The only surprise is that the process took about sixty days longer than it should have, and that in the interim the Morgan Stanley Board of Directors facilitated the defection of some important staff and clients.

When the news first broke in late March about discontent at Morgan Stanley, I wrote a couple blogs. Here is the background:

In the first article, on March 30, I wrote that bear markets tend to go hand in hand with the proverbial ax in the back of the CEO.

In the next article, on April 1, I wrote that Morgan Stanley's problems are structural, and are not going to be fixed by axing Phil Purcell. I also noted that influential media types were using their influence to attack Purcell personally in hopes their friends would be considered for the job.

In my Week in Review that week I tried to explain how the Morgan Stanley's of the world ("Humungous Bank & Broker") actually work.

You will read a lot today about Purcell's firing. Most of it will be self-serving to the TH or the organization that pulls the strings of the TH.

Indications are that the stock (NYSE: MWD) will have a pop this morning. Technically it looks ok to accumulate, but if I was long MWD I'd wait for a point to exit, and then come back in after the new CEO was hired, and the honeymoon was set to begin.