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New York, 3:03 PM
Sat Nov 28
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/15/09
10/15/09
[twitter.com] #goldmansachs
10/15/09
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10/15/09
As for the way the employees - well, let's refine this, the Investment Banking division, and to some extent the S&T division - are spending their money... We, the taxpayers, are endorsing this behavior as long as we're not agitating for reform. Rather than this semi-serious, semi-joking argument for monitoring GS spend, if you're unhappy about it, tell your representatives. If they don't do anything, vote with your vote, not with your slightly creepy surveillance.
Don't ascribe motivations to Goldman as an entity. There's nothing evil about the intrinsic business--at the end of the day, they are the ones negotiating and financing transactions that keep the economy greased. Instead, focus on the activities that fall beyond that strict interpretation and curtail those. Until then, we're complicit in this outrageous level of spend.
And I'm a consultant, so you know I hate those bastards; too many times, my Starwood Points have failed to buy me bottles or respect. They do come with that rather nice Heavenly Bed, though. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
10/15/09
The "Naked Swindle" article was discredited. For example, his use of the Pension system video made no mention of the rejection processes for those trades and the compliance constraints on writing options positions at institutions. He also materially mis-stated the process and clearinghouse systems for the share-acquisition portion of covering naked positions. Taibbi's sources are clueless kids.
#MattTaibbi
#MattTaibbiisanidiot #goldmansachs
10/15/09
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10/15/09
I dispute that as well. The vampire squid is the entity making it all possible, the entity scraping the blood money off the top of each of your paychecks: the Federal Government. There's your bloodsucker; break out the forks and fires for the President and the leering cult of cash burners in Congress. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
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10/15/09
The biggest problem is that there is an implied guarantee that the government won't let Goldman go boom, and will backstop it. They saw what happened with Lehman, and even Bernanke is on the record saying he doesn't want a second big unwinding.
Therefore, I think Goldman - like the commercial banks - should have to pay into a fund and hold reserves - like the commercial banks.
You can't trade and do business as a government-backed (and thus taxpayer-backed) entity and not pay for the privilege - or rather you can, but it is really more like picking a fight on the playground and then bolting while your 6-year-old kid sister's class takes the blows. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
This is salient, quality criticism. The implicit guarantee won't go away, though - I'm waiting for Moody's, S&P et al to start providing the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac disclosures next to the AAA ratings. I'm also waiting for bank-to-Treasury yield spreads to widen again, because who doesn't love arbitrage?
#qualitycriticismofbanks #goldmansachs
10/15/09
10/15/09
The trouble is determining a fair value for that right. And I'd argue that shedding that perception is extremely important for economic function. By hook or crook - break up their business units if you have to. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
1. They have a lower cost of capital, since no one thinks they have bankruptcy risk. Costs them less to get money to play with.
2. No counterparty risk penalty - no one is going to refuse to trade with them, or require some kind of reserve. Therefore, cheaper to trade.
3. Ease of getting clients: hey, it's Goldman, they can do our deal, bridge our loan, and we won't have to worry about them being unable to fulfill!
List goes on, but you get the drill. Anyhow, I'm off my soapbox. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
I was under the impression they registered (first time) as a bank holding company late last year and still operated under these rules.
I'd appreciate a follow-up. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
It is ludicrous that they can go from thisclose to bankruptcy one year (including billions of federal relief via AIG) to paying obscene bonuses the next.
Who invented the rule that they pay c.50% of revenues to their employees? Great, they had a banner year. How about $5 billion in reserves and to hell with the comp ratio? It’s not as though anyone at GS will starve with a $17b comp pool.
It would save them calling in Warren B in times of emergency. And it would save the taxpayers the next time the excrement hits the fan.
I can't believe Lloyd B didn't get the shit scared out of him enough last year to adopt this simple solution. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
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10/15/09
This premise is so off-base and outright dumb, I don't even know where to begin. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
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10/15/09
That's not the only think John has wrong - this is a recrimination effort directed at one of hundreds of firms that receive direct or indirect corporate welfare. That 23B is still 10B excepting the (admitted, and egregious) AIG benefits. But the stabilization of other banks, the stimulus package, and other subsidies have had derivative impacts on Goldman's balance sheet - and the average taxpayer's. Suggesting that you can determine the source of the corruption by pointing at Goldman, who merely acts most ably with the hand dealt by the Federal Government, is laughable.
Defense is subsidized in the hundreds of billions, which allow #lockheedmartin , #drs , and #myriadotherdefensefirms to #stealingfromtaxpayers . #farmsubsidies float billions to #bigagriculturethieves . It's a #nationoftaxpayertheft , and your #GoldmanProject is scoped based on #misplacedpopulistoutrage . Yet for some reason, we don't have #suspicionforthegovernment because #obama runs it and he's #oneoftheogoodguys . Never mind that he's just the latest pilot of the corrupt #taxpayertheftmachine and that the solution is to #cuttaxes and #fearthefederalgovernment because they are not on your fucking side - and never have been.
I dig the new tagging feature. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
10/15/09
Not one 26-year-old is receiving 2 mil. Sorry. 20-somethings lying to bloggers doesn't make that meme true. AMEX will give any asshole a platinum card these days. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
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10/15/09
No, your purpose is to keep your editorial focus on "sexy" targets. This is a case study on the potential dangers of crowdsourced / pageview-reliant journalism. You're spending effort as an investigator on burning kids for spending freely at bars in New York City at the expense of the broader point: the subsidy-based patronage system at the core of American politics.
The banking crisis is a referendum on too much money in the hands of too few. You've covered Goldman in upwards of 50% of your post content - what about Uncle Sam? Or those other targets? They aren't sexy enough to receive an editorial mandate. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
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10/15/09
Well, they don't have explicit subsidies. They receive derivative subsidies via the stimulus package and implicit subsidies as a consequence of TARP, even though they've exited formal TARP relationships. FormerEnglishMajor describes it very well a few threads up in response to me.
But broadly, Goldman's success is just a talisman of a totally broken payola culture in Washington DC. GS is just the latest in a long line of problems that have funneled wealth from taxpayers to special interests and favored industries. Targeting the kids at Goldman for bottle service is the exact fucking equivalent of picking a random orgy participant in ancient Rome and calling him responsible for the Nero fire. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
You are on a roll. Thank you.
I work three blocks from the White House but have long ago abandoned my illusions of being anything but a Washington outsider. #goldmansachs
10/15/09
On the other hand, you are grammatically challenged in the most hideous way, so please accept my condolences. It's a blessing you are employed at all. #goldmansachs
09/13/09
finance, take note.
09/13/09