WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission Friday charged Goldman Sachs & Co. and one of its executives with fraud in a risky offshore deal backed by subprime mortgages that cost investors more than $1 billion.
The SEC also contends that Goldman allowed a client, Wall Street hedge fund Paulson & Co., to help select the securities. Paulson in turn bought insurance against the deal and when the securities tanked, losing almost all their value, Paulson made a $1 billion profit.
The civil fraud charges were the first to be filed against Goldman, the prestigious Wall Street investment-banking titan that's at the center of multiple inquiries into the causes of the global financial meltdown.
Paulson has acknowledged that it reaped a $3.7 billion profit by betting against the housing market as it nose-dived in 2006 and 2007.
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Read more here
8 COMMENTS:
Before posting a harsh comment calling for public lynchings, please tell me how you were harmed by this transaction. Did you buy these CDOs? No, that was institutional investors and multi-millionaire private clients.
In fact, how were you harmed by any activity Goldman engaged in? They don't deal with the people commenting on this site. They didn't cause the real estate or stock market crash (you did by buying an overly expensive house and not paying your mortgage). They made money by recognizing the distortion in asset prices that you created.
The truth is Goldman has not hurt you at all. You're ignorant to think they did. And now you're jealous they're doing well. Ingorance is one thing, but jealousy is flat-out disgusting.
Where's the harm?
Are you a taxpayer?
You were hurt by this deal.
Has your home lost value?
You were hurt by this deal.
Are you paying more for everything than you were ten years ago?
You were hurt by this deal.
From this article on derivatives:
....
Why?
Let’s do some quick math.
If you add up the value of every stock on the planet, the entire market capitalization would be about $36 trillion. If you do the same process for bonds, you’d get a market capitalization of roughly $72 trillion.
The notional value of the derivative market is roughly $1+ QUADRILLION.
I realize that number sounds like something out of Looney tunes, so I’ll try to put it into perspective.
$1+ Quadrillion is roughly:
* 40 TIMES THE WORLD’S STOCK MARKET.
* 10 TIMES the value of EVERY STOCK AND EVERY BOND ON THE PLANET.
* 23 TIMES WORLD GDP.
-- end snip --
When government becomes ruled by corporations, it ceases to be a democracy. It is what Mussolini called fascism. The derivatives market (and for that matter, all debt-backed money) hurts every single living thing on this planet both directly and indirectly.
BTW, who is "calling for public lynchings"?
I fully expect Goldman to get off with a slap on the wrist as there is little justice in the US if you're rich. I don't derive pleasure from this as much as you might think. It's really rather sad. You'll understand more about this in 2011.
Nicely done Robert. Anonymous is obviously a tool and a coward!
Here's the harm...Goldman distorts free markets...tolerance of fraud hurts all!
How did Big Finance grow so powerful that its hijinks nearly brought down the global economy – and what hope is there for real reform with Washington politicians on Wall Street's payroll?
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04162010/watch.html
go suck a cock - this all just pure jealousy. You assholes bought homes you couldn't afford to begin with.
Eat shit and die.
What does your vulgar comment have to do with the issue? Not jealous...just want rules and laws to be applied equally in the best interests of our country....and you? You seem awfully upset...like you have a financial stake in the status quo...?
Just for the record, potty mouth, I rent.
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