Are Wall Street Banks Ready to Risk Again?

Wary investors appear to be returning to Wall Street, the Journal reports, buying back into higher-risk debt issues from the likes of troubled Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. “Risk taking has come back in the market,” said one expert.

Banks still are reluctant to trade short-term debt, and there’s plenty still hanging over brokerages. "We still have some tough times ahead," says one credit strategist—pointing to a housing market that might not yet have hit bottom in an uncertain economy.