John Paulson - A Credible Defense?

John Paulson, the hedge fund investor behind the toxic CDO
referenced in the S.E.C. complaint, ratcheted up his
nobody-saw-it-coming rhetoric, with a letter nominally addressed to his own investors but clearly intended for a broader audience of ignoramuses and amnesia victims:

"It is easy to forget that before the collapse, the
overwhelming view of investors, ratings agencies and economists was
that the housing market was strong and would continue to get stronger."

The opposite is true. Nobody was saying that the housing
market was strong and would continue to get stronger during the weeks
prior to April 26, 2007, the closing date of Goldman's notorious Abacus 2007-AC1.
There are countless ways to discredit Paulson's statement, just as
there are countless ways to discredit his claim that he operated in "good faith." (As Vanity Fair was kind enough to point out, Paulson's bad faith manipulations were first highlighted here on HuffPo seven months ago.)

All Shall Be Well - Goldman's Latest Perspectives On Greece

Delegations from the IMF, European Commission and ECB – a reported total of 20 people – are arriving in Athens today to start negotiations on the macro conditionality of the rescue package. Its been indicated that the IMF loan could be a 3-year Stand-by worth up to €12-15bn, co-financed by a €30bn package of bilateral loans from the other 15 Euro-zone members disbursed during the next 12 months. Meanwhile, markets are reacting very negatively although– to my knowledge – there are no new news. - Erik Nielsen, GS

Deutsche Bank's Josef Ackermann To Testify In IKB Trial As France Mulls Goldman Probe

The bottom is about to fall out for Goldman. First Reuters reports that Deutsche CEO Josef Ackerman will be asked to testify in relation to the near-collapse of German IKB, a bank that has gained sudden notoriety for being implicated in the alleged Goldman CDO fraud as a dumb buyer of anything pitched to it. As Deutsche Bank has previous been blamed for the near-collapse of IKB by its former CEO Stefan Orstfein, would not be surprised if Josef takes this chance to join the "blame Goldman" bandwagon to deflect attention from himself. Ironically, Deutsche Bank is certainly not without blame as its CDO-desk managed by just departed Greg Lippmann was one of the powerhouses in arranging Abacus-type deals in the 2005-2007 time period. And inseparate news, again Reuters notes that France is the latest, after Germany and the UK, to "mull" a Goldman probe. Whether British, French and other German companies will follow in BayernLB's footsteps and stop trading with Goldman remains to be seen. Certainly, there is an element of politics to all such actions, and political players in Germany and the UK are most in need of populist electoral boosts, while France not so much, at least for the time being.

Follow Air Traffic Over Europe Live

ATC enthusiasts can now track the air traffic over most of western and central Europe live, and interactive, via flightradar24.com. Clicking on individual flights will give you all the details on the flight, as well as the origin, destination and flight path. Hours of fun.

New York Fed Files "Audited" 2009 Results, Deloitte "Signs Off"

The FRBNY released its 2009 audited financial results today. The biggest bank of the Federal Reserve Board did not report anything unknown, and as for the things that should be reported, well those of course will never be known until there is something akin to a peasant revolt. Instead we paid particular attention to the language from the auditors (no, not E&Y this time), Deloitte, who signed off on the report. Some memorable phrases uncovered: "FRBNY's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the FRBNY; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary... and that receipts and expenditures of FRBNY are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of FRBNY; and 3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of FRBNY's assets that could have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements." And here is the boilerplate understatement of the millennium: "Because of inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper management override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis." Now we know when the lawsuits are flying in a year or two, just what line will be Deloitte's saving loophole phrase.

Goldman Q1 2010 Political Campaign Donations Double To $1.2 Million, Firm Shifts From Democrat To Republican

The Q1 2010 corporate lobbying data from the House Office Of The Clerk has been released and it shows that Goldman's lobbying efforts have really taken off: after donating "just" $670,000 in Q1 2009, the firm doubled its political campaign donations to $1.15 million for the first three months of 2010. The bulk of specific lobbying issues focused on Dodd's Wall Street Reform act, HR4173. Among other lobbying activity were issues relating to housing finance reform, issues related to financial services taxation, issues related to carbon pricing and renewable energy, issues related to ERISA and Build America Bonds. A primary lobbyist for Goldman is Joyce Brayboy, former chief of staff for Mel Watt - one of the primary opponents to Ron Paul's Audit the Fed proposal. Well, now you don't have to wonder why. Most importantly, as Reuters reports, according to data by the Federal Election Commission, Goldman has now turned Republican, having donated more to republicans over democrats in 2010, a reversal from 2009.