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I think their 2007 bonus pool was larger than $5 billion. The employees could have raised this internally.
I think everyone here is rooting against GS--a unifying force.
While many analysts and investors applauded Goldman Sachs's plan to repay the TARP money, others said it may pressure other banks to follow suit or risk appearing dependent on the government.
Pressure from whom? Fed? Treasury?
At least Goldman is making a profit and paying taxes. We can't borrow our entire national budget. OK, maybe 53 cents on the dollar, but not the whole thing.
Why is CR surprised? A call to the Fed and Treasury + a few emails to collaborators + a few keystrokes are enough.
Well. Equity doesn't have to be paid back. TARP money does with interest, right?
Real question is who bought up all of this offering so quickly? Probably one of GS's own invisible hands.
Nemo - GS doesn't need Christmas... It has Tim and Obama for all the presents they want.
I think everyone here is rooting against GS--a unifying force.
The Oakland Raiders of finance,..."Just Swindle, baby"
I would like to know who the scum are buying GS stock.
"I think their 2007 bonus pool was larger than $5 billion. The employees could have raised this internally."
Why would anybody else invest? The stated purpose is to get out of TARP so they can be free of the restrictions - which means the newly invested $$$ will be paid out under the old bonus system. So: invest in GS to see you money paid out the other door? WHY?????
Anybody seen the Hankster since January 20th?
Guess who'll be shorting the bejesus out of the rest of the financial sector, soon...
"I think everyone here is rooting against GS--a unifying force."
Here's s hint: GS is working against our best interests and the best interests of our country.
I've switched. Citi and BOA (my two favorite hates - and I do biz with both) have been replaced by Goldman Sucks.
I'd sure love to be a prosecutor with a grand jury, lots of forensic accountants and bodyguards. Let me at 'um.
Nothing would send a message more than unveiling the web of deceit, theft and bad dealing that GS represents.
From GS website (sorry for the long post)
Everything that you've read in this section is based on the 14 business principles that guide how we do business and conduct ourselves on a daily basis.
1) Our clients' interests always come first. Our experience shows that if we serve our clients well, our own success will follow.
2) Our assets are our people, capital and reputation. If any of these is ever diminished, the last is the most difficult to restore. We are dedicated to complying fully with the letter and spirit of the laws, rules and ethical principles that govern us. Our continued success depends upon unswerving adherence to this standard.
3) Our goal is to provide superior returns to our shareholders. Profitability is critical to achieving superior returns, building our capital, and attracting and keeping our best people. Significant employee stock ownership aligns the interests of our employees and our shareholders.
4) We take great pride in the professional quality of our work. We have an uncompromising determination to achieve excellence in everything we undertake. Though we may be involved in a wide variety and heavy volume of activity, we would, if it came to a choice, rather be best than biggest.
5) We stress creativity and imagination in everything we do. While recognizing that the old way may still be the best way, we constantly strive to find a better solution to a client's problems. We pride ourselves on having pioneered many of the practices and techniques that have become standard in the industry.
6) We make an unusual effort to identify and recruit the very best person for every job. Although our activities are measured in billions of dollars, we select our people one by one. In a service business, we know that without the best people, we cannot be the best firm.
7) We offer our people the opportunity to move ahead more rapidly than is possible at most other places. Advancement depends on merit, and we have yet to find the limits to the responsibility our best people are able to assume. For us to be successful, our men and women must reflect the diversity of the communities and cultures in which we operate. That means we must attract, retain and motivate people from many backgrounds and perspectives. Being diverse is not optional; it is what we must be.
8 ) We stress teamwork in everything we do. While individual creativity is always encouraged, we have found that team effort often produces the best results. We have no room for those who put their personal interests ahead of the interests of the firm and its clients.
9) The dedication of our people to the firm and the intense effort they give their jobs are greater than one finds in most other organizations. We think that this is an important part of our success.
10) We consider our size an asset that we try hard to preserve. We want to be big enough to undertake the largest project that any of our clients could contemplate, yet small enough to maintain the loyalty, the intimacy and the esprit de corps that we all treasure and that contribute greatly to our success.
11) We constantly strive to anticipate the rapidly changing needs of our clients and to develop new services to meet those needs. We know that the world of finance will not stand still and that complacency can lead to extinction.
12) We regularly receive confidential information as part of our normal client relationships. To breach a confidence or to use confidential information improperly or carelessly would be unthinkable.
13) Our business is highly competitive, and we aggressively seek to expand our client relationships. However, we must always be fair competitors and must never denigrate other firms.
14) Integrity and honesty are at the heart of our business. We expect our people to maintain high ethical standards in everything they do, both in their work for the firm and in their personal lives.
It's great to get in so early on a topic, and a shame I am not an expert with pithy comments to make. Nevertheless...
It comes as no surprise to me that GS at least seems to be doing well. They are pretty much dealing the cards and using a marked deck. It seems they can still get TARP money through AIG anyway, which GS won't have to repay. Sounds good to me, or it would if it wasn't helping drive the whole country into ruins.
Last night the Washington Wizards had a promotion in which those with a last name containing 'gold' could get a free ticket. Ostensibly, this was to commemorate their gold jerseys, but it was clearly a scheme to tunnel tickets to Goldman Sachs employees.
And every time Obama speaks, the market drops. Dude, shut the Hell up.
Mission Statements quite often are exactly the opposite of what a company is trying to accomplish, and GS doesn't disappoint, do they?
I honestly think its a good thing if GS can return TARP money. Everyone who can raise the money should be able to return it. This way we can weed out those who cannot pay back.
The bookies beat the point spread because they threatened the referee.
Goldman's story doesn't add up: "We were fully hedged against AIG but we decided to take the Government's money anyway..."
Assuming for the sake of argument they truly hedged their AIG exposure, then taking Government money via AIG instead of making their counter-parties pay them via the hedge is dishonorable. It is unpatriotic and shameful.
So which is it Goldman? Not really hedged and you lied to Congress, or you were fully hedged and you cheated your country?
Goldman has no country.
I was thinking of applying for a job there... but after reading those "principles" I now feel like I'm going to be sick.
Now that they've completed their offering, will they stop propping up the equities market? 
Golem Sachs can never die, they are the living undebt.
Interesting Times, if you're not Ivy League, the only positions available are Chai Wallah.
The last 6 months would have played out quite differently if when asked AIG had said; "Cascading defaults if we go bankrupt? No, we don't think so. All our exposed counter parties like Goldmans have hedged against that possibility. Sure, it will be bloody and some pension and other insurance funds would take a hit but nowhere near a systemic event like you've been told."
BM - IMNSHO - I eat Ivy Leagues for breakfast
some investor guy --
At least Goldman is making a profit and paying taxes.
Do you have any numbers on the taxes GS is actually paying? Profits reported to the IRS and to the SEC follow different rules... (Even in its heyday, Enron never paid a penny in taxes, for instance.)
- Nemo
So does GS do an end-around Enron move at some point?
There is no reason for anyone to purchase GS equity unless they purchase enough to have meaningful influence with management; like Warren Buffett. Perhaps the purchasers were institutions attempting to curry favor with GS. But as the incident with the oil company in OK that was discussed yesterday demonstrated; GS will stab you in the back at the first opportunity.
Moin from Germany,
i think we all should congratulate Goldman for placing the shares for $ 123. NO SARCASM!
I doubt the investors that bought the shares will have lots of fun down the road.
Bottom line is that this is money taxpayers don´t have to pump into the banking system......
The same kind of "creative" accounting a few weeks ago and the stock would have crashed.......
Clearly a sign that the euphoria level is close to a peak.....
We need 90 job cuts, stat!
Nurse called out of surgery and laid off
By The Associated Press,Posted: Apr. 14, 2009 6:50 a.m.
Madison - A Dean Health System nurse was called out of surgery so a manager could tell her she was being laid off.
Dean Health says the surgery was minor and the patient wasn't affected, but the manager who summoned the nurse from surgery violated medical protocol.
Dean Health spokesman Paul Pitas says the incident happened at Dean's West Clinic in Madison last Wednesday or Thursday.
The Madison-based health care provider announced last week that it planned to "immediately" lay off 90 employees.
------------------
sacrealstats
The flimflam worked. Sold at 122, now at 118. Must get it placed before Obama's speech outlining the end of the era of financial hegemony. Suckers.
GS should pay back every penny the day Ben, Tim and Barack are on record as saying they've fixed too big to fail, and no more bailouts.
GS trading 118 LMAO. pump and dump
I have 3 friends in various stages of getting their nursing credentials, as it was such a hot job 3 years ago, back when they hitched their wagons to a fading star.
Reminds me of GE spending $12bn on dividends of their $15bn equity sale in 08Q4. Except this time it's business other than prop trading down 30%, $4.7bn in bonus and $5bn in equity sale when for starters you're looking at a $10bn uncollaterlized loan. Wonder what happens if Goldman still wants access to FDIC guarantees on bond issues
DJI is starting to look like I think it should. Something happen?
GS @ 118 Frazier stumbles but is not down
Arbitrage Macht Frei wrote on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 10:01am.
I have 3 friends in various stages of getting their nursing credentials, as it was such a hot job 3 years ago, back when they hitched their wagons to a fading star.
Welcome to GS-6 Step 1. Just be thankful if you don't get picked for E-6 (less than 2 years service).
Admit it, GS plays "the game" like a champion.
Watching their "trades" as if they were Basketball plays, is like watching Michael Jordan play in the 90s.
It dwarfs the competition, again and again.
i think we all should congratulate Goldman for placing the shares for $ 123. NO SARCASM!
I doubt the investors that bought the shares will have lots of fun down the road.
-------------------------
GS down 9.34%. Down the road is here!
The NBA is a fixed (not as bad as pro wrestling, however). MJ was suspended for gambling and pretended to play baseball.
dear world,
please bring back 5% interest rates on my online savings account.
Thanks,
-mpsa.
It's easy to pay off TARP funds, it the warren's that are costly. Funny there is no mention of buying those back.
"Watching their "trades" as if they were Basketball plays,"
I'm pretty sure no one does Federal Representation, better.
rocker
A lot of quant trading has done well in 2009. GS isn't special relative to its peers in that area. Unlike its peers, it has divisions of banking that are 50% too big for their new revenue levels. Also, the next market dislocation should dry up the liquidity necessary for quant funds to be profitable which is what happened in October 08. Some are preparing for this, GS probably isn't as the execs will be flogging that horse as hard as they can
I don't begrudge GS, but I certainly would not invest in them anywhere near current market pricing.
So far, the only people unaffected by this crisis have been those savers that kept their wealth in dollars...
How does this last bastion react as the dollar gets devalued?
"please bring back 5% interest rates on my online savings account."
I will wager that within 12 mos. you will get what you wish for and more. i.e. 4% (or greater) GDI.
nemo,
"Cash payments for income taxes, net of refunds, were $3.47 billion, $5.78 billion and $4.56 billion for the years ended
November 2008, November 2007 and November 2006, respectively." http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/investors/financials/current/10k/2... page 134
my poor savings account wrote:
"please bring back 5% interest rates on my online savings account."
Are there financial assets that can indeed generate $500 income on every $10,000 invested ?
rent are down, profits are down - why would anyone pay 5% when they can not generate 5% - or can they ?
From the WSJ : Last year, 953 Goldman employees were paid in excess of $1 million apiece.
These guys are confusing correlation with causation.
@Arbitrage Macht Frei
"I have 3 friends in various stages of getting their nursing credentials, as it was such a hot job 3 years ago, back when they hitched their wagons to a fading star."
As long as they specialize in orthopedics, physical therapy, geriatrics or general surgery/recovery that star is going to shine for a long while. Boomers are not getting any younger.
Stop Boomer Navel Gazing.
You parents and grand parents beat the Nazis and made a great country.
You lost in 'Nam and bankrupted the country.
Get over it.
Nurses are losing jobs all over the country, and the ones that have the good jobs aren't likely to give theirs up to a freshly minted graduate, are they?
This is the way I would do my budget (using FedGov numbers):
"So far this year I have brought into the "Household" $986-billion. I have spent the following: $321b on SSI, $317b on defense (638 total), $205b on Medicare (843 total), $116b on Medicaid ($959-billion total - Shit - I'm almost out of money!), the interest is $84b ($1 trillion, 43-billion total - Geeze, I'm already overdrawn by $57b and I've still got checks that haven't cleared the bank! Arrrgggghhh!), $290B for TARP? (Honey, what the Hell is this check to TARP all about? We're $347-billion upside down), $546b for OTHER? (Honey - Get Your Ass In Here, Please! - What the Hell Did YOU Spend 546-billion, on? We are now upside down in our checking account by $893-billion in bad checks - Oh My Gawd! What are we gonna do????.........Call the bank..........Stop Payment on the checks to TARP, that "OTHER" horseshit check too and we just eat beans for another 6-months. Chop up the Credit Card - that's part of the problem - I'd bet that check for the $546-billion is part of it. We're still overdrawn? Shit! Sell the middle child. Tell "California" she was adopted anyway."
........that's how I'd do it.......ROFL
- - - - -
Black 
Ranch
CR check these out
http://online.worldmag.com/2009/04/14/tax-day-dread/
Tax Day dread
Delinquent Taxpayers Top ten delinquent taxpayers statewide
Can they afford to pay? In the current system.. NO!
//As long as they specialize in orthopedics, physical therapy, geriatrics or general surgery/recovery that star is going to shine for a long while. Boomers are not getting any younger.//
I realize have been a vocal critic of GS today (largely because of this disingenuous letter to the editor I linked to earlier: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123967007321015621.html ).
In fairness, here are a few equally harsh thoughts about Citi, discovered via naked capitalism. (Hope it's not a repost here...)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f715e3b0-25ef-11de-be57-00144feabdc0.html
Love how the stock gets ramped up, price set...bagholder secured and then drops back down. Similar to the deal MS did with the Singapore SWF....betcha they want a "do-over" at $56 a share....
the big problem is everyone knows it and little is said or done about the manipulation.
out of FAS on the open...into FAZ.....FWIW
Ciao
MS
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
-- Patrick Henry
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn the 7TH Amendment maggot! That's how you restrain the government.
Red Beckman - Fully Informed Jury
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7385583011526915030&hl=en
"Nurses are losing jobs all over the country, and the ones that have the good jobs aren't likely to give theirs up to a freshly minted graduate, are they?"
I would argue that current layoffs in medicine are somewhat temporary and in alignment with the broader economy and that long term they will fare much better than other newly minted grads. Lawyers and MBAs are in a world of hurt for a while, for instance.
This is the best news I've heard all day. Get Goldman off at least one of the government teats and let them get back to selling fraudulent securities to widows and orphans.
Which is exactly who bought the offering today.
Your pension investments are destroying the country.
MS et al.
can anyone explain to me why the 'smart money' that willingly participates in these equity offerings always overpays?
I could buy GS at $118 right now, but the smart money felt the need to buy it at $123
what gives? is it the large amount for sale at $123 and therefore buyers can go in without 'moving the market'
this whole equity raise participation never makes sense to me - unless the deal is incredible, why not buy in the secondary market that we all use - at tleast that one is only partially rigged...
"We have seen a 300 percent increase in rookie delinquent taxpayers," this year compared to the same period last year, says Richard Boggs, chief executive of Nationwide Tax Relief, a firm that helps people in tax trouble.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/
TAX cuts?
Hell with SRS selling and going in more shorts on SPG tomorrow
Give me liberty or give me debt.
Let the Big Ben Bashing begin.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn the 7TH Amendment maggot! That's how you restrain the government.
Red Beckman - Fully Informed Jury
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7385583011526915030&hl=en
Savings will become the new life blood of the economy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn the 7TH Amendment maggot! That's how you restrain the government.
Red Beckman - Fully Informed Jury
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7385583011526915030&hl=en
Ben still thinks it's a liquidity crisis as well. He still doesn't realize it's a solvency crisis. More credit piled upon credit is not the answer.
LOL... now we know who got all the money that evaporated in FAZ.
DEBT (Credit) is the lifeblood of the economy. BB
dear world,
please bring back 5% interest rates on my online savings account.
Thanks,
-mpsa.
Watch and weep - Jon Stewart makes Alan Greenspan say that the Fed has to sacrifice your poor savings account to keep the stock market going
http://www.indecisionforever.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=102970
It will be a fascinating battle between the Obama Administration and Goldman Sachs. GS will chafe under the compensation regulations, and I predict that if they are not allowed to pay back the TARP funds, they will pay year end bonuses anyway, daring Geithner and Obama to do anything about it- and if they do, then offering up the payback once again.
BB, It was necessary to allow GS to double dip into the taxpayers pockets.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn the 7TH Amendment maggot! That's how you restrain the government.
Red Beckman - Fully Informed Jury
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7385583011526915030&hl=en
OH GOODY! Too bad they are paying it back with the money from AIG.
"dear world,
please bring back 5% interest rates on my online savings account.
Thanks,
-mpsa."
That'll be the next big bubble; after hyper-inflation kicks in;-)
Give me the power to print money and I care not who makes the laws.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn the 7TH Amendment maggot! That's how you restrain the government.
Red Beckman - Fully Informed Jury
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7385583011526915030&hl=en
Turn that frown upside down! 
CNBC just spoke to Bernstein about Bernanke. Asked him whether they would express confidence in keeping Bernanke on as Fed Chairman. Bernstein declined to comment. CNBC mumbled that Summers was rumored to be in line for the Fed Chairman job next. Oh boy.
Nursing still has a big future. Don't fight demographics.
REPORT: GM already has nearly two year supply of Pontiac G3
The other day we noted the March sales of the Pontiac G3, a subcompact GM launched in February. In March the company sold 141.. That means just one in every 19 of GM's roughly 2,700 Pontiac dealers sold one during the month.
At the end of March, dealers had 3,479 G3s in stock, according to Autodata. That's enough to last 617 days at the current rate of sales – close to two full years.
http://blogs.wsj.com/autoshow/2009/04/07/pontiac-g3-the-reprise/
Cost of printing a $100.00 Bill: 10 Cents
Current difference between cost and perceived value: $99.90
More credit piled upon credit is not the answer.
After thinking it through, I have come to the conclusion that our economy now consists of 2 words: Mack burped.
The answer lies in Dr. Seuss' Yertle the Turtle. Yertle needed to grow higher and higher. But the bottom turtle burped, and the whole tower came crashing down.
Excuse my pessimism. I am finishing taxes today and it is not pleasant. This Mack is burping.
monta-
never quite understood it either...they must be enamored by participating in the "process".
Most secondary's behave like this.
Ciao
MS
Cost of printing a $100.00 Bill: 10 Cents
Current difference between cost and perceived value: $99.90
Cost of creating a billion dollars with a few keystrokes $.000000001. Value stolen from existing currency 1 billion
Just for Bernanke:
Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matza, but on this night we eat matza?
Because the bread has been given to the bankers.
Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but on this night we eat bitter herbs?
Because all the sweet fruits and best vegetables have been given to the bankers.
Why is it on all other nights we do not dip even once, but on this night we dip twice?
Because the stench of the bankers who sold us into slavery will never wash off.
Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?
Because bent over it is easier for the bankers to get to your wallet.
State, city unemployment rise in March - http://seattlepi.com/business/405123_labor14.html
Washington state's unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent in March. Seattle's unemployment rate jumped an entire point to 8.8 percent -- the highest on record since January 2000.
...................................................................
Green Branch forum - Secular homesteading and much more...
Arbitrage Macht Frei wrote on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 10:55am.
Cost of printing a $100.00 Bill: 10 Cents
Current difference between cost and perceived value: $99.90
Don't you mean:
Current difference between price and perceived value: $99.90?
I suspect that the ultimate cost of printing $100 bills is much much higher.
Current difference between cost and perceived value: $99.90
Cost of digitally creating money:
Fixed cost, F, consisting of computers, electricity, accounting staff, etc. F is a constant.
Money cost, M, where M is the cost of each dollar
Quantity of money printed, x
M = F/x
lim M as x->0 = Infinity!!!
If we print infinite money we can do it for free!
If somebody hasn't already thanked doc holliday(sp?) for his heads up on the 1 month Treasury auction, let me be the first to do that. Panic is STILL in the air.
-K
Bernanke needs to get with the times! He needs to learn how to operate the teleprompter from the MASTER, BO!
Additionally,
If the cost of money is 0, the worst we can do by printing is break even! It's not like it cost anything.
There will be many students of finance unemployed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn the 7TH Amendment maggot! That's how you restrain the government.
Red Beckman - Fully Informed Jury
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7385583011526915030&hl=en
From Yahoo: Obama: 'Instant gratification' fueled bust
In unrelated news, savers to bail out speculators.
In the spirit of passover, BB is letting the children speak.
Hopefully they'll ask the right questions.
------------------
sacrealstats
Max with Ben and Tim its always been about the "American families"
MS, good to see you back. I'm a fan of your posts.
kids ask better questions than reporters...
I find it quite amazing that so many of you are so hep to how disfunctional both big business and big government are, and then say something like
"Savings will become the new life blood of the economy"
As if there isn't a great divide between and betwixt those that print the money and those it is given to, guaranteeing it's devaluation in the process.
Savers get run over when this shotgun marriage is consummated. See Argentina 2001-2002 for a primer.
Anonymous2 wrote on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 10:22am.
Stop Boomer Navel Gazing.
You lost in 'Nam and bankrupted the country.
Get over it.
MY answer!
Ok be anonymous if you have to but please at least stop being a moron!
The policy makers who directed vietnam Eisenhower, Kennedy,Johnson, Nixon Westmoreland Macnamara etc were not baby boomers, they were all born before WWII.
The soldiers who fought and died in Vietnam were at least in their late teens and early twenties around 1965 thru 70 and thus most were born during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, so mos many if not most were pre baby boomer, or at the leading edge.
Maybe you are talking about the all powerful hippies and and others who demonstrated in the streets.
The other day we noted the March sales of the Pontiac G3, a subcompact GM launched in February. In March the company sold 14
It could be because the G3 is more expensive than the Honda Fit [1].
[1] http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=honda%20fit
--
The Zombie Apocalypse begins when U3 hits 15%
MS and Montas Ankle,
Participation in the $123 offering can have many reasons not least of which is that all their $56-$99 buys can at least for a short period be worth more. And make no mistake, it is no coincidence that the placement was 1% below Buffett's option exercise price. Everything is designed to generate the appearance that GS is "worth" $125.
Everything is designed to generate the appearance that GS is "worth" $125. "
Rob Dawg +1. Its all part of the show
I made the mistake of going and taking a new car for a spin to see if I liked it, and thoughtlessly gave my correct phone number to the car salesman, who finally gave up on follow-up call #7.
The car in question had 86 miles on the odometer.
Rigor Motoris
WTF, economics is not a branch of mathematics!!!
these are definitely some of the best questions Ben has been asked.
teacher wrote on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 11:30am.
WTF, economics is not a branch of mathematics!!!
Sure it is. Just like Neanderthals are a branch of hominids.
bearly
BO isnt the teleprompter master, Reagan was (ah remember the glorious days of the great communicator!)
View the pegs if you dare!
http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m335/dmhlt48/Teleprompter%20-%20Reaga...
BTW George Bush Jr. would have been then teleprompter master , if he knew how to read.
"A Dean Health System nurse was called out of surgery so a manager could tell her she was being laid off."
Sure, it looks bad, but just think of the manager's responsibility to....?
Pavel Chichikov
Can you just imagine how the rabble is trying to figure out the ins and outs of the Dismal Science, about right now?
GM bondholder cracks show as bankruptcy threat looms
NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - The prospect of General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) avoiding bankruptcy is becoming "less likely," which may be starting to cause bondholders to pursue separate bankruptcy strategies, two sources close to government talks said on Tuesday.
At least one large bondholder is preparing for potential bankruptcy by reviewing which courts may be most favorable to bondholders, and has ruled out the Eastern District of Michigan as too beneficial to the Union Auto Workers, according to one source familiar with the talks. (Reporting by Walden Siew; Editing by James Dalgleish
Reading the comments on this site is so depressing. I just want to get drunk, roll up in a fetal position behind the couch! But, first, I guess I should get drunk, and then fill out my will...
+1 cookie
to the kid who asked, "how do we get a balance between a system based on confidence and one based on fundamentals" (paraphrasing)
Bernanke like his boss, also assumes this is a credit event. It is a debt event. It is a valuation event. It is a deflation event. If anything there is still too much credit sloshing around the system seeking returns.
Damn, Dawg.
That anti-banker screed makes me question your free-market loyalty.
Mike Morgan published my 7th amendment comment.
http://www.goldmansachs666.com/2009/04/is-goldman-sachs-running-us-gover...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn the 7TH Amendment maggot! That's how you restrain the government.
Red Beckman - Fully Informed Jury
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7385583011526915030&hl=en
My take on what the rabble is feeling presently, is akin to being a passenger on a commercial airliner-who has zero control over one's destiny.
What color is your parachute?
How much is Buffet losing on his investment again?
I can't quite remember the numbers that were so forcefully advanced here previously concerning Buffet's huge losses in buying into Goldman at the outrageous price of 123 dollars a share.
Oh wait - that is what Goldman got for its shares today?
But where are the billions and billions in Buffet's paper losses? As for dilution - I still think Warren has a little more influence than today's buyers, which is part of what comes with a 5 billion dollar check. As Goldman itself believes - after all, it is buying the freedom to cash in without any government interference. I bet Buffet is OK with that, incidentally.
Please, let's get those predictions out - I'm sure they will be quite enlightening.
And have as much or as little to do with the future than any other prediction.
Remember, the way to play the game is to only trumpet the successful predictions, and let the others slink away into forgetfulness.
Oh - oil is now under 50 dollars a barrel again, and the euro is at 1.32. The dollar remains a good bet against that an euro collapse, doesn't it? Wasn't that another prediction?
So many predictions, so little accountability - America is full of experts, at least if you listen to their own opinion about themselves.
"Mike Morgan published my 7th amendment comment"
---------
Mike needs to seed the jury in his Anti-GS lawsuit.
Boomers may not be getting any younger, but we can all pray that most of them will get a lot deader soon.
Broward Horne wrote on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 11:35am.
Damn, Dawg.
That anti-banker screed makes me question your free-market loyalty.
When in the course of human events and all that trumps free-market loyalty.
Well, that and I'm fairly well positioned to mint some serious coin when the walls come down so I might just be talking my book which is the ultimate homage to the free-market.
Wouldn't it be just a little ironic if most of them hundreds of millions of guns were mostly in the hands of "Boomers"?
Ricochets happen
MS - yeah, I always thought it was 'being part of the process' liek that makes you elite or something
kind of like investing in Madoff Securities
but still, if I can go out and buy GS at 118 right now, by definition, I own those suckers
too bad I won't give a dime to those crooks - i might get a dime and a few pennies back
I wonder if socially responsible investing now has a 'no bailout bank' clause?
"Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matza, but on this night we eat matza?
Because the bread has been given to the bankers."
You sound as bitter as the herbs.
Guy sits down on a park bench to eat matzos for lunch. He notices someone sitting beside him, obviously blind, so as an act of courtesy he hands the man one of the sheets of matzo. The blind man runs his finger-tips over the surface of the matzo instead of eating it, and looks puzzled, especially by the little perforations. Then he looks indignant and says: "Who wrote this crap?"
Please forgive an attempt at profundity, but perhaps we're like the blind man and the matzo.
Pavel Chichikov
How much is Buffet losing on his investment again?
I can't quite remember the numbers that were so forcefully advanced here previously concerning Buffet's huge losses in buying into Goldman at the outrageous price of 123 dollars a share.
Irrelevant. Buffett will expire before his options do.
Buffet wants a positive legacy, he does not care about overpaying for GS or GE or BNI.
--
The Zombie Apocalypse begins when U3 hits 15%
"talking my book is the ultimate homage to the free-market."
--------------------
Or the ultimate satire.
You're a drool one, Mr. Grinch.
How many had heard of Madoff before he did his mea culponzi?
Hmm. I guess Goldman doesn't need to tell people it pass the stress test. By raising capitol to pay off TARP, they've essencially already said it.
It should be noted that by careful timing of the news cycle the administration has successfully buried the outrages in Obama's speech under the fold in deference to Uncle Ben's Perverted Prices.
The intervention question gets obfuscated on a technicality. Good try kid.
Something smells like rotten Limburger amongst the big cheese.
Broward Horne wrote on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 11:44am.
"talking my book is the ultimate homage to the free-market."
--------------------
Or the ultimate satire.
You're a drool one, Mr. Grinch.
Droll as well. The drool part needs to wait for Dow 5820. Hoocoodnode that my entire Fidelity in a MMA yielding 0.35% would prove a clever investment?
'And make no mistake, it is no coincidence that the placement was 1% below Buffett's option exercise price.'
Yeah - Buffet hates losing money, and unlike some, he has the billions in the bank to prove he knows what he is doing, even as he shambles off into his dotage.
Welcome to how the stock market used to work before Roosevelt and his ilk destroyed it with all those regulations and government agencies.
Nice to see us returning to traditional Wall Street values, of the Kennedy variety -
'- Joe's strategy was to obtain inside information about troubled companies from banks, then drive their stock down so he could buy them more cheaply. While still on the state payroll as a bank examiner, Joe made an acquisition that was aided by inside information. He bought a Boston investment company called Old Colony Realty Associates Inc. Joe turned the company from an old-line investment firm into one that made money on the misery of others.
------------
- Besides using inside information improperly, Joe made fabulous sums through what were known as stock pools. This was a way of manipulating the market by forming a syndicate and arranging for the members to trade stock back and forth. By bidding the price of the stock higher, the pool members created the appearance that the public was bidding up the price. In fact, the syndicate members retained the profits, and when the trading public bit by joining the action, the syndicate members sold out, leaving the public with losses. Joe called the practice "advertising" the stock.
--------------
- The fact that the market was unregulated was largely responsible for the crash. Salesmen had made wild claims to a gullible public. Stock pools such as those perfected by Joe Kennedy had defrauded legitimate investors. Reporters and columnists had acted as shills for companies peddling stocks in return for payoffs.'
http://www.ytedk.com/jpk.htm
Well, Buffet isn't a Kennedy, but I bet Joe and Warren would be able to trade more than a couple of tips. Buffet is old, and no one has ever accused him of being a fool - well, actually, that isn't true, but as in the case with Joe Kennedy, Buffet keeps laughing all the way to his bank, his (former) mistress, and whatever else that interests him. Billions in the bank well let one do that, apparently.
I wonder how these state sovereignty affirmations will be remembered.
Gov. Perry Backs Resolution Affirming Texas Sovereignty Under 10th Amendment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LHrIxc-QyE
--
The Zombie Apocalypse begins when U3 hits 15%
"Gov. Perry Backs Resolution Affirming Texas Sovereignty Under 10th Amendment"
As his state has a long border with Mexico, he might want to think that over a bit.
Pavel Chichikov
Damn, Dawg.
That anti-banker screed makes me question your free-market loyalty.
Free markets are only as reliable as mobs of people, which is not very reliable most of the time.
Personally I defend free markets only because I fear the people who would save us from them more than the free markets themselves:
I'll take a nameless mob over the guys in congress anytime.
Of course soon the computers will take over and none of this will be a problem, so it's all moot anyhow.
What time does the NYSE open for trading today ?
Rob Dawg wrote @ 11:35am.
Bernanke like his boss, also assumes this is a credit event. It is a debt event. It is a valuation event. It is a deflation event.
If anything there is still too much credit sloshing around the system seeking returns.
---
Rob Dawg
i agree it is a debt, valuation and deflation event
but i disagree with you about credit
THIS IS ALSO a credit event...the collapse in valuation of security derivatives has caused a severe credit contraction
that contraction is a good thing in so much as it affects the bankstas...problem is small start up businesses and would be college students just to name two examples, are increasingly being excluded form access to credit
obama and geithner and company believe re-flating the banks is part of the solution...i dont agree with them
i would let the miscreant banks go into receivership and during the interim the treasury should by pass the toxic institutions
mt
What time does the NYSE open for trading today?
I don't understand this post.
It's always the same time:
3:30 PM EST
"Droll as well"
----------
A permanent glitch in my memory. 
Off to do something constructive like run the table in pool.
Gov. Perry reminds me of GW. He also needs a teleprompter.
Gov. Perry Backs Resolution Affirming Texas Sovereignty Under 10th Amendment
Texas might reconsider their "5 states option" if it opens the door to California becoming 3, 5, or even 8 States.
As to sovereignty. That "clause" holds about as much portent and possibility as the US Constitution that gave the southern states the right to withdraw.
I'll take a nameless mob over the guys in congress anytime.
BTW If Hank Paulson is leading the mob then the priorty changes to having congress put Hank behind bars so we can have a kinder gentler nameless mob and go back to worrying about the congress.
timmay has on a cute little pirate suit and is tied to the side of the bed. tarpy is giving him the regular afternoon session with the cat o'nine tails.
thwack!
Tarpy: I got a nice little note from that gentleman Mr. Blankfein.
thwack!
Tarpy: He said there is a $5 billion check in the mail.
thwack
timmay: uhh
Old Texas rallying cry: Remember the Alamo!
New Corporate rallying cry: Remember the Alamo Rental Car!
NEW POST at Calculated Risk.
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Now that it has been established beyond reasonable doubt that explosives were used in large scale in bringing down the three towers of the World Trade Center, what are you going to do about it, kiddo?
Remember, you could have been in there in 2001, and you may not be so lucky next time.
Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe
pp.7-31 (25) Authors: Niels H. Harrit, Jeffrey Farrer, Steven E. Jones, Kevin R. Ryan, Frank M. Legge, Daniel Farnsworth, Gregg Roberts, James R. Gourley, Bradley R. Larsen
http://www.bentham-open.org/pages/content.php?TOCPJ/2009/00000002/000000...
If GS wants to give back the TARP capital, it should also unwind any gov't swaps, commercial paper gov't guarantees, and ALL other federal aid including
AIG (taxpayer) credit default swap payments. In fact, a very large FDIC fee should be assessesed for its FDIC insured deposits. If GS doesn;t like it, let them rescind their bank holding company status and spin off their bank. Lets see how long GS can really go it alone in the free market, and how large the executive bonuses will be.
The college students came off looking better than Bernanke. How many of you haters could have asked those questions as college seniors?
.problem is small start up businesses and would be college students just to name two examples, are increasingly being excluded form access to credit*
*Citation Needed
--
The Zombie Apocalypse begins when U3 hits 15%
mock turtle (member) wrote on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 11:58am.
...THIS IS ALSO a credit event...the collapse in valuation of security derivatives has caused a severe credit contraction that contraction is a good thing in so much as it affects the bankstas...problem is small start up businesses and would be college students just to name two examples, are increasingly being excluded [from] access to credit...
Really? I haven't seen it. Bought a car three weeks ago; 110% LTV, 5.24% rate. No problem. The mailbox is still crowded with offers and SBA is a nuisance with their opportunities for my business. The credit contraction is in the big houses balking at trading two $5000 kittens for the other big banks' one $10,000 puppy. To that I say fine.
Stress Tests: Who Will Take the Fall?
To view our impartial assessment, please visit:
Goldman Sachs is "mystified"..yes, indeed, they are....
Goldman Sachs's Viniar 'Mystified' by Interest in AIG
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- David Viniar, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s chief financial officer, said he's "mystified" by the interest investors and government officials have shown in the bank's trading relationship with American International Group Inc.
"They're one of thousands and thousands and thousands of counterparties and the results of any trading with AIG are completely immaterial to what we do," Viniar said today in an interview. "I am mystified by this fascination with AIG."
Is the White Knight going to ride in and save us at the last second? (at the close?)
Christmas? Celebrated at GOLDMAN SACHS? Um, don't think so.
H. Paulson is a Christian Scientist. Kashkari, Viniar, no idea but not Jews.
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http://goldmansachs666.com/
See also http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/04/how-to-puff-up-earnings-goldman-sac...
Goldman's 2008 fiscal year ended Nov. 30. This year the company is switching to a calendar year. The leaves December as an orphan month, one that will be largely ignored. In Goldman's news release, and in most of the news reports, the quarter ended March 31 is compared to the quarter last year that ending in February.
The orphan month featured - surprise - lots of writeoffs. The pre-tax loss was $1.3 billion, and the after-tax loss was $780 million.
They aren't even pretending anymore. Stunning.
- Nemo