Wall Street's hard times: 2011 bonuses nearly $20B

$19.7 billion --

That's how much was given out in Wall Street bonuses last year, according to an estimate by Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The figure is down 14 percent from 2010, but bear in mind, before you shed any tears, that profits were down by half. Wall Street firms are still struggling with the aftermath of the financial crisis, to say nothing of the European debt crisis and new regulations. So as usual, investors are suffering far more than finance pros, whose stock bonuses aren't even captured in the comptroller's figures.