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Check To Obama: Lloyd To Get $100 Million Bonus
Now that's some serious pocket change you can believe in. If correct, Blankfein's 2009 bonus will be over 30% greater than his $68 million take home in 2007, the previous all time record year for Wall Street. Check to you, Mr. President: surely this will merit some more populist rhetoric and even more decisive complete lack of action on your behalf. From the Times of London:
Goldman Sachs, the world’s richest investment bank, could be about
to pay its chief executive a bumper bonus of up to $100 million in
defiance of moves by President Obama to take action against such
payouts.
Bankers in Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF) told The Times
yesterday they understood that Lloyd Blankfein and other top Goldman
bankers outside Britain were set to receive some of the bank’s
biggest-ever payouts. “This is Lloyd thumbing his nose at Obama,” said
a banker at one of Goldman’s rivals.
Goldman Sachs is becoming the focus of an increasingly acrimonious
political and financial showdown over the payment of multimillion-pound
bonuses.Last week the US President described bonuses paid out by some
banks as “the height of irresponsibility” and “shameful”.“The American people understand that we have a big hole to dig
ourselves out of, but they do not like the idea that people are digging
a bigger hole, even as they are being asked to fill it up,” he said
last week.
If indeed the bonus number is correct, this is a slap not only in the face of the president, of Volcker, not to mention the other clowns in the economic advisory circle, but all of America's taxpayers.
A bumper payout for Mr Blankfein would come after discussions by
Goldman’s rivals in Europe to limit executive pay in order to appease
politicians and the public failed last week. Joseph Ackermann, the
chairman of Deutsche Bank, floated the idea of a remuneration cap at a
private meeting of top bankers in Davos on Thursday, but failed to gain
sufficient support. Last night it appeared that Deutsche had abandoned
the plan and decided to pay some of its own top executives bonuses of
millions of pounds.
The possibility of a bonus cap was discussed at a recent meeting
between Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, and top executives from
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Citigroup and Barclays
Capital. A banking source said it quickly became apparent at that
meeting that a bank-led pay cap would be unenforceable because rival
bankers would not stick to any agreement. “These guys have been rivals
for years and they just don’t trust each other to do it,” said one
source who was at the meeting.
In other news, the Cessnas are fueled and ready, the beach houses in non-extradition French Polynesia islands are stocked with Red Bull (for those Goldman HFT traders who just... can't...quit), and the people are about to almost bring the picks and shovels to Wall Street. Almost. But not quite. After all, that 301(k) is up by a whopping 20% last year: surely the good times will roll for ever.
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The first sentence alone was enough for me to rate this article 5 out of 5 stars.
Two hours ago I see a link on the Drudge Report entitled "Russia had China sell all there holdings in Freddie and Fannie". This all according to Henery Paulson's new book. This is a Bloomberg story, linked on the Drudge Report. Now I can't find it at either place. Has it be pulled down from both sites or am I going schzoprenic?
Why did they pull the story?
Can't answer your question, but I heard that they asked, but China did not do it. Could have been pulled down if the story was inaccurate.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=afbSjYv3v814
I thought the Fed had bought all the F & F holdings - didn't they agree to buy treasuries until they were out of F&F?
that fannie and freddie story has been out for a few days now
I'm not callin' Lloyd a pig, but is this commercial puttin' some lipstick on him?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0zNf6asRhM
Well, during the 'cold war' days then President Reagan did go to 'war' against Russian currency. So going to battle with another country by using financial/monetary means is nothing new and works both ways.
Td,
bloomberg ran a story a few hours ago about Henry Paulson blames Russia for unloading all their Fannie and Freddie to ensure the Americans would be forced to do a bailout. Henery goes on to describe it as a act of war by the Russians and as the bomb that got the credit crisis going.
I wanted to re read it because I am baffeled st the audicty of Hank , but the article seems to have been pulled down from both bloomberg and the drudgereport. Somebody realized what a ridicolous premise and pulled the story?
Td,
bloomberg ran a story a few hours ago about Henry Paulson blames Russia for unloading all their Fannie and Freddie to ensure the Americans would be forced to do a bailout. Henery goes on to describe it as a act of war by the Russians and as the bomb that got the credit crisis going.
I wanted to re read it because I am baffeled st the audicty of Hank , but the article seems to have been pulled down from both bloomberg and the drudgereport. Somebody realized what a ridicolous premise and pulled the story?
IMO, More cheap theatre and collusion by the PTB to inflame the public and nudge sentiment towards the ultimate goal of world government and a renewed monetary system.
I hate clowns
I really need to sign up for that gravy train.
From the article "this is Lloyd thumbing his nose at Obama."
LOL. GS was one of the biggest contributors to Obama's campaign. There will be a GS exception of some kind if a tax on excess profits is imposed. Actually, I guess there has already been a GS exception with all the special treatment they have gotten.
Zactly. Obama works for Goldman. That is pretty clear. So why would he object if his boss gets a fat payday.
My suggestion is that Lloyd's paycheck be reduced by that amount of interest GS would ahve been required to pay if their bonds were not backed by the FDIC, since GS is a "bank holding company." Come to think of it, Lloyd would owe money back.
Would be nice if we could stop this through legal means.
It would be nice but our highest court just ruled that corporations can buy candidates and we can do nothing to stop them. That's hope you can bereave in.
The money men run America - Obama is impotent against them - he has neither the will or the way.
The Gold Men are just that much better than everyone else.
Many generations of 'everyone else' as far as my family are concerned.
Providing real goods and services to real people aint what it's cracked up to be eh?
Grasso wasnt worth $180, Rahm aint worth $200 and L-L-Lloyd aint worth $100 (let alone $168).
There's only one adjective for this: Grotesque
black swan says:
Remember, Carbon credit trading will be a new $2 trillion market for the Gold Men.
"Seventy-three percent of Goldman’s 2008 campaign contributions, (nearly $4 million), went to Democrats. Obama’s number one financial "bundler" was Goldman Sachs!"
George Soros owns over 18,000 shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Between December 31, 2007 and March 31, 2008.
Why would Obama help Soros?
“The man who broke the Bank of England” and who got convicted of insider trading in France, helped create the extremist organization MoveOn.org. This organization of 4.5 million far-Left activists gave over $88 million to Obama’s campaign."
(Bloomberg) "Thousands of Brazilian sugar cane workers are injured and scores die each year in the rush to produce a fuel that Presidents Bush and Lula celebrate as a path to energy independence."
poor thing, he's going to have $33m when the dollar devalues to 1/3.
Now Lloyd can afford a Mini-me to help him take over the world.
LOL
"Now Lloyd can afford a Mini-me to help him take over the world."
Your little worm and mine Neel "Down You Bitch" Kashkari is in Newport Beach polishing is bald chrome dome with surfboard sex wax until further notice...
On the board at PIMCO with Greenspan
"let them eat cake"
Marie...you're back! Long time no see...
And just to rub salt, cnbc has Hank Paulson scheduled for a lecture Monday am.Arrest him in the studio and seize his assets.
Who knew doing god's work paid so well. Lloyd (and by extension goldman) truly doesn't get it.
I expect a hyperbole filled response and completely flaccid action from Obama.
1st sentence was pure ZH poetry.
Perhaps Lloyd is worried that this may be his last chance to dump the collection plate into his pocket doing God's work.
Perhaps Lloyd is worried that he might be arrested and prosecuted for a series of God's goods works that mere mortals misinterpreted as the greatest financial crimes in U.S. history.
Perhaps Lloyd is worried that the number of state and federal prosecutors after him will snowball into scores of trails, with everyone, including Scotland Yard and the International Court of Justice in Hague after him, eager to be the first to bring him to justice and a life-time sentence in a hard-time prison.
Perhaps Lloyd is worried that he needs every $100 million he can lay his hands on to pay an army of defense lawyers to defend against the scores of prosecutions in state, federal, and international courts.
Perhaps Lloyd is worried that every Goldman Sachs man of God faces the same trials and tribulations, and thus, Lloyd needs to stuff their pockets so they will keep the faith and not bear false witness against Lloyd.
+ 100
With all due respect, do you honestly think LB is ever going to see the inside of a courthouse?
The "scores of prosecutions" you speak of have all the basis in reality as a unicorn or gryphon.
Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
tom
you really are an optimist. this is america land of the free. lol.
you are more likely to end up in court than LB or any of his cronies.
all the countries america laughs at have had revolutions to throw off their aristocracies, but not the US. suppression of human rights is bred into you from birth.
a new patriot act anyone?
Anon and Anon - In normal times, Lloyd would be safe from prosecution. But these are not normal times.The probability of Lloyd's prosecution may be low, but public anger is growing with Congressional hearings, SIGTARP, etc.
It takes only one prosecutor to investigate just one crime, and follow the money and the connected crimes, and bring down the overlapping criminal enterprises using Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) prosecutions. Or, due to public anger, the Obama administration could decide to throw Lloyd overboard, Chicago-style. There is no honor among thieves; even the capo di tutti capi must go when he brings unwelcome public spotlight on the criminal enterprise.
Lloyd probably recognizes the small, but real and growing possibility that he faces prosecution. Lloyd gathering money for an army of defense lawyers would be risk management, preparing for the six sigma event, something for which Goldman Sachs is famous.
I asked you to stop posting, nicely, and then you had to go back to GSac bashing...and so of course, I must read....I made a polite request, now please stop!!
moneymutt, piss on the dollar for me would ya. Got green paper?
Its just fantastic. Went to the coinshop got 20 oz silver for funny money. Love that funny money.Love to spend it, silver not so much. Precious metals turned me into a saver. Never could keep money in my pockets so this is a sea change. Of course money was never the goal of my desires anyway.
Is there any simpler explanation of how Goldman makes money:
A. Buy almost worthless asset from enemy (competitor, customer, FDIC) for 10-40 cents on the dollar and then convince someone in the Gov't (Goldman Alumni Paulson) to pay you 100 cents on the dollar.
B. Borrow money from FED at 0.00% and lend back to the FED via USTs. Sure you may only get 0.25% but that's not bad on 2 trillion: $5 billion on ZERO capital
To say they are smart is to assign intelligence to the bully.
When you're doing God's work, youz gotsta gets paaaaid.
These kind of payoffs have a very long tail...
Talk to the hand Obama! All your Treasury belongs to us! Suckers!
What I really want to say would break many of the board's rules, so I will keep it to myself. My more benign comment is that the revulsion should come from the shareholders, but since they have about as much power as the voters in Saddam's Iraq, they aren't going to complain. One way or another, Goldman should be brought to its knees and destroyed: What is bad for Goldman is good for America. This is not anti-capitalism, but rather a vote for the replacement of crony capitalism with real capitalism.
Maybe you guys might get a chuckle from this one:
http://www.100megsfree3.com/jessel/2009%20Year%20in%20Review-12.pdf
Toward the bottom I outline what I think we are facing, but the whole thing should at least be entertaining.
Nice read, thanks
What you really want to say is probably what most here are thinking.
The moment that this thinking turns to action for just one person -- that day will usher in all kinds of interesting stuff.
'Til then, let's all have one of those colorful drinks with an umbrella in it.
That's a thoughtful piece, Thomas. Thanks for sharing it.
an interesting read but your expectations of the great american public is misplaced. there is no way there will be civil unrest.
americans dont have the courage or fire to take to the streets. and wall st. is sure of the their safety. blackwater etc. would love an opportunity to access those sort of security contracts... defending investment banks.
There are thousands of men and woman on earth who are capable of placing a rifle bullet into a softball-size area at well over 1000 meters' range.
Just sayin'
How much of that 110m came from the treasury via the taxpayers? Goldman are great investors, their portfolio of Congressmen has really paid off!
To paraphrase a line from "The Untouchables" I think the administration "re-regulators" brought a knife to a gun fight.
+10 HAHAHAAHAHAHAH
true that, true that.
I'm happy not to be American
cooky as long as you are human you will suffer too. this german immigrant will remain in us and suffer with my fellows and fight if need be. Being American is a state of conciousness as well as an ideal for what we think freedom is. BTW I am happy just BEING.
I'm fucking irate about this.
The Goldman thugs are being so freaking brazen they are brining down the heat on all the banksters...how stupid are they....Lloyd has now made himself political gold as a punching bag.
One part of me is surprised. Another part of me is not...And yet another part of me knows I will be grabbing GS 135 puts tomorrow morning as the justifiable parade of Goldman bashing should hit fever pitch this week...Except of course on CNBC where this will be hailed as a triumph of free market capitalism over a socialist economic agenda...or some such bullshit.
fucking amazing.
If Lloyd banks 100 million, he creates 100 new Timothy McVeighs- and doesn't have long to spend it.
Render onto Ceasar what is Ceasars! hey wait didnt they kill that guy?
Caesar was a lot better at getting the proles on his side.
Doing God's work seems to be very profitable...
Cue 1970s sound-track and the voice of Oscar Goldman: "Lloyd Blankfein, bankster. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the T-bills. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic bankster. Lloyd Blankfein will be that man. More liquid than he was before. Richer, higher-rated, more liquid."
ok... $100mil... if i'm doing my math right that means the His Highness Loyd makes $48k and hour.... to help put that in perspective that means if he takes 15 minutes to "take the browns to the super bowl", his "product" (which is really the only thing he creates all day) is worth $12k just in time. Now lets assume that this production is a 2 pounder then that would equate to about $375 dollars an oz for genuine Loyd production. So by this we can determine definitively that Lloyd does not crap gold.
"Lloyd makes $48k and hour."
Look at the bright side anony...
1. It costs GS $12k everytime Lloyd takes a dump.
2. Bennie Bernank-ster is hard at work as we speak making sure that $100 million is not worth $100 million...
I'm just here to correct the math. An increase of $32 million on a $68 million bonus last year would amount to a 47% increase YOY. As far as getting angry with GS goes, we should be angry with those that allowed it, and continue to allow it, to happen.
You are right to get mad at the "security guard" who allowed the theft, and he should be fired. But the "crook" who commited the theft still has to go to jail.
Comparing the President of the United States and Congress to mere "security guards" is far too flattering to both.
Blankfein made out like a bandit because the people responsible for preventing the theft have no interest in doing their job; I blame the crook in this instance a lot less because the crook is going to try to figure out how to rob regardless. What's happened here is the equivalent of the bank owner letting the crooks know how to beat security in order to rob the joint.
Wait a minute, I thought that in the free market, *shareholders* were supposed to regulate companies?
Yet another example of the pipedream of self-regulation.
Silly, you thought this was a free market? What's the point of the SEC and the FDIC then? Try another strawman.
Deserving of more anger are the politicians - the source of the problem.
Fuck that. The whole fucking lot of them. There is an establishment. The establishment does not start and stop at the state.
Why does this bonus bother you guys so much? Goldman shouldn't exist period. It killed itself in '08. But like one of many movie characters that are really dead but somehow continue to live to take care of some unfinished business, it's still around. It was saved by acts of massive corruption.
This should be a nation of laws, not tyrannical arbitrariness. When corrupt monsters saved Goldman they violated laws, real black letter laws and moral laws. That was the moment that should be condemned and never forgotten. The bonuses that follow are fully legal. Do they violate moral laws? Of course, in the same sense as some Nazi general enjoying his human skin lampshade. But don't condemn his enjoyment, condemn killing and skinning people to make lampshades.
It was the commandant's wife who enjoyed the lampshade. Just sayin . . .
FUUUCKKK THIISS SHIT!
I TIME TO FUCKING THE THE TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS OUT AND TAR AND FEATHER THIS MOTHERFUCKER. (I can't say worse on a public forum, BUT WORSE SHOULD CRASH DOWN ON THE GOD DAMNED MOTHERFUCKER'S HEAD!)
"thy will be done"
God's work in progress. Hallelujah!
And how much comes back to Obama/Rahm/Geitner, etc.?
Do you really think this happens in a vacuum? Happens against Washington's wishes?
Obama is allowed to fuss, without really doing anything about it, and Lloyd pockets a marvelous sum. Add in the IRS, and you have a bunch of very happy people and profitable payoffs.
Thumb a nose at Obama? Bullshite. This is done with full approval - it's the Chicago way.
Believe only a small bit of what you read. This is food for the masses - the suckers. You guys should know better, be more skeptical. I mean, DUH!!!
It's not the 'Chicago way'. It's the new American way and an example of modern bi-partisanship. Note, in US politics, only the out-of-power party speaks for the American electorate. And, when retaking power as surely as the sun comes up, just as surely will that party lose its 'voice'. All the rest is just kabuki theatre to amuse those too 'sophisticated' for the kabuki presented by American Idol.
Rahm will make Lloyd give up a chunk as a "campaign" contribution.
And how much comes back to Obama/Rahm/Geitner, etc.?
Do you really think this happens in a vacuum? Happens against Washington's wishes?
Obama is allowed to fuss, without really doing anything about it, and Lloyd pockets a marvelous sum. Add in the IRS, and you have a bunch of very happy people and profitable payoffs.
Thumb a nose at Obama? Bullshite. This is done with full approval - it's the Chicago way.
Believe only a small bit of what you read. This is food for the masses - the suckers. You guys should know better, be more skeptical. I mean, DUH!!!
" This is food for the masses"
Let them eat cake...
I do not like the way this is going, by this i mean the anger directed toward the private sector.
When Geithner and Paulson testified last week before Congress and both said that they had no idea about all of the backdoor TARP recipients, they were at the very least omitting information and at the most outright lying under oath, most notably when Geithner said something to the like of: "The Federal Reserve is a part of the government".
But make no mistake, they are not in charge! The buck starts and stops with the Fed in the US and that is where the people should be directing their attention and anger.
Cut off the head (the Fed) and the body (Fed system member banks and shareholders) ceases to function and dies
The Supreme court is not on our side, nor are the regulators, politicians, attournees etc.
What we gonna do ....pee on their building? Action would be good without provoking martial law.
Once martial law is invoked they have even more power and time to keep playing their song. The action has to come from Big money or a soverein power
I believe our Founding Fathers faced something as powerful as martial law, and they willingly put themselves at risk by more than simply peeing on a building. By signing the Declaration of Independence, they realized they were forfeiting their money, their families and their lives. But rather than signing the declaration of war against the king as Mr. Anonymous, they signed it big and bold.
Are we, sons and daughters of those brave men, willing to sign our John Hancock's? I have my doubts. They were Englishmen. We are Americans. I am beginning to believe this is a nation of cowards.
hmmm. what would the Z-Freemason-in-Chief have to say about that I wonder?
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2010/1/9_Ji...
And that is the nature of Goldman. Gather up as many customers as possible, aggregate the available information to achieve a superior market view and then relentlessly extract rents from the marketplace. Better yet, tell yourself you’re smarter than everyone else and you’ve earned the rents from the symbiosis."
How does it continue? Like the bailout of AIG, the stewards of the public trust are choosing to turn a blind eye. The politicians are the beneficiaries of huge campaign contributions. The regulators are overwhelmed, and desirous of Wall Street positions. The other traders are jackals, seeking to follow the lions as they tear into the flocks of sheep and cattle. The economists are timid, adverse to anything but painfully granular analysis of carcasses of other people's ideas and orthogonal scenarios.
Well said anon
No matter how cloth eared Lloyd is, he's got to realise that this is political dynamite. So why has he done it?It would also have been very easy for GS to have structured this in a way that hid how much he was getting. See market ticker today to see how bankers are using derivatives to get cash today out of deferred compensation to get around the rules that pay is supposed to be aligned to longer term performance.
So this must have been a conscious decision to inflame the situation
There are two explanations, either he knows that its all unstable and unsustainable and he's grabbing what he can while he can as he knows it won't last, or he believes he's untouchable and doesn't need to worry about the politicians as he knows no matter what they screech they can't do anything.
What we need to remember is that the true elite don't care about the nominal amount of money. They can create money out of thin air. What they want is power. Whatever number is attached is irrelevant, its the ownership and power, not the nominal price its denominated in.
So by creating a problem he obviously expects to increase his power. Whether its through profiting from the crisis that may ensue or by giving the money back in response to pressure to extract future favors from politicians
Matt Taibbi had a sad but true comment at true/slant. "
I look at these people as my cultural peers and what angers me aboutthem is that, with many coming from backgrounds similar to mine, these
guys chose to go into a life of crime and did so in a way that is going
to fuck things up for everyone, rich and poor, for a generation."
thing is Schlloyd is a noveau barrowboy type from Brooklyn,, has to flaunt it or he feels worthless. remember his bat wife screeching to get first in line at a Hamptons auction. "don't you pleebs know who the fuck my husband is" when was the last time you saw a Rothschild on the Forbes list ...
You could be right and I'm over-estimating him.
It could be purely an out of control ego that makes him feel bigger if he spits in the face of the President and the American people
How about a Machiavellian view: the $100 MM balloon is floated, and then the real bonus is only $75 MM as "Goldman caves to Presidential pressure and relents on Blankfein Bonus." The small print is on the actual amount of the bonus, the headline is "GOLDMAN BLINKS" and all is well with world, and Lloyd still does better than he did last year. Win-win-lose. (Win, GS, win O-man and Rahm, lose taxpayer.)
Hey, GS guys, that's a freebie. Child's play.
Very astute.
Excellent Contraposition, young man...
I guess you really have to tell yourself you are doing God's work to justify why you get this much fiat and others get to wonder if they can feed their kids tonight.
Lloyd is not "out of touch," Lloyd is insane-- Micheal Jackson, fucked up, plastic faced, child molester, insane.
But he's not like michael jackson. You can't kill him to get increased record sales to maintain your favorite hooker, coke and massive multibillion dollar peer to peer snooping operations.
So what's the over-under on when TurboTax Timmy gets axed? I was thinking after the mid-terms, but this could bring about some real intense public speaking from Obama. And he'd have to at least throw the unwashed masses a bone. Of course, Tim'd just get snapped up by PIMCO.
But he wouldn't just talk about fixing things and not fix anything, would he?
The o/u is *exactly* never.
"banker at one of Goldman’s rivals" - someone is a bit jealous.
Folks:
The problem isn't the $100M going to the Chief of the Squid Nation, it's with the politicians who allowed it to happen.
Insulated from the ordinary sheeple (i mean voters) and comfortably floating on an ocean of campaign contributions, they don't f***ing care as long as they get their cut - both in campaign contributions and the traditional cash-filled manila envelope.
And "Barry O" isn't going to do a damn thing about it, other than making a few obligatory noises about the injustice of it all.
The solution is up to us. We do, after all, outnumber them, and surprisingly, we are better armed. Failing to disarm the sheeple and failing to arm themselves could be their fatal mistake.
It's time for a repeat of Paris, July 14, 1789. Only instead of the Bastille, the target should be 85 Broad.
Come en masse, and bring your pitchforks, torches, tar, feathers, and plenty of axes and boiled rope.
Once we're done with 85 Broad and its inhabitants, time to move south to Washington DC.
The entire 9th Flotille will fight as dismounted infantry. Let the games begin.
KptLt. laughing swordfish
9er Unterseeboote Flotille
Lets set the date.
A million taxpayer march on Wall Street is long overdue.
Ready to report for duty, as ordered.
VIVA LA REVOLUTION!
iTIERRA y LIBERTAD!
sounds kinda like what happened on 9/11.
Apropos of nothing, I was reading an article about Bernoccio's re-appointment (Bennie & the Inkjets, I believe), it seemed to me someone should colour in a map how the voting was split. Might be very illustrative and explain to the fractured country who is inside the Privilege Tent and who is definitely not.
I'm not allowed sharp pencils in here, so I can't do it until I prove I can contain my general rage............
Hubris is just a gentle word compared what's going on between D.C and GS!!
Blankfein, as every other bank chief, wants to get as much money out as he can before it all crashes again! which will be soon.
Lord Blankfien Bonus for 2009, 100 million
Bailout of American Ponzi Capitalism, 700 Billion
666 low in the spooge, priceless
Wake me if we ever get outta the Twilight Zone.
GS HAS DENIED THIS STORY ALREADY.
The problem stems from when Regan headed Merrill Lynch who at the time was very concerned baout straight commission for brokers....
It has been downhill ever since....
And guess what pays the most commission ?
The most vague....most risky.... and less publicly obvious securties vehicles....
ie When bonds get on a direct access electronic exchange whereby the public can utilize a direct access electronic program to post their own bid asks.....and in today's era whereby institutions can see all prices all in the open on a direct access electronic exchange....then the commission shenanigans cease because the lack of visibility being eliminated....
This particularly transcends to the RETAIL client whereby the firms needs more basis points from smaller amounts....
............................................
The key point being tht the securities market must be redesigned....
How ? By requiring all instruments to be traded in the open....on a defragmented worldwide public exchange ....at at very efficient transfer rate ....ie 20 cents per 100 units....An electronic keystroke is cheap now....ie 20 cents per 100 shares....
Then the next step....a wiki based fact driven information source on all securities....
Thus when the securites are out in the open whereby the prices are for all to see ....and the facts are laid out without a commissioned sales persons bias.....then the market approaches its proper format.....whereby one's management of risk comes into play....
Whenever I read something like this I'm reminded of how well such looting worked-out for the elites in late 1700's France.
And then I smile.
Not sure why, though.
What's ironic is that if France hadn't put themselves so badly into debt helping us gain our independence as a nominally republican nation, they probably could have kept the looting going on for a while longer.
It's possible Mr. Blankfein is just gettin' it while gettin's good, which, if true, is a huge danger ahead signal for GS and perhaps the whole banking industry. All holding banking stocks take note.
Populist? OK...Call it Populist...fine.
NEW GAME... Populist goes the Weaselist...READY?
Weaselist...
Phil Gramm ...Enron/UBS..."Modernization Boy"
Bill Clinton...$100 Million in " Speaking Engagements" ..THIS IS A PROBLEM
George Bush... Somebody's Kid...Nuff Said...
Christopher Cox ... Aliens are heere...
Dimon, BlankCheck, and all the other Drunk Hedge Fund Fratboys...
Barney Frank...Davos? Was AT DAVOS....WHY?
You know the Weaselist,,,Please add the other criminals ...
So, Let's Get Started, Shall We?
Nothing new here. Greed pervades all levels of the financial world, especially the top levels. Lloyd wants to collect as much as possible before he goes off into politics. How much did Hank "the tank" Paulson collect before he went off to become Treasury Secretary? Goldman made a lot of money in 2009 but the reality is that this guy lacks any political judgment. At the very least, he could have derred his bonus to next year.
I think this news is a trial baloon. It will draw out all the off-the-wall comments into the open. Then, GS will announce that Lloyd gets something 'reasonable' like $30 million and make us all look like nutjobs...
Bingo. Really accomplishes many goals. Marginalizing those who decry the "humongous bonus" as crybaby, socialist ZHers, when the real bonus is an eminently reasonable $50MM.
Populist? Is this what they want to call it? Ok...
New Game..Populist goes the Weaselist...READY?
Weaselist..
Phil Gramm...Enron/UBS "Modernization" Boy..Thanks for All your good work, You are a Patriot.
Bill Clinton....$100 Million in "Speaking Engagements"..THIS IS A PROBLEM
George W. Bush...Somebody's Kid stole Dad's Car...
Christopher Cox...The Aliens are among Us.
Dimon, BlankCheck, Fuld, Cayne....HedgeFund or Bank? Pick One...Only One Please...
Bernanke..Bank Boy...
Hank Paulson the Bird Watcher....Revolving Door Must Be Stopped..NOW
Paulson Begged for "Net Capital Rule" in 2004 for 33 to 1 Leverage...Cox was enabler...Many Thanks to Both of You..Can't wait to read your book, baldy.
Please Help me with this List...
What is interesting is that if you take a close look at Goldman, they are no different from the other banks that failed/had to be rescued. They loaded up on Derivatives and junky securities with a bunch of leverage at the height of the bubble, assets deflated during the pop and they had to be rescued. Check out the time series graph of thier balance sheet:
The (Off) Balance Sheet!!!
Then check out the composition at the height of the bubble:
You know what most people don't realize is that it looks quite scary now as well.
These charts came from the post I just put up detailing how overvalued the bank is.
If they just increase the bonus to 1 billion noone would care, afterall, it would just be one billion and not 100 million... 1 is much smaller than 100...
wow - not one commenter realized that there is no way Blankfein will actually get $100mm in comp, and that TimesOnline was just looking for a sensationalized story to get readers? I mean come on - do you think Blankfein is retarded? GS yielded to public outrage and set aside $0 for comp out of Q4 - do people ACTUALLY think that he'll accept a $100MM payday? If you actually believe this, Tyler, please let me know - i'm sure we can make some sort of wager.
and note the TimesOnline's wording: "Goldman Sachs, the world’s richest investment bank, could be about to pay its chief executive a bumper bonus of up to $100 million in defiance of moves by President Obama to take action against such payouts"
they could have just said "up to $100B" and the story would still be equally accurate.
I saw that, too. And know what? I STILL posted it on FaceBook. Why? Because if it pisses off just one person, that's another person to perhaps hate Goldman. If I could find an article from a legitimate newsource claiming Lloyd dines on newborn infants, I would post it because my goal is to stoke the rage until it overheats and becomes something beautiful; logic is not gonna defeat the lies and only when there is sufficient rage will the status quo be overwhelmed and real change happen. Only when society's circuits have been overloaded will the system reboot. In the end, only a righteous thirst for revenge get us out of this.
Only blood conquers money.
It is one thing for a trade like Andy Hall to get an outsized payout for directly being responsible for CCI making a couple of billion.
Now Lloyd is basically the Coach of GS...spends his time smoozing with Senators & Representatives & actually makes few financial decisions. Also, for the last year, GS has been playing with the house's money....the gift from Treasury. If GS had made a huge trading mistake, Treasury would still bail them out.
Schmoozing Senators? I don't think so. THEY are schmoozing him, if schmoozing means the senatricksters meet with him to give Lord Blankfein their offshore bank account numbers for the transfer.
Are you there yet?
Are you ready to finally pull out all your funds from banks and Wall Street?
Sell off all stocks/trades?
Perhaps even go on a labor strike with your co-workers and picket your State government?
Or are you just sitting there like a good sheeple?
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a money aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. This issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1791
"When the people fear their government [and Goldmand Sachs], there is tyranny; when the government [and Goldmand Sachs] fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
The military is not with the government. The military knows the government has gone bad.
Backblast area all clear.
Target shoppers acquired.
Ill liquidity deployed.
Mark target marked.
Mission is go.
Mr. Zorg says ''Fire them all''.
Wall Street Bonuses a Solid +1% of GDP
Lloyd Blank-dick-fein's Godly bonus should push that $145 billion well over the top of 1%.
President Barry O-Hoover... what say you?
"I am outraged."
No you are not.
"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street."
Yes you did.
"I assure you, I get it."
I assure you Mr. Change... you do not. It is like those stupid Super Bowl Disneyland commercials...
Announcer: "Lloyd Blank-dick-fein you just won a $100 million bonus! What are you going to do now?"
Blank-dick-fein: "I am going to give my favorite puppet President a campaign bribe. It is just like Disneyland. Obama is Pinocchio the puppet, Geithner is Mickey Mouse and Summers is Goofy..."
Awesome.
We need a new evil test like the floating witch. Since nothing good has either gone in or come out of Barbara Bush's vagina. I say we stuff Lloyd in it for 3 days and if he dies he's really not that bad of a guy. If he lives then he's pure evil.
+1, sounds fair