"Goldman's "secret" isn't a secret at all. Their program trading system, dragged into the light by the arrest of a former programmer, churns the market constantly, capturing a few dollars here and there as the price of targeted stocks fluctuates, raking in $100 million a day for which nothing of value is given back. It is legalized looting on a scale that makes Bernie Madoff's scams look like stealing a few coins from the collection plate. And all of this is paid for by the traders who are not allowed to use programs, the investors who get to the trade windows a second later than Goldman Sachs, and of course, the actual companies being traded." -- Wake the Flock Up "
Gee, and now we find out that Goldman Sachs has been neck deep in every ugly financial meltdown in the
"Many expect Goldman Sachs to report big profits; Bank just repaid its US bailout money" by Graham Bowley and Jenny Anderson, New York Times | July 13, 2009
Yeah, the "repayment" was simply put back into the pot for Geithner to pass around again.
NEW YORK - Most of Wall Street, and America, is still waiting for an economic recovery. Then there is Goldman Sachs.
Up and down Wall Street, analysts and traders are buzzing that Goldman, which only recently paid back its government bailout money, will report blowout profits tomorrow.
Analysts predict the bank earned more than $2 billion in the March-June period, thanks to its trading prowess. If they are right, rivals will once again wonder how Goldman, long the envy of Wall Street, could have rebounded months after the nation’s financial industry was shaken to its foundations.
Obsessive speculation has already begun, along with banter about how Goldman’s rapid return to minting money will be perceived by lawmakers and taxpayers who aided Goldman with a multibillion-dollar cushion last fall. “They exist, and others don’t, and taxpayers made it possible,’’ said one industry consultant, who, like others interviewed for this article, declined to be named.
Startling, too, is how much of its profit Goldman is expected to share with employees. Analysts estimate the bank will pay a total of $18 billion in compensation and benefits this year to its 28,000 employees, or more than $600,000 per employee. Top producers stand to earn millions.
Goldman lost money in the final quarter of last year. Along with other big banks, it was compelled to accept billions in federal aid, which it paid back last month.
Yeah, I'm sure the government had to really twist some arms on that one!
It also converted from an investment bank to a more regulated bank holding company to make it eligible for government lending programs. Goldman declined to comment over the weekend. But if the analysts are right, the results will extend a remarkable run for Goldman.
In essence, Goldman has managed to do again what it has always done so well: embrace risks that its rivals feared to take and, for the most part, manage those risks better than its rivals dreamed possible. “It is, in many respects, business as usual at Goldman,’’ said Roger Freeman, an analyst at Barclays Capital.
Do you LOVE the OMISSION or what?
Traders said Goldman capitalized on the tumult in the credit markets to reap a fortune trading bonds. It profitably navigated a white-knuckled run in stock markets. It bought and sold volatile currencies, as well as commodities like oil. And it reaped lucrative fees from the high-margin business of underwriting stock offerings, which surged this year as other, more troubled financial institutions raced to raise capital.
Whether Goldman can keep this up is anyone’s guess. With so much riding on trading, the risk is that the bank might make a misstep in the markets, or that today’s money-making trades will simply vanish. The second half of 2009 looks tougher, many analysts say.
Pffft! I don't even have a coment! Pffft!
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You guys ever get tired of shoveling s*** or.... ?
An analyst’s change of heart yanked stocks from their slumber. Soaring financial shares propelled indexes to their biggest one-day gain in six weeks after Meredith Whitney raised her rating on Goldman Sachs and said hard-hit Bank of America looks like a bargain."
"Bonds take the lead"
Nope.
"Goldman stuns with $3.44b profit" by New York Times | July 15, 2009
NEW YORK - Even on Wall Street, the land of six- and seven-figure incomes, jaws dropped at the news yesterday: After all that federal aid, a resurgent Goldman Sachs is on course to dole out bonuses that could rival the record paydays of the heady bull-market years.
When are you going to start dicing some heads, America?
Goldman posted the richest quarterly profit in its 140-year history and, to the envy of its rivals, said it had earmarked $11.4 billion so far this year to compensate its workers. At that rate, Goldman employees could, on average, earn roughly $770,000 each this year - or nearly what they did at the height of the boom. Senior Goldman executives and bankers would be paid considerably more.
Then THEIR HEADS are FIRST on the BLOCK!
I say KILL 'EM ALL! Let GOD SORT 'EM OUT!
Only three years ago, Goldman paid more than 50 employees above $20 million each. In 2007, its chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein, collected one of the biggest bonuses in corporate history. The latest headline results - $3.44 billion in profits - were powered by earnings from the bank’s secretive trading operations and exceeded even the most optimistic predictions.
But Goldman’s sudden good fortune, coming only a month after the bank repaid billions of bailout dollars, raises questions for Washington policymakers. Goldman, analysts warned, is embracing financial risks that many of its competitors are unable or unwilling to take. While Goldman managed those risks this time, its strategy could backfire if the markets turn against it.
Another concern is that the blowout profits might encourage rivals to try to match Goldman in the markets so they, too, can return to paying hefty bonuses. Wall Street’s bonus culture is widely seen as having encouraged the excessive risk-taking that set off the financial crisis....
Had enough crap fed to you yet, 'murkn?
And I GO THROUGH THIS EVERY DAMN DAY!
Even inside Goldman, executives acknowledged that the bank’s stunning profits, coming at a time when so many Americans are grappling with a deep, painful recession, presents something of a PR challenge. “We are cognizant of it,’’ said David A. Viniar, Goldman’s chief financial officer. “We understand that we are living in a very uncertain world where a lot of people are out of work.’’
Pfft!
The ARROGANCE and GALL KNOW NO BOUNDS, 'eh, you fucking crap-filled sack of shit?
You guys DESERVE to get GUTTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In Washington, some lawmakers warned that a quick return to such high pay would stoke public anger as the Obama administration tried to overhaul financial regulation.
Yeah, FUCK the COCK-SUCKING LAWMAKERS, too!!!!!!!!
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