By Brent Connell
“Nothing that happened this year has altered the core of what Goldman Sachs is” proclaimed Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, at a late 2008 conference. As a US taxpayer and defacto partner in Goldman Sachs livelihood, I beg to differ.
Goldman Sachs may now have a federal bank charter, but still remains primarily a financial trading company. I have no problem with any company making profits for its shareholders in any legal fashion, but with the company still firmly attached to the taxpayer “tit”, how is the taxpayer benefiting? Goldman Sachs is currently leveraging TARP money, and an estimated $22 billion in FDIC guaranteed bonds to extort huge trading profits from the financial markets. Value-at-risk on a daily basis surged to $240 million in the first quarter of 2009 from $157 million in the first quarter of 2008. Does this sound like American job creating bank lending the US Treasury is expounding?
In March of 2009 Goldman’s cost of short term borrowing was a weighted average 2.14% versus 3.37% in November of 2008. When it tested the markets without a FDIC guarantee, the pricing for its debt in late April 2009 was 5 Year Treasury + 4.10 or approximately 6%. Kind of reminds me of my children who whine for independence but still rush back for a suckle whenever it serves their needs.
Is it any coincidence that Goldman Sachs was able to register trading profits in excess of $100 million for 34 days in the first quarter of 2009 against only 8 days of losses. A company record. Who is the oracle responsible for the mammoth trading profits? The most reasonable conclusion I can draw is that it’s the US Taxpayer.
Is it wrong for me to ask for my fair share of Goldman Sachs’ trading program profits?
Or should we complain when we are just the enablers?
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