Federal Government Asks for Closed Courtroom to Protect Goldman Sachs Secrets

AllGov News ^ | 10/29/2010 | By Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

[ex-Texan]

The U.S. Department of Justice has requested that a federal judge seal the courtroom of a trial involving computer code theft in order to protect trade secrets of Goldman Sachs.

Sergey Aleynikov was arrested by the FBI on charges of stealing computer code that supports Goldman’s high frequency trading system, which allows the bank to buy and sell stocks in a fraction of a second.

Goldman Sachs and others use “flash trading” to send out automated sell offers at higher and higher prices until one comes back with no buyer. The program then drops back to the highest acceptable price and sells at what the buyer set as his maximum limit. This allows Goldman to always obtain the best possible selling price, while the buyer loses the normal give and take of bargaining. In the case of large orders, such as those from pension funds or mutual funds, this can cost the buyers a small fortune.

Federal prosecutors have argued that the general public should not be allowed to observe the trial when details of Goldman’s trade secrets are discussed. They also asked that any documents related to Goldman’s trading strategies be sealed.

While it is common to protect proprietary corporate information during trials, the case of Aleynikov is unusual because it involves “secrets about a potentially lucrative trading system, rather than, say, ingredients in a soda formula,” wrote the Wall Street Journal.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

U.S. Seeks to Shield Goldman Secrets (by Scott Patterson, Wall Street Journal)

How Goldman Sachs Made $100 Million a Day in a Flash (by David Wallechinsky, AllGov)

SEC Moves to Ban High-Speed “Flash” Trading (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

“High-Frequency” Traders Make Billions Beating Normal Stock Investors to the Punch (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

[Enough is ENOUGH]

This sounds like the same kind of secrecy the social democrat progressives have been receiving the past 80 years.

[M. Espinola]

Obama’s Federal Government and Goldman Sachs are one in the same. Crooks!

[Vince Ferrer]

The FBI Investigation

[ChildOfThe60s]

Without knowing any details, I imagine that it’s a safe bet the Feds are doing this to protect themselves.

It’s like ya know, duh.

[Eyes Unclouded]

I would argue that there is really no distinction at this point, and even if you wanted to make one I think it would work in the other direction.

[Vince Ferrer]

The FBI Investigation

[hedgetrimmer]

when the government is your ‘partner’.

[Daryl L.Hunter]

I am pro wall street but Goldman Sachs and its government connections is a criminal enterprise. Hank Paulson was the biggest mistake Bush ever made.

[J Edgar]

What we have here is corruption in broad daylight, pure and simple JMHO

[Tunehead54]

4 AM Bump! ;-)

[ex-Texan]

Fraud Caused the 1930s Depression and the Current Financial Crisis

Pure corruption occurring in broad daylight is very rare. Crime does not come under the rubric of 'trade secrets,' despite political clout and millions in campaign donations. All these event go to prove how far the DOJ has been corrupted by WS. IMPO: The AG and the president are showing they are in bed with criminals and ought to be prosecuted themselves. But realists know that will never happen.

Most people do not see the corruption or acknowledge it when it gets this obvious. Some people mutter a slogan learned from Hollywood (ie 'Sh*t Happens') and keep their heads down. A significant percentage of those who understand what is really going on -- may work for government agencies themselves. State workers and federal employees may have been warned not to speak up.

A large percentage of the population are sick of everything. Some are fed up with the system totally. Millions of people seem to sleepwalk through the day. In my personal opinion, millions ought to be marching in the streets peacefully protesting an administration and a government and a Congress who are total failures.

[Quix]

INDEED TO THE MAX.

Thankfully, God keeps meticulous score.

[Liz]

Goldman Sachs Will Be Sitting Pretty With Emanuel in the Obama White House
By Timothy P. Carney, Examiner Columnist, Nov 21, 2008

EXCERPT Today, in these tumultuous times of bailouts and meltdowns when the investment banking leviathan needs Washington more than ever before, Goldman Sachs can leverage its most valuable asset yet White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Traditionally a Democratic booster, and one of Barack Obama’s top sources of funds in this past election, Goldman has always had particularly strong allies in government.

Rahm Emanuel is one such ally. An interesting early chapter in the Goldman-Emanuel relationship took place in the setting of Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign for the White House. Clinton hired Emanuel as his chief fundraiser.At the same time, however, Emanuel was on the payroll of Goldman Sachs, receiving $3,000 per month from the firm to “introduce us to people,” in the words of one Goldman partner at the time. This is certainly a noteworthy relationship, but it’s one that has almost entirely escaped scrutiny. (snip)

In his four terms in Congress, Emanuel raised $74,750 from Goldman, making the firm his number four source of funds. Goldman has helped Emanuel. How has Emanuel helped Goldman? The most obvious answer, as mentioned in this column two weeks ago, is in Emanuel’s lead role in shepherding the “$700 billion” bailout—first proposed by former a Goldman CEO, Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson—through the skeptical House.

Of course, back in the Clinton days, Goldman benefited from NAFTA and the bailout of the Mexican currency, with Emanuel pushing NAFTA through Congress, and Rubin hammering out the peso bailout.

Did Goldman improperly funnel money to the Clinton campaign by subsidizing Emanuel’s salary in 1992? Did Goldman’s help to Clinton spur the Democratic president to push NAFTA and the Mexican bailout?

The answers to these questions are opaque, and with Emanuel burrowed deep within the Obama White House, the continued relationship between Goldman Sachs and Obama’s right hand man won’t be easy to follow.

Watch which regulations of Wall Street Obama fights for. Watch where the bailout money goes.

SOURCE http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/TimothyCarney/ Goldman_Sach_Will_Be_Sitting_Pretty_With_Emanuel_in_the_Obama_White_House_112108.html

[Liz]

Some call the Obama/Chris Dodd/Barney Frank financial reform bill the “The Goldman Sachs Preservation Act of 2010” Here's how G/S and the Wall Street predators operate.

COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU Mother Jones magazine circa Feb 2007 reported on the activities of Mark Florian, Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs' municipal finance division.

According to the report, Florian was traveling to statehouses across the US to convince state officials that selling state assets would be "mutually beneficial." One of the scams involved selling state roads, then monetizing them via bonding----which would make billions per year for G/S until the end of time.

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REFERENCE Goldman Sachs opened an office in Princeton NJ 2006 when ex-G/S head Jon Corzine was elected NJ governor (next stop: looting the NJ Treasury).

Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners
701 Mount Lucas Rd
Princeton, NJ 08540-1911

G/S Hedge Fund Partners advertises it seeks investments in traditional infrastructure sectors including transport infrastructure such as "monetizing" toll roads, airports and ports as well as regulated gas, water and electrical utilities.

Then-Gov Corzine (ex-Goldman head) stationed Goldman Sachs functionaries in state government as the issue of road monetization surfaced. Corzine hired four of his G/S buddies including G/S alumnus Bradley Abelow as state Treasurer. Corzine took a road show across the state to sell the monetization deal. However, monetizing NJ roads hit a large pothole and collapsed like a flat tire---b/c taxpayers were onto the G/S scam.

======================================

HOW'S THAT G/S BONDING WORKING OUT FOR YOUR TOWN? Jefferson County, Alabama decided to build an elaborate new sewer system with the help of out-of-state financial wizards with names like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. The result was a monstrous pile of borrowed money that the county used to build, in essence, the world's grandest toilet — "the Taj Mahal of sewer-treatment plants" is how one county worker put it.

Now Jefferson County is one of the most indebted municipal governments in US history, with a current debt of approximately $7,000 for each man, woman and child residing in the county. Two extremely controversial undertakings by the county account for the majority of this debt.

First was a massive overhaul of the county-owned sewer system, and second was a series of risky bond-swap agreements. Both have been scrutinized by federal prosecutors, with several former county officials convicted of bribery and corruption. In 1995, Jefferson County entered into a consent decree with the EPA regarding sewer overflows into the Cahaba River watershed.

A total of $3.2 billion of new construction was subsequently contracted, both to comply with the consent decree and to expand the system to newly-developing areas and increase the number of ratepayers financing the construction. Much of this work was awarded to inexperienced companies, many of which have since been convicted of bribery, along with several county officials.

A series of controversial interest rate swaps, initiated in 2002 and 2003 by former Commission President Larry Langford (removed as the mayor of Birmingham after his conviction, were intended to lower interest payments, but have, in fact, had the opposite effect, increasing the county's indebtedness to the point that officials have issued formal statements doubting the county's ability to meet its financial obligations. The bond swaps are at the center of an investigation by the SEC.

In late Feb 2008 Standard & Poor’s lowered the rating of Jefferson County bonds to “junk” status. In early March 2008, Moody's followed suit and indicated that it would also review the county's ability to meet other bond obligations.

On March 7, 2008, Jefferson County failed to post $184 million collateral as required under its sewer bond agreements, thereby moving into technical default.......it is likely the county would enter into bankruptcy, which would result in one of the larger municipal bankruptcies in American history.”

[eleni121]

The Goldman Sachs is running this mess into the ground for their own advantage—nightmare.

This is a wow film that explains it

http://www.realecontv.com/videos/central-banks/the-coming-financial-disaster-in-a-nutshell.html