Goldman Sachs Links and News - May 5, 2010 Featuring Larry's Corner

Oregon Congressman Calls Goldman Sachs "Gambling Addicts" On House ...
By news@portlandmercury.com (Matt Davis) 
Ontario watchdog taking 'steps' on Goldman | www.bullfax.com
By marketmaker 
The Alchemist: Can Warren Buffett Transform Goldman? | BNET ...
By Alain Sherter 
Goldman Sachs: Villains or victims?
BBC News
Bigdough sues Goldman Sachs over copyright, data
Reuters
Fraud-Tarred Finance Firms' Trail May Mean Blankfein Keeps Job
Bloomberg
Blankfein's Bonds Are Riskier Bet Than Pandit's: Credit Markets
BusinessWeek
Fitch Cuts Goldman Sachs' Outlook To Negative
Wall Street Journal
Goldman Sachs Testimony a Boost for Financial Reform
U.S. News & World Report
Buffett's Big Hedge: Goldman Sachs Is a Win-Win for Berkshire (Fool TV)
Motley Fool
Patty Murray and Goldman Sachs
Mid Columbia Tri City Herald
Goldman Sachs Reveals Slew of Shareholder Suits - Democratic ...
Goldman Sachs' 8 Most Questionable Practices
By The Onion 
'Main Street' Sues Goldman Sachs
TheStreet.com
Fabrice Tourre, Goldman Sachs
Newsweek
From Blankfein to Bank Fine: How Long Will Lloyd Last?
New York Times (blog)
YouTube - Bloomberg's Liu Discusses Buffett's Bet on Goldman Sachs ...
April 16 (Bloomberg)

Blankfein Should Explain Why Clients Buy 'Crap': Caroline Baum
BusinessWeek
Goldman clients staying put
CNNMoney
Goldman Sachs: Berkowitz In! Blankfein, Out? (GS)
24/7 Wall St. (blog)
 




All About Goldman Sachs
The  stories continue to be all about Goldman Sachs.  Goldman Sachs getting bad PR, Goldman Sachs pays out billions in bonuses, Goldman Sachs charge with civil fraud by the SEC, Goldman Sachs...Goldman Sachs...Goldman Sachs.

Yes, we all write about GS, many hate GS, some would like to see GS be put out of business and go away.  I want to see GS brought to justice.  I want to see GS executives, board members and possibly even former CEO's like Hank Paulson brought to justice if there is any indication of wrong doing on their parts.


However, the question of wrong doing - downright illegal activities - seem to be skirted every step of the way.  All the Congressional Hearings over the past year pointed fingers, called CEO's out and our President even called them "FAT CATS" but no one is asking the questions, "what part did they play in the original mortgage meltdown that led to the worst financial crisis this country has ever seen (yes, I believe it is worse then the Great Depression).  

In the past asking such questions was considered "conspiracy theories" but more and more today, I am not alone in saying there is more to this whole thing then has been reported and GS is more involved then we have been told.


There was a hint during the most recent Congressional Hearings.  I think I heard Mr. Glankfein say that at one point they bid so low on mortgage papter (and bonds) that no one would sell.  In other words, he answered a question that I have been asking sine March of 2007.  How did the market suddenly collapse?  How was it possible that the once thriving market for MBS's had suddenly and abruptly come to an end?  How, I wondered could investors worldwide - mostly very sophisticated - all stop investing almost overnight?  How, I wondered, was the tap turned off thus causing the mortgage meltdown and a financial crisis we will be dealing with for years to come?

Blankfein answered all those questions.  He (GS) intentionally bid so low that lenders would not sell loans and other investment houses would not sell their bonds.  With secondary market (aftermarket) for loans, lending would have to stop because the money - if not recirculated - ran dry.


A new question now also comes to mind.  When GS bid low to discourage sales of laons did they do so knowing the market would crash?  An ideal situation for them and Paulson & company (not our former Treasury Secretary and former GS CEO) who were betting that the market would crash.  Now this question is more criminal then it is civil and inquiring minds need to know.

This is only one small part of the puzzle.which needs to be fully investigated by our so called regulators and justice system   Oh, yeh, the is some talk on the street (web) that Justice is looking into possible criminal charges.  I heard that back in 2008 when the FBI said they were investigating 14 banks for possible fraud and complicity in the mortgage meltdown.  No names ever were given nor has there ever been a follow up announcement by the FBI.  Just another example of what I have always called "feel good" reporting to make us believe something real is being done when in reality there is nothing being done.

It is time for conspiracy theories to be taken seriously - so much more - that perhaps someone will listen and decide to do a real investigation.


Goldman Sachs - I believe - is dirty and so are the other Wall Street firms that were very much involved and complicit in the creation of the bubble and the ultimate bursting of it.  The "quick" sales of firms to other banks, the overnight issuance of billions of dollars done before America literally woke up on a Monday morning, the fear tactics used to pay out trillions all remain LARGE QUESTIONS in my mind. 

I want to know how we all got destroyed by a handfull of not so qukc talking banking executives who managed to destroy 40% of the worlds's wealth and transfer much of it to themselves. 

The more I read and hear about GS PR problems, the SEC lawsuit, stockholder law suits and will Blankfein survive as CEO, the less interested and tolerant I become.  GS is the big bad wolf leading the pack of wolves who gather in their hidden dens in plain sight of us all making a mockery of us.  The issues are greater then all the reports we are hearing about.   

That, to me, is the real story that all the media from around the world is missing or is just affraid to report on.  Why?


Of course, these are just my feelings and as always, I could be wrong.  What do you think

Goldman Sachs: Villains or victims?...BBC

Liquidate Goldman Sachs- Bankrupt Crime Syndicate

Everybody loves Goldman Sachs -- for starters, Tom Tomorrow and its greatest fan, Matt Taibbi

More on the Goldman Short Scandal

Matt Taibbi, who has probably made the greatest impact in bringing stories about Goldman to the public's attention, has another post about our favorite group of scoundrels:

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In an interesting side note to the much more publicized businesses involving John Paulson, Greece, and whatever else Goldman is currently getting tarred and feathered for, the bank was quietly slapped on the wrist by the SEC for violations related to naked short-selling.
I wrote about this last year. The story was that Goldman (and others) had extremely lax standards for locating the securities it lent out to short-sellers. When you lend securities to someone without locating the stock first, that makes it possible for that person to sell the stock without actually possessing it or intending to possess it. That’s called naked short-selling and it’s a kind of counterfeiting that pretty much everyone admits is fairly common on Wall Street, although there is wide disagreement over how harmful it is to the market.
The current story reports that the SEC fined Goldman for failing to prevent crappy locates in late 2008. They’re describing the violations as a “bookkeeping error,” probably because a systematic effort at profiteering via the enabling of naked short-sellers is not a simple thing to prove.

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Read the rest here

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In a related post:

Liveblogging The Bear Stearns Hearing

2:10

“I don’t read Rolling Stone.”

That’s Jimmy Cayne’s response to a Matt Taibbi article arguing that rampant, illegal naked short-selling played a huge role in destroying Bear Stearns.

Schwartz says he asked the SEC to investigate naked shorting, and that he believes “in my heart” that there was illegal market manipulation going on.

There were a lot of these investigations going at the time– I remember Barney Frank got involved for a while asking regulators to look into market manipulation. The SEC made a big deal about banning short selling for a while, but we never really heard anything about fraud investigations from this era. This is where a lot of the fraud should be taking place, and we haven’t seen much action here yet. Maybe we’ll see more now that the Goldman suit has been filed.

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And speaking of manipulation, investigations and scandal, how 'bout that metals manipulation? Is there ANY market that isn't a scam? Don't you think the government would be interested in what has been described as the "Greatest Crime in History"?

After all, markets are really just a Matter of Trust

Goldman Conspiracy must kill financial reform

Another good story from Market Watch on why the proposed regulations won't work. Weak reforms, a bone thrown to the masses, are just a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

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Yes, that's why the Goldman Conspiracy must kill financial reforms ... why they will kill effective reform with the backroom support of Obama and Dodd. This was predicted back in late 2008, even before the bailouts, back when we thought Reaganomics dead. "Shock Doctrine" author Naomi Klein warned:

"Free market ideology has always been a servant to the interests of capital ... During boom times it's profitable to preach laissez faire, because an absentee government allows speculative bubbles ... When those bubbles burst, the ideology becomes a hindrance and goes dormant while big government rides to the rescue," then a neo-Reaganomics "ideology will come roaring back when the bailouts are done. The massive debts the public is accumulating to bail out the speculators will then become part of a global budget crisis," setting up a new bubble, bigger meltdown, and the Great Depression 2 the world narrowly avoided in 2008.

America's now at a historic turning point.

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Read the rest here

Goldman Sachs Charges Matter

From Pam Martens at Counterpunch:

Why a Criminal Case Against Goldman Sachs Matters and Why Charges Could Stick

Goldman Sachs used to be the firm that pursued top government posts; now government is in hot pursuit of it, and not in a good way. The SEC has charged the firm and an employee, Fabrice Tourre, with securities fraud and the Justice Department has commenced a criminal investigation, according to news reports.

Change appears to be swallowing Goldman Sachs. It began quietly moving out of its storied and staid headquarters at 85 Broad last Fall to flashy new multi-billion dollar digs at 200 West Street, including a 54,000 square foot gym (roughly the size of 20 homes for average Americans; those who can still afford one after the Wall Street pillage). And after the release of internal emails by the SEC and Senate, Goldman looks more like a sleazy boiler room pump and dump operation in drag than an investment bank (in drag as a bank holding company). Comedy talk show hosts are having a field day (Jon Stewart calls them “those f*!*!ing guys”) and Goldmanfreude (pleasure in watching Goldman shamed for the pain it inflicted on others) is in full swing.

It all sounds eerily familiar to the wealth transfer maneuver by Goldman Sachs Trading Company in the asset bubble of 1928.

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Read the rest here

Goldman Sachs Pirates

A little early morning comedy gold from the Borowitz Report

Somali Pirates Say They Are Subsidiary of Goldman Sachs
Could Make Prosecution Difficult, Experts Say

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA (The Borowitz Report) – Eleven indicted Somali pirates dropped a bombshell in a U.S. court today, revealing that their entire piracy operation is a subsidiary of banking giant Goldman Sachs.

There was an audible gasp in the courtroom when the leader of the pirates announced, “We are doing God’s work. We work for Lloyd Blankfein.”

The pirate, who said he earned a bonus of $48 million in dubloons last year, elaborated on the nature of the Somalis’ work for Goldman, explaining that the pirates forcibly attacked ships that Goldman had already shorted.

“We were functioning as investment bankers, only every day was casual Friday,” the pirate said.

The pirate acknowledged that they merged their operations with Goldman in late 2008 to take advantage of the more relaxed regulations governing bankers as opposed to pirates, “plus to get our share of the bailout money.”

In the aftermath of the shocking revelations, government prosecutors were scrambling to see if they still had a case against the Somali pirates, who would now be treated as bankers in the eyes of the law.

“There are lots of laws that could bring these guys down if they were, in fact, pirates,” one government source said. “But if they’re bankers, our hands are tied.”

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