Late Thursday, the Bank of New York Mellon (BK: sentiment, chart, options) became the latest financial firm to announce job cuts. The company said it will trim 1,800 jobs, or roughly 4.2% of its global workforce. CEO Robert P. Kelly said the payroll reduction will aid in reducing expenses, and added, "We will take advantage of natural turnover to lessen the impact on existing staff."

BK's announcement yesterday came on the heels of a similar report from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which confirmed Thursday afternoon that it will eliminate 3,000 investment banking jobs. According to Reuters, securities firms in New York City lost 16,000 employees last month, pushing employment in the sector down to September 2005 levels.

At midday, BK is 1.7% lower at $23.95. The stock has shed half of its value year-to-date, and was rejected this week by stiff resistance from its 10-week moving average. This trendline, along with its 20-week counterpart, has ushered the shares lower since January.

Despite the stock's weak performance, some investors remain bullish on BK. The equity's December 27.50 call has seen 1,049 contracts cross the tape on open interest of 715, suggesting that new out-of-the-money positions are being added at this strike. Meanwhile, the International Securities Exchange (ISE) reports a 10-day call/put ratio of 2.46, with bullish option volume more than doubling that of bearish contracts.