s managed assets. The company reported earnings per share of 54 cents, basically in line with analysts’ expectations.

The company, known for its international and value stock funds, said assets under management fell 8% to $215.7 billion at the end of March, compared with $233.4 billion a year earlier.

A new U.S. deal

for Old Mutual

* The British are coming … or is it the South Africans?

Old Mutual PLC, an insurance and financial services giant listed in London and based in Johannesburg, announced Thursday an agreement to pay $635 million in cash and stock to acquire Baltimore-based Fidelity and Guaranty Life Insurance Co. from the St. Paul Cos. Inc., a Minnesota commercial property/casualty insurer.

Old Mutual also said that tomorrow it will launch Americom, a U.S. fixed-annuity and life insurance operation with licenses in 44 states.

This is Old Mutual’s third U.S. deal. Last month, it announced plans to acquire Unified Life Insurance in Houston, and in September it bought Boston’s United Asset Management Corp.