http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/goldmansachs/ en-us Mon, 4 Jan 2010 19:59:41 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2420788/posts And he takes a jab at the high salary for AIG's Robert Benmosche. Bill George, Professor of Management at Harvard Business School and a Goldman boardmember responded to a couple of Big Think's questions about banker pay recently. Scroll to 2:40 of the video below. George compares bank talent to movie stars. "The shareholder value is made up in people and you need the people there to do the job. "If you don’t pay them for their performance, you’ll lose them. It's much like professional athletes and movie stars." Then seconds later, he shifts into a criticism of the deeper... The Business Insider http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2420788/posts#comment Mon, 4 Jan 2010 19:59:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418047/posts On December 29, 2009 The New York Post [josh.kosman@nypost.com] published an article titled, Deep in derivatives, where scribe Josh Kosman ‘took-a-shot’ at explaining the ABSURDITY of the bind boggling derivatives positions amassed by financial behemoths such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. In an attempt to explain how dangerously systemically-interconnected derivatives makes ALL banks, Kosman began; “The amounts are so large that if the swaps and other derivative contracts the banks broker go bad because the parties on either side of the deal collapse, the banks could be in trouble.” Kosman then goes on with some very superficial analysis... Market Oracle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418047/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:16:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414523/posts In late October 2007, as the financial markets were starting to come unglued, a Goldman Sachs trader, Jonathan M. Egol, received very good news. At 37, he was named a managing director at the firm. Mr. Egol, a Princeton graduate, had risen to prominence inside the bank by creating mortgage-related securities, named Abacus, that were at first intended to protect Goldman from investment losses if the housing market collapsed. As the market soured, Goldman created even more of these securities, enabling it to pocket huge profits. Goldman's own clients who bought them, however, were less fortunate. Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414523/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:32:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413948/posts Thomas Adams, a lawyer at Paykin Krieg and Adams, LLP, and a former managing director at Ambac and FGIC is backing up the charges that Janet Tavakoli has been making against Goldman Sachs. In fact, he is taking her charges one step further and stating that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury aided and abetted Goldman Sachs in "committing financial and ethical crimes at an astounding level." Here's what he writes at Naked Capitalism: The Federal Reserve and the Treasury aided and abetted Goldman Sachs in committing financial and ethical crimes at an astounding level...To realize on their bet against... Economic Policy Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413948/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:36:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413042/posts * Banks with influence got access to bailouts, more money U.S. banks that spent more money on lobbying were more likely to get government bailout money, according to a study released on Monday. Banks whose executives served on Federal Reserve boards were more likely to receive government bailout funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to the study from Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura, professors at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. Banks with headquarters in the district of a U.S. House of Representatives member who serves on a committee or subcommittee relating to TARP also received... reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413042/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:35:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412254/posts Just as the year end onslaught on the dollar was spearheaded to a climax by Blankfein’s minions, so did Europe finally decide to convulse under an unbearable lead of ridiculous mispriced “assets” and vomited up a whole load of troubling financial data, which spread from Greece to Austria to Ireland, setting sovereign CDS to multi month highs. Obviously, this did not help the weak dollar case and cost GS traders a few hundred million. A note to traders indicates that while Goldman has not lost the war of intergalactic domination, it too, can lose the occasional battles: Last Friday we... ZeroHedge http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412254/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:49:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411788/posts Arnold Kling has a post on what he calls the Harvard-Goldman filter: The Harvard-Goldman filter works like this. 1. To get into a position of power, you have to pass through a filter. The easiest way to show that you can pass through the filter is to go to Harvard and then work for Goldman. 2. If you do not go to Harvard and work for Goldman, then you have to show that you can get along with people who did. 3. The best way to show that you can get along with people who pass the Harvard-Goldman filter is... Economic Policy Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411788/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:36:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411054/posts Goldman retreats from life settlements Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:27pm EST *Goldman decision follows Congressional hearing *Credit crunch crushes exotic securities By Matthew Goldstein NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is quietly backing away from life settlements--- the business of buying life insurance policies from aging Americans in the hopes of collecting on the death benefit. The Wall Street investment bank is ending its involvement with a "mortality index" it launched in December 2007 with high expectations. A Goldman spokesman confirmed the decision. Goldman's QXX index tracks the life expectancy of a group of people aged 65... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411054/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:16:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410748/posts Wall Street sees carbon trading and related derivative products as the next big thing in financial innovation. Critics say it's the next big financial mess. Carbon trading provides a way for companies to stimulate green energy and carbon reduction projects by financing them through the purchase of carbon credits. Such trading has slowed over the past year or so amid uncertainty about regulations and global emissions targets. Eventually, though, many expect carbon trading to balloon into a multitrillion-dollar business. FOE and other environmental groups have been pressing the Senate to pass legislation that puts strict limits on banks' involvement in... The Globe and Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410748/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:04:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409322/posts "...The charity was the Joyce Foundation on whose board of directors Obama served and which gave nearly $1.1 million in two separate grants that were “instrumental in developing and launching the privately-owned Chicago Climate Exchange, which now calls itself “North America’s only cap and trade system for all six greenhouse gases, with global affiliates and projects worldwide.” And that’s only the beginning of this tawdry tale, Mr. Barnes. The “privately-owned” Chicago Climate Exchange is heavily influenced by Obama cohorts Al Gore and Maurice Strong. For years now Strong and Gore have been cashing in on that lucrative cottage industry known... Canada Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409322/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:57:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408782/posts Brooke masters of the FT reports that Pension fund sues Goldman board: A pension fund for fire and police officers has sued the board of Goldman Sachs, seeking to stop the investment bank from paying out billions of dollars in bonuses to the bank's staff, writes Brooke Masters in London. Lawyers representing the Security Police and Fire Professionals of America Retirement Fund argue that the board has "abdicated" its responsibility to shareholders and "blindly "rewarded" executives for "corporate performance that has absolutely nothing to do with the skill of the company's employees". The lawsuit, filed in New York late on... Zero Hedge http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408782/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:31:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407838/posts I trust my banker more than I trust my president. And after Imam Obama’s photo op with the Wall Street types yesterday, it’s not even close. I side with the capitalists. Obama the Arrogant is no friend of mine. And for a guy with the lowest first-year popularity rating in the history of the presidency, he’s pretty generous with that self-assigned “solid B-plus” grade he claimed in the Oprah interview. Now that’s hard-hitting journalism -- Oprah Winfrey asking Barack Obama how much he loves himself. Turns out, he loves himself quite a bit. And it turns out we have to... boblonsberry.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407838/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:28:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407309/posts NLPC has filed a shareholder proposal asking Goldman Sachs to report on the science behind its embrace of global warming in the wake of the ‘Climategate’ scandal. Goldman’s ‘climate policy’ is more than corporate public relations. In 2007, Goldman participated in the buyout of energy firm TXU. The transaction resulted in the cancelation of 8 of 11 planned coal-fired power plants after pressure from environmental activists. It might make wealthy financiers in New York City feel good about themselves to scotch electric generation in the name of environmentalism, but it has negative consequences for ordinary people. Electricity is a basic... National Legal and Policy Center http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407309/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:30:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406759/posts CHICAGO (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) played a bigger role in fueling the mortgage bets that crippled American Insurance Group Inc (AIG.N) than has been publicly disclosed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. An analysis by the paper of AIG's trades on pools of mortgage debt shows that Goldman was a key player in many, including those involving other banks, the Journal said. Goldman was one of 16 banks the U.S. government rescued last year after closing out losing trades that AIG had made with the financial firms. The bank originated or bought protection from AIG on... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406759/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:02:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406042/posts Goldman Sachs Group Inc. played a bigger role than has been publicly disclosed in fueling the mortgage bets that nearly felled American Insurance Group Inc. Goldman was one of 16 banks paid off when the U.S. government last year spent billions closing out soured trades that AIG made with the financial firms. A Wall Street Journal analysis of AIG's trades, which were on pools of mortgage debt, shows that Goldman was a key player in many of them, even the ones involving other banks. Goldman originated or bought protection from AIG on about $33 billion of the $80 billion of... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406042/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:27:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405334/posts Barack Obama ran for president as a man of the people, standing up to Wall Street as the global economy melted down in that fateful fall of 2008. He pushed a tax plan to soak the rich, ripped NAFTA for hurting the middle class and tore into John McCain for supporting a bankruptcy bill that sided with wealthy bankers "at the expense of hardworking Americans." Obama may not have run to the left of Samuel Gompers or Cesar Chavez, but it's not like you saw him on the campaign trail flanked by bankers from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. What inspired... Rolling Stone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405334/posts#comment Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:55:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404745/posts Obama's Big Wall Street Sellout The president has packed his economic team with Wall Street insiders intent on turning the bailout into an all-out giveaway Barack Obama ran for president as a man of the people, standing up to Wall Street as the global economy melted down in that fateful fall of 2008. He pushed a tax plan to soak the rich, ripped NAFTA for hurting the middle class and tore into John McCain for supporting a bankruptcy bill that sided with wealthy bankers "at the expense of hardworking Americans." Obama may not have run to the left of Samuel... Rolling Stone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404745/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:39:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404109/posts Over at HuffPo, SEIU president Andy Stern is calling for Goldman Sachs "to come clean." This, keep in mind, is the same Andy Stern who is on public record visiting President Obama at the White House more times than anyone else in the entire #$%&ng world. In Stern's column, he mentions that "Last month, hundreds of ordinary Americans gathered outside Goldman's Washington, D.C. headquarters to demand the firm clean up its act." "Hundreds" is a bit of a stretch and it wasn't "ordinary" Americans. It was ONLY SEIU members and members of George Goehl's National People's Action Network. I know.... Economic Policy Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404109/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 23:26:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403850/posts The Center for Responsible Lending estimates that there have now been 1,000,000 foreclosures filed so far in 2009 and the group expects the foreclosure number to double before the end of the year. U.S. Home Vacancies Hit 18.7 Million on Bank Seizures (Update2) [1] Thanks to our controlled and uncontrolled media, we know when you take the derivative of the foreclosure crisis you get those greedy predatory lenders at AIG, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America plotting to steal our tacky (I mean tract-y) houses. Conventional wisdumb and the media always blame the usual suspects and FOX News wraps it... The Market Oracle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403850/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 17:59:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402012/posts On Saturday, joined by hundreds of friends, family and colleagues on a snowy December day in Yonkers, NY, we celebrated the life of Mark Pittman. Readers of The IRA who wish to express their thanks to Mark and show support for his family may make contributions to the Pittman Children’s College Fund, c/o Dr. William Karesh, 30B Pondview Road, Rye, NY 10580. Bob Ivry from Bloomberg News gave a remembrance of Mark, including reading the letter that his daughter Maggie Pittman posted on zerohedge to dispel rumors that her dad might have been murdered. Some members of the zerohedge family... The Big Picture http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402012/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 15:10:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401577/posts Close followers of the Climategate controversy know that much of the mêlée surrounds an email in which Climate Research Unit (CRU) chief Phil Jones wrote about using “Mike’s Nature Trick” (MNT) to “hide the decline.” And yet, 17 days and thousands of almost exclusively on-line op-eds into this scandal, it still seems very few understand exactly which “decline” was being hidden, what “trick” was used to do so, and why Jones’s words have become the slogan for the greatest scientific fraud in history. As the mainstream media move from abject denial to dismissive whitewashing, CRU co-conspirators move to Copenhagen for... American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401577/posts#comment Sun, 6 Dec 2009 17:41:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378534/posts Amazing story here.... you really need to read the whole thing. The salient point is here: The county paid JPMorgan and a group of banks $120.2 million in fees for $5.8 billion of derivatives, according to a series of stories published by Bloomberg News in 2005. The payments were about $100 million more than they should have been based on prevailing rates, according to estimates in 2007 by James White, an adviser the county hired after the SEC said it was investigating the deals. That's six times what they should have cost - that is, six hundred percent of market... The Market Ticker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378534/posts#comment Wed, 4 Nov 2009 19:25:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401529/posts JPMorgan Chase & Co. lists lots of assets, ranging from loans to securities to cash, on its $2 trillion balance sheet. Not to be found is one that might be its most valuable -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. For JPMorgan, No. 1 in the too-big-to-fail bank club, Goldman has become the perfect lightning rod for populist outrage that might otherwise be directed at it. That has helped shield JPMorgan from questions about its own size, profits and payouts even as it reaps many of the same rewards as Goldman. Not a week goes by, for example, without what seems like... Economic Policy Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401529/posts#comment Sun, 6 Dec 2009 16:11:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400605/posts Even Timmy is slowly realizing that the Administration will need to find a way to deflect Main Steet's anger at Goldman and keep it focused exclusively on Wall Street instead of equating it with Obama et al. The problem is - you make some very serious, tentacled enemies in the process. Geithner also flip flops on his prior position on the transaction tax. While before he was more opposed to the transaction tax than even Marla, his new "windsocked" position on the topic may now provide a challenge even to Nitric Oxide inhibitors. But here is the clincher for the... Zero Hedge http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400605/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 23:43:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400583/posts A senior Chinese official criticized foreign banks for selling derivatives with “fraudulent characteristics” that led to heavy losses for state-owned airlines and other companies. “Some international investment banks are the biggest villains,” said Li Wei, deputy chairman of the agency that oversees China’s biggest state companies, in a commentary in this week’s edition of the Study Times, a newspaper published by the school of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. The comments were the Chinese government’s most pointed public criticism yet of foreign institutions. Li’s agency said in September it would support companies that want to challenge the contracts in court.... AsiaLynx.com (ChinaDaily.com) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400583/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 23:12:48 GMT