[ by Melanie Gretchen ] News of Wall Street financial woes have suddenly exploded into rumors or reports on significant job cuts taking place at, or being considered by, just about every major Wall Street firm.  The increasing number of reports began about the same time that firms began reporting second quarter numbers late last week. Some of the reported or rumored cuts seem unusually large - in terms of the size and scope, impacting commercial and investment banks, trading desks, operations and more.  Amid nervous markets, uneven economic growth, tougher regulations and slumping stock prices, one can only anticipate that these reports concerning thousands of jobs cuts through the end of next year will get worse before they get better. Industry Shearing. Bank of America and Credit Suisse detailed further cuts earlier this week.  Citigroup is on its way to cut 2% of its securities and banking jobs this year in some 450 after last year's letting go of 900 workers, according to people familiar with the situation.  For its part, Goldman Sachs will sacrifice its older, costlier employees for younger, cheaper ones, toward its goal of saving $500 million this year, in addition to $1.4 billion of reductions since last spring. Work in Progress. The 6 largest U.S. financial firms by assets have lightened their load by 18,000 jobs in the past year, or 1.6% of the total as of 6/30/12, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman, and Morgan Stanley have cut even more Since June 2011 with the loss of 30,000 positions.  [CI Note: JPMorgan Chase was the exception, having added 12,787 jobs, but we can't really call it a winner considering those were support for its troubled mortgage operations, and its London Whale loss totaling $2 billion and counting.] More on the Horizon. Credit Suisse, Switzerland's 2nd-largest bank, upped its cost-cutting goal to 50% to save 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.06 billion) by the end of next year.  To this end, it will focus its latest cuts on private banking and investment banking.  That measure and a new round of capital-raising were driven by pressure from regulators at the Swiss National Bank. Bank Limits. Nevertheless, bank cuts end where rivals' competitive business like investment banking could gain ground. "People are desperate to try and get their expenses under control," said Michael Madden, managing partner at private-equity firm BlackEagle Partners LLC and former head of investment banking at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., but "unweaving that fabric is a very delicate and tricky thing to do." For further details, go to [WSJ, 7/19/12].