Yield: 0.79%
yitbos
Posted on 02/24/2008 9:51:22 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Goldman's profit magic may be fading
Goldman might post its smallest quarterly profit in three years, as leveraged loans are likely to weigh on results.
Kate Kelly And Peter Eavis, Wall Street Journal 25 Feb 2008 05:52
At a recent investor meeting, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein made a wry apology for arriving late.
"This is the wrong time to keep shareholders waiting," he said, according to people with knowledge of the matter. "Maybe I should offer to wash your car or something to make up for it."
The joke spoke to a sobering reality check. After 10 quarters in a row of posting higher year-over-year earnings per share and avoiding many of the mortgage-related land mines that have blown up at rival securities firms, Goldman could post in mid-March its smallest quarterly profit in three years.
The problem: Many areas giving Goldman fits in the current quarter -- from leveraged-loan exposure to sluggish investment-banking activity -- aren't likely to recover anytime soon. As a result, its stock, still pricey compared with other Wall Street securities firms, could fall much further.
In a sign many investors think the credit crunch has hit Goldman hard in its fiscal first quarter ending Feb. 29, the New York company's shares are down 14% since Feb. 1. Goldman shares Friday rose $2.54, or 1.5%, to $177.71 in New York Stock Exchange 4 p.m. composite trading. The stock peaked at $250 last October.
"The world knows this quarter stinks for Goldman, as well as the others," says Glenn Schorr, a securities analyst at UBS.
David Trone, brokerage analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton, believes Goldman could take roughly the same amount of write-downs in its fiscal second quarter as it does in its first quarter.
(Excerpt) Read more at moneyweb.co.za ...
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Yield: 0.79%
yitbos
The stock was tanked last September.
yitbos
Mark to Market can be a cruel mistress.
goldman should re-hire jon corslime....and give NJ a break!!!!
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