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Today's Goldman Grilling
For those wishing to watch the full 10:00am Goldman hearing live and commercial free we suggest the following C-Span link. The witness panel for today's hearing is presented. We will update this post with all Goldman-relevant news as the day progresses.
Those asking questions will be: Carl Levin Chairman (D-MI), Thomas R. Carper (D-DE), Mark L. Pryor (D-AR), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Coburn Ranking Member (R-OK), Susan M. Collins (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), John Ensign (R-NV).
Panel 1
-
DANIEL L. SPARKS
(Prepared testimony)
Former Partner, Head of Mortgages Department
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. -
JOSHUA S. BIRNBAUM
(Prepared testimony)
Former Managing Director, Structured Products Group Trading
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. -
MICHAEL J. SWENSON
(Prepared testimony)
Managing Director, Structured Products Group Trading
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. -
FABRICE P. TOURRE
(Prepared testimony)
Executive Director, Structured Products Group Trading
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Panel 2
-
DAVID A. VINIAR (Prepared testimony)
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. -
CRAIG W. BRODERICK
(Prepared testimony)
Chief Risk Officer
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Panel 3
- LLOYD C. BLANKFEIN (Full Zero Hedge annotated testimony)
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc
»
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and some great reading while you listen/watch the circus
I came across this very interesting read/novel published in 1878 "Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887" by Edward Bellamy who talks about the future (2000) and the economy i.e. credit and gold and associated crises.
excerpt from page 91, 152-154
http://i41.tinypic.com/66hsa9.jpg
"An American credit card relplied Dr. Leete, is as good in Europe as American gold used to be, and on precisely the same condition, namely, that it be exchanged into currency of the country you are traveling in..."
full book available free on Google
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xpHtvz4bNZ0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=e...
Wow, nice find!
I am Chumbawamba.
Don't get too excited it's a novel about a gee-wiz, futuristic socialist utopia in Boston, Massachusetts. 19th century Marxists loved it. Every professor Obama ever had read it for sure.
Correct, the guy is a Marxist but the purpose of the post was not a political statement rather the idea that a guy in the 1870's was able to conceptualize the idea of "credit cards" (coining that actual term) and how their use would become ubiquitous. Politics aside, his comments on gold, currency, the use of credit and economic boom bust cycles also seemed quite perceptive.
It's been a while but fair enough...I'll buy that. Predicting some things correctly that far out is still pretty good.
Karl Marx was an economic genius - he dissected the capitalist economy very well. You don't have to be a Communist to appreciate Marx's work, but I'm sure you've never read any of it anyway. And if you think Obama is Marxist or Socialist, you have no idea what those terms mean.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Ouch. Uh, what they mean or how they played out?
Well I know how Massachusetts worked out!
That's enough utopia for me thank you.
Are you talking about the election of the republican in the democrat state that made the democrats reassess their situation (panic) and start pretending to do the public's business? It usually takes a mid term to do that. I think this was a desperately needed wake-up call. I am not quite the oracle that you are, so my guess is that we will have to actually have midterm elections before we know what the results are.
Well the RomneyCare disaster is the most recent example. Brown may be too little too late but we'll see. They have a "conservative" party in the UK too but at this point there's not much left to conserve; keeping the VAT at 17 1/2% I guess.
Marxism - a theory of distribution without a theory of production. basic flaw- running out of other people's money to spend.
I wish there was a form of capitalism which encouraged building products that were high quality, durable and efficient. I am not saying Marxism does. Perhaps a true 'service' economy would have those traits?
We already have that it's just that -
A) those things cost a lot of capital to make so they're generally expensive and
B) most people prefer chincy crap because it's cheaper plus it enables you to buy more chincy crap in a different color next week.
-Some things, mostly tech products (like the Swatch watch) meet your qualifications and are also cheap. But those things get invented because their inventors hope to make big money by selling lots and lots them.
Vinair maintains that the "big shorts" were offset by the "big longs" is like comparing apples and oranges.
The "big shorts" were ALL synthetics, that were cashed imnmediately, with the help of the courts in terms of AIG.
The "big longs" on the other hand were CDO's and their own twin tower building. Stuff that they can hold onto until the market turns around.
So over time they will profit from their "Big Longs" even though they showed an accounting lose during 2007.
I guess that's what Goldman means by the term "lay of risk at the time of our own choosing" from page 637 of "The PartnershiP"
The firm's access to open capital markets of the world meant that it could obtain assets and lay off risks at times of its own choosing. (What does this mean? "LAY OFF RISKS AT ITS OWN CHOOSING.
I love CSPAN, they are now showing very elaborate comedy shows for free Does C stand for Comedy?
nicely done-- I remember reading it as a kid. I wonder what Bellamy would've thought of the econ/tech confluence that enables us to read his book for free on our electric screens...
Yeah but soon we will need a army of co-located gerbils which are collectively wired up to a electrical dynamo which will power our electron dreams.
Or maybe we will go back to reading paperbacks and broadsheets.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing.
GS testimony reveals new strategy:
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" Not so sure this is actually a factual false-flag operation??
And Geffner Doesn't See SEC Settling Goldman Case:
The sight of Barry Ritholtz on here makes me want to throw up. He's a closet Goldman guy. He writes books about the financial melt-down, but when the House of Representatives invited him to talk about reform measures, he declined. Now he wants to weigh in with his thoughts on GS? I'm tired of people profiting off of stuff but refusing to be a part of the solution. Couldn't you find a vid of Chris Whalen or Bill Black instead?
Harumph! Great comment about someone who has become nothing more than a television personality.
Harumph.
Leo, I think a simple link would suffice rather than a full frontal of this self described Wall Street Insider.
Ritholz wrote an article laying our point by point precisely why GS is guilty as charged. If he is an insider and GS accomplice, he is playing an interesting role. By the way, I am increasingly of the view that this is all scripted anyway.
Note CNBC website practically falling over itself to make the case for Squid innocence.
Something smells like dead fish, and I don't think it is a rotting cephalopod.
"If he is an insider"
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/04/zero-edge/#comment-276830
Speaking of CNBC, they now have a POLL so go ahead and vote ZHers:
www.cnbc.com/id/36797597
Not a surprising outcome when you consider the stupid fucking tools that watch CNBC
WHo is the bigger tool:
a) Goldman Sachs empoyees
b) Congress
c) CNBC employees
d) CNBC viewers
Now here is a real survey!
Have to go with "b"
Same here. I'm going to have to go with b) Congress. Today's hearing mostly exposed their complete financial illiteracy and lack of critical thinking skills.
I vote for:
e) All of the above.
Or
f) None of the above... (Obummer...)
Both will be included on the edit, as; e) The White House/Treasurie/Fed, and, f) All of the above.
Thank you for your diligence.
Gracias
The Senators better bring it. Hard. This is their chance to grandstand before the next election, so make it a good show.
surely you jest, they are all bought and paid for.
Jest? No. The above statement is based on realpolitick. The only politically expedient thing for the Senators to do is to grandstand. That should make for good theater. That's all that we can hopefully expect from today. However, sometimes good theater morphs into something else entirely. The media machine and timetable are working against the GS brand right now.
Yep, they stir up crap and move on to the next shiny political object. The real failure demonstrated here is our own government. There are no committees overseeing the overseers. No accountability. Nothing.
As someone quipped recently: They should wear the full body suits like NASCAR drivers wear with all the sponsor logos so you can see all the corporations that paid them.
What a great concept.
Agreed.. But Im not holding my breath nor expecting much in the way of hard questions (to anyone other than the non-politically connected cannon fodder named Fab). Meanwhile I see more and more companies reporting large jumps in revs and earnings.. Who is buying?? WTF? Do the unemployed have new sources of funds? Are they all day trading (using Robo's select list of 'dry humping candidates')?
I see a lot of year-over-year earnings beats (this time last year was the intermediate nadir and we'd still be there if not for the stimulus). Don't get caught up in the CNBS and U.S "financial" media hype. I don't see a lot of revenue beats unless you are a bankster that has been given a license to print money. CAT yesterday is a prime example. Their revenue was down across the board, North America was horrendous.
Chance of a decent grilling today as good as a decent BBQ during Katrina
Would that then be grilled calamari?
I am doing a fundraiser for ZH and have created a variety of products regarding the squid.
Kill the Squid Mugs, T-Shirts, and Hats
Grilled Vampire Squid
Fun with Nodes--graphic cup from Tyler's fun drawing links from Goldman to government and corporate entities!
and more that are far more graphically creative are on the way!
http://www.zazzle.com/Howard_Beale
Totally approved by Tyler et. al. If you have any suggestions for more products, let me know.
Great idea. How about adding DASH FOR TRASH
You got it.
I worked on this one all day listening to the testimony. I would really appreciate feedback on it!
http://www.zazzle.com/vampire_squid_mug-168064479236851513
How about Goldman Slippery Soap. It keeps slipping out of your hands, so you can tell your showering partner (pretend your spouse is a Goldman customer) to bend over and pick up the soap...
Working on the graphic for that. It will take a day or two but should be amusing.
Working on the graphic for that. It will take a day or two but should be amusing.
Perhaps Goldman will be thrown under the bus in order to facilitate passage of the financial reform bill and establish Obama's populist credentials going into the 2010 elections. Nothing less than frog marches will suffice. The Fed power grab bill will result in further consolidation of Fed control over all financial and insurance related companies. Local and community banks will be gobbled up by select Wall Street banks as toxic commercial real estate portfolios blow out gaping holes in their balance sheets.
It is in Goldman's best interest to see this one through. Parade a humanist face, generate some personal empathy, drop a few scapegoats, and take a few licks without really shaking things up. A small loss today for a substantial profit tomorrow. I cannot think of a more sympathetic regulator than the Federal Reserve. The best thing that could happen to them is for the FED to be directly responsible (and directly unaccountable) for consumer protection and financial regulation. Then the bankers can truly decide what's fair practice in a true "(regulation-)free" market. That's free as in beer, for them - not for us.
This guys will be tossing softballs over the plate, we need Grayson and Paul to throw some fastballs low and inside.
Hmmm - last time I saw Ron Paul tossing a fastball it had some Iraqi money laundering story all over it and he looked horribly sheepish when the umpire called ball
Carl Levin is clown and knows nothing like the rest of them. They should all defer their time to Ron Paul.
frank:
To be effective in that jungle with the media glare, Levin must look calm, poised, moderate. If he gets too direct, he will become damaged goods. Paul is honest and, IMO, completely capable of being a good president but to much of thundering herd he appears immoderate. He would have a greater following and perhaps a contending candidate if he had an actors skills like Ronald Reagan. But then he might not be Ron Paul.
Hard for a normal person to become President. Harry Truman was a historical accident but many things right and today we consider him a good president.
You can rest assured that Carl Levin would like to convict as many fraudsters as possible but he MUST work within certain constraints to avoid marginalization.
Anyone (ahem...Tyler) who gets this lathered up in anticipation of a senate hearing is bound to be sorely disappointed. It's almost like they want to distract attention away from something else.
15 minutes left...does popcorn go well with grilled squid?
In case you're interested, it looks like Coburn and McCain are the only ones asking questions who are also running for reelection in 2010.
this is a link to windows media player version of the hearing
mms://wms-rbn-sea010.rbn.com/cspan/cspan/wmlive/cspan3v.asf
Best seat in the house. . . on Zero Hedge.
ZH, C-SPAN, and a 12 pack...
Let the games begin!
12 pack + lloyd may be dangerous. you may destroy your tv in a drunken rage.
It's a laptop and I'm not violent. But I do tend to yell at the screen when something is totally false.
I do wish "they" would avoid the short-selling aspect of GS, which is totally legal speculation when done according to the rules. STICK TO THE FRAUD!!!
+1000!
Birnbaum will use this as a chance to remind the world of his forecasting skills -- read his prepared statement.... He has his own firm now so he really doesnt need GS anymore...in fact one of the reasons why he left was he saw the disaster coming? no???
Speaking of Goldman…
Fire Bernanke, Geithner and Summers, says David Stockman, the Reagan budget director who resigned with a warning against increasing deficits and increased spending.
“The country,” says Stockman, “is literally heading for bankruptcy, the U.S. has become fiscally incontinent.”
Now 63, the former Congressman, author and investment bankers, has an aggressive new Internet series on the “lost capacity for fiscal governance,” leading to a new book with the working title, “The Triumph of Crony Capitalism.” Here is an excerpt from the five-part series (http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/unemployment-sp500-zirp-money-printing-ben/4/19/2010/id/27862?page=full ):
So the current consensus outlook could be likened to leaping a tall economic building in a single bound. Then again, it might constitute yet another head-in-the-sand episode, like during the fall of 2007, when Wall Street bulls petulantly dismissed any sign of impending peril. Indeed, the possibility that they’ll experience a two-peat is strong, and is hinted at in recent key economic releases -- the March jobs report and the February income and spending survey. Lurking beneath their seemingly benign headline figures are some ominous trends suggesting that the economy may be heading for an ambush; an upset that could pulverize today’s rosy EPS estimates, as well as the naïve belief that a hot-house economy confected in Washington can be capitalized at historical rates.
The first point of sobering evidence is that in February, once again, the Fed’s ZIRP generated exactly ZIG (zero income growth). But that was only the headline number. The core trend that hovers beneath -- that is, the unprecedented collapse of private sector incomes -- continued to falter. It dropped for the second straight month and is now down $22 billion from December. In the grand scheme of things, however, there’s probably no more important number than the sum of private wages and salaries + proprietors’ income + rental income + dividend and interest receipts -- which is to say, everything the public has to save or spend, apart from government transfer payments and salaries.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate reported for core private sector income is a big number -- $8.126 trillion to be exact. The trouble is, the February figure is down more than $500 billion, or 6.2%, since the third quarter of 2008 when Wall Street allegedly had its heart attack. Importantly, the half-trillion dollars missing in action here consists of everyday (nominal) money income of the kind that shows up in actual bank statements, not the doctored-up “real income” variety as deflated by the government’s guesstimates on inflation rates. Quite simply, there’s never been a sustained drop in private sector money incomes of any magnitude -- let along 6% -- during modern economic history; that is, since we escaped the dark ages of balanced budgets and gold standard money in the 1930s.
Moreover, the green shoots which have been omnipresent since last spring have had almost no impact on this fundamental rudiment of recovery. Over the past six months, core private sector income (as here defined) bounced by the grand sum of $62 billion. At this anemic rate of gain -- slightly over $10 billion per month -- it will take 52 months, or until June 2014, to regain the private income levels extant in August 2008!
The trend in the remainder of the income equation is similarly troublesome, and points squarely to the economic ambush looming ahead. Specifically, the balance of personal income -- consisting of social transfer payments and government salaries -- was $3.39 trillion in February. But in contrast to the cliff-dive exhibited by core private sector income, this figure represents a huge $400 billion or 13% gain compared to the third quarter of 2008. In other words, household and business spending has limped along solely because the massive $500 billion hole in private sector incomes has been largely offset by $400 billion of higher government transfers and paychecks -- a source of spending which, on the margin, was derived entirely from incremental public sector borrowings. But even the most bone-headed “borrow and spend” Keynesians don’t argue that this kind of money shuffle can be sustained indefinitely. (emphasis mine)
Excellent post. It cuts right to the heart of the matter. Public sector borrowing cannot continue to offset the drop off in private sector income indefinitely.
In fact, because the US economy has already hit the debt event horizon where borrowing will actually result in a drop off in future GDP, private sector income will only continue to fall off as public sector borrowing increases.
I love guys like Stockman, Ritholz, et al who seem to believe that stating the obvious may confer a sense of insight & legitimacy on their collective reputations.
To provide a working analogy to the reality in which we reside, we could characterize these clowns, and others like Bill Black, as proficient, yet non-expert observers of a grand-master level chess match.
Oh, good move, bravo, bravo they utter to themselves, thinking perhaps a few moves ahead in anticipation of various attack & defensive strategies. Yet, they are completely ignorant of the true game within the game being played, the brinkmanship and frankly, complete awareness of each opponent's relative strengths & weaknesses.
In other words, this sh!t was completely known & thought out a long, long time ago. All we are seeing today is the actual execution of a set of principles dating back thousands of years. Or, as Hitchcock famously said, once he had thoroughly & meticulously storyboarded a movie (eg 77 shot/50 cut Psycho shower scene), actually shooting the film was boring.
Never forget that systemic failure is a design feature of the credit-money system.
Here’s how the Rothschild investment house in London defined the “obvious” in a confidential memo on June 25, 1863, exactly four months after the National Bank Act was signed into law in America:
“The few who understand the system [bank loans earning interest and also serving as money] will either be so interested in its profits or so dependent upon its favors that there will be no opposition from that class while, on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending… will bear its burden without complaint.”
What this country needs is genuine banking legislation that is not written by agents of the Money Trust. What it does not need is banking legislation sold to the public under the attractive label “Reform” that legitimizes legal plunder by the likes of Goldman Almost all “banking” legislation in American today concentrates power into the hands of the larger New York banks, in the form of monopoly at tremendous cost to the taxpayers and to all the people via a hidden inflation tax in the form of higher prices.
It’s getting to be obvious as to why the American system is held hostage by the bankers, and with some Americans still asleep, I say we need to continue to highlight the consequences of the “obvious.”
I'll match your 150 year letter and raise you a 3,500 year old document:
Exodus 22:25-27
* 25 " If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.
26 "If you ever take your neighbor's garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down.
27 "For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
The simple fact that a credit-money system even exists means we have already lost. We cannot beat the math - never could, never will. The credit-money system was established to get the vast mass of men running the hamster wheel trying desperately to "get ahead", while the few who understand (in fact, designed & manage the system) are allowed to kick back and reap untold riches.
The plain, unvarnished truth is that the means of exchange, unit of account & store of value must not, cannot be, left to the devices of a crafty few. It is the absolute height of absurdity that our money system is in the hands of private individuals. We need free, competitive banking with some scientifically based means of account (number of electrical atoms, etc) to create a free, orderly system.
Anything less is just a waste of time - which I fear I'm doing. It really is time to get off the damn pot and start getting down 'n dirty on what's comin' down the pike.
Absolutely true. As Fed historian G. Edward Griffin says, “We must choose between two paths.
“Either we conclude that Americans have lost control over their government, or we reject this information as a mere distortion of history. In the first case, we become advocates of the conspiratorial view of history. In the latter, we endorse the accidental view. It is a difficult choice.
“The reason it is difficult is that we have been conditioned to laugh at conspiracy theories, and few people will risk public ridicule by advocating them. On the other hand, to endorse the accidental view is absurd. Almost all of history is an unbroken trail of one conspiracy after another.
“Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception.
“The industrialized nations of the world are being bled to near death in a global transfer of their wealth to the less developed countries. It is being done according to plan… It is conscious and deliberate evolution of the IMF/World Bank into a world central bank with the power to issue a world fiat currency…an important step in an even larger plan to build a true world government… The IMF/World bank literally is buying [the despots of] these countries and using our money to do it”… despots who will be content “to become little gold-plated cogs in the giant machinery of world government.”
Slaves of and in illusion. As if its not enuf to be bound by our own desires and ignorance, the material world society/culture further obscures reality.
There is one thing left in life i still desire and that is the Removal of Ignorance. I have been trying to remove my own first. The more i See, the more i am aware of how many remain blind.
Suffering is the greatest teacher.Damn.
Thank you Zerohedge people for the giving of your time and energy and the gonads to carry on.
Spend your time meditating, the Five Aggregates is a great place to work on rooting out "ignorance":
- Matter
- Feelings
- Mental images
- Perceptions
- Consciousness
Thanks JR. You are always illuminating.
Kayman
Thanks too B9K9
"The credit-money system was established to get the vast mass of men running the hamster wheel trying desperately to "get ahead", while the few who understand (in fact, designed & manage the system) are allowed to kick back and reap untold riches"
Truer words never spoken. People just don't get it:
If you feel like a hamster in a wheel,
And you act like a hamster in a wheel,
And you keep running like a hamster in a wheel,
Then, you are a hamster in a wheel.
Yet, people will tell you they are "free". Debt bondage is far more incapacitating than any other form.
Thanks for the info. Looks pretty good. I will get a number of copies because it will be a great Christmas gift (I am not fucking joking here)
Ronnie's presidency is when the full on ass fucking of the American public really began in ernest.
Stockman's book "The Triumph of Politics" is a must read for anyone interested in a great inside account of the Reagon administration.
Susie Q talkin' now. a bigger moron does not breathe on this planet.
we can count on her to give GS a pass.
She is another clown who knows nothing. You can tell she has no idea what she is reading.
What's the over/under on how many minutes go buy before any senator mentions that the government was involved in any way, shape or form in the housing market during the period in question?
170?
Number of hours of hearing * 60 minutes for the over/under.
kabuki. bernanke still chairman. hank paulson and ilk still running things. nothing changes.
I would love to know that if GS acts like pimps for large whales and funds at what point did Paulson begin to pick up banks? Did he buy GS possesing insider information regarding bailouts?
How can someone who was so bearish on housing in Paulson do a complete 180 on banking, housing and the economy in such a short time frame? Especially considering that the economic data has not improved aside from mild improvements resulting from stimulus steroids and accounting gimmicks.
I am convinced that the entire crash was done with the intention of destroying competition and inducing payouts on derivsatives and they actually were able to get the U.S. to pay them out when it was evident AIG could not pay their bet. Anyone else find it odd how bearish CNBC was as if being instructed. And now in possesion of the most capital in the markets and contacts they are able to coordinate a ramp up because they are the only ones left in the markets squeezing rational shorts and holding stock markets hostage.
Closing the dow flat yesterday seems orchestrated and a message to Washington that they now control the markets because D.C. enable them to continue to act with impunity. They caused a depression and destroyed families, homes and jobs for the gain of a few. Nobody has a crystal ball and the game was fixed.
I agree the crash of the financial markets and the government payout of derivatives was engineered. But this controlled demolition goes far beyond simply Wall Street money-making. At its core, it is about consolidation of financial and political power on a global scale with a roll out of comprehensive "global governance" initiatives.
Jefferson, it looks that way.Sorry about our luck
Paulson pulled a 180 because he is an investing genius. He knew everything was overvalued and bet against the market. He then waited for the market to drop below his "fair valuation" and loaded up to make a ton off the inevitable v-shaped bounce/recovery.
CNBC will tell you this simple explanation is perfectly valid; join the herd. Don't ask questions.
ooooo she's "unsettled".....here in Maine, the economy is on a respirator.....about to go flatline.....
and she is so in Wall Street's pocket its almost a Monty Python sketch listening to her.
ooooo she's "unsettled".....here in Maine, the economy is on a respirator.....about to go flatline.....
and she is so in Wall Street's pocket its almost a Monty Python sketch listening to her.
It is times like this I wish Robert Kennedy was the Attorney General. Now that would make for some hearings
I think Senator Kaufman did quite well, thanks.
Lloyd is too smart / well informed / full of bullshit / to be caught by any of these guys.
Kaufman's got him.
makes you wonder how this brain trust is going to deal in the aftermath of the market's crash just ahead of us?
will we have any hearing with Bernanke? i would love to hear exactly who in the government signed off on his "reflation strategy"......
"No one could have seen it coming"
Your unwashed masses will nod in silent agreement because they are willfully ignorant.
How many are watching this?
What are you doin here?
http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/67/Disorder_jamison.jp...
Facinating!!!!!
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=grandma+addams+family&prev=/ima...
Thank you John!!!!!
Susan Collins "congratulated" Carl Levin on his in depth investigation. Has nothing to do with the investors or tax payers or citizens... only has to do with Carl Levin and his accomplishments.
Love the arse kissing between every transition to the next speaker
Gold and Silver sure like this hearing so far!
Sounds like Clair McCaskill read your CDO write up! She sounded pissed
Oooooooh, Senator McCaskill is GRILLING them hard...LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!
This will get ugly! Yeah!
Opening Testimony:
http://images.chron.com/blogs/legaltrade/three_stooges_v1_01%5B1%5D.jpg
Is GS running a sweatshop? These guys are merely kids, at least this guys is...
Gold is launching!!! From $1146 to $1161 at the moment.
Gold is honest money and is puking-up from hearing Fab's lies...
I suggest a new company slogan for GS: "We're just bringing our desks closer to home".
Get a load of this guy Norton...
http://tomwatson.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/kramden.gif
Notice how fast 'Fabulous Fab' is speaking. His heart is beating fast, he is scared, he feels the pressure. Amazingly, he's as arrogant as ever, denying any wrongdoing. Simply amazing.
he is french, what do you expect?
The Fab is sweating bullets. The girlfriends are jumping ship faster than Bill Clinton headed down on an intern. What a crock with the cat.
Who do you think prepped the Senators?
Suprise guest inquisitor Tyler Durden wearing a bear mascot costume.
+1
I prefer the penguin outfit.
Was Goldman acting as principal or intermediary with regard to the selling of Abacus? And if it was the intermediary, surely they had no effective long or short position with regard to the synthetic CDO so any trade subsequently was a naked position and not a hedge?
DavidC
Related to that: If two parties, two different GS clients, are betting on opposite sides of the expected direction of RMBSs referenced in a synthetic CDO, is it reasonable to expect that Goldman should then stay away from any further bets (one way or the other) on those or similar securities?
Goldman was advising everyone and self-dealing to boot. No conflict when you are amoral to begin with.
Welcome to the Dog and Pony Show Mr "Sparkx",
Please turn to
Exhibit 172
A deal called Anderson. Do you understand the magnitude of this Neo?
If the Government really wants to investigate Goldman,
they can start with the Friday options expiration collusion with the SEC.
http://funy1.blogspot.com/2010/04/would-would-sec-charge-goldman-sachs-o...
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not GS in awe--
Such boasting as the Gentiles use
Or lesser banks without Firm law--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking CDO and iron shard--
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not AIG to guard--
For frantic short and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lloyd!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Goldmans and the kings depart:
Still stands America sacrificed
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God (not Lloyd), be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Bravo! ambrosiac
Ivy league sleaze bucket...
Looks like Goldman was pulling the old J.T. Marlin on their clients...damn technology.
He refuses to answer the question.
They were prepped by top Wall Street lawyers, when in doubt, remember the three E's:
EVASIVE, EVASIVE, EVASIVE!
They can't even answer direct questions. It's going to get ugly, I feel it in my gut.
leo you got all the euphemisms.
i like seeing men squirm a lot, but these four seem like dumb punks.
New avatar! Self?
No, I don't have that duty... ( I think)
Is anyone seeing how Levin is managing to confuse the Goldman folks???
Well if you want to confuse smart guys you have to put a complete moron infront of them :)
Senate Banking Committee’s 1933 probe into the causes of the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l-xRKtKEpTwC&pg=PA65&dq=MR.+SACHS:+A+...
their shorts may end up hitting them there
Why doesn't he just say it?
YOU WANT THE TRUTH?
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!
I don't know? I don't know nuttin. Nuttin.
Dont bother reading it. You don't know nuttin...
Senator Hatchet Job 1 Fraudman Sachs 0 so far...
Senator Hatchet Job -3 Fraudman Sachs -2 if you ask me. What a mess!
Own goals galore
They put a Tom Bradyesque guy up there to look clueless against the cluelessly rich congressman and a couple of other guys don't even physically move through out the whole thing.
It's like they're a couple of MK Ultra zombies. Sit still and Jedi your way through the "grilling". We've got Men staring at the Goat equivalent of the congress member grillers on the other side.
Goldman sold something? I am shocked I tell you Miss Star Sey no turd. I thought we were nyet buyers.
Maybe they should bring in senator Creig and get them comfortable,
They're a broker. They are there to make their clients broke.Any questions?
That is their understand.
Hey Sparkey, this is a Dog and Poney show, don't you forget it.
holy cow! huge sell off happening right now
Man, Daniel Sparks looks a 12 year old who's trying to explain a really bad report card to his parents. Sure, this is a case of a vampire squid being flogged, but there's truly none more deserving. It's entertaining, to be sure, but it means nothing unless something is done about the fact that CDSs and CDOs are no longer protection but investments in and of themselves.
Agreed. This "Grilling" will mean nothing if the proper action is not implemented. Until that time, this media based circus is part of the shell game.
if goldman has a reputation left, tho, when this is over, its going to be a miracle.
if nothing else, everyone is getting to see in full living color how they jack their clients.
How about seeing what PUSSIES they are?
Holy Crap... These 'men' have no balls.
I would be ashamed if they were my sons... There is no way that I would trust them with my money and I no longer trust them to support the market. Crash, here we come!
The only thing I am seeing in full living colour is the diffident incompetence of the sub commitee's inquisitors, and adroit obfuscation/evasion by GS.
IE. I am getting a crystal clear view of the value of being coached by a 7 figure legal team.
I could have saved them some money, around here we call it "playing the nut role". You can play the nut role or use the Sgt. Shultz "I know nothing" defense.
"Yes sir, No sir what page was that on? There were several deals with that name. What page was that on again? I am pretty sure we lost money on that one. Which page was that on? Exhibit #43? What page was that on? Sorry, that was not my department ..... "
Reduced to the common Wall St. douchebag.
BeSosaNotTony, that is dead right. I would be a happy happy man if i was as sharp as this guy at 75. JESUS. This guy is absolutely vicious!
OT
Noah's Ark Has Been Foundhttp://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/27/noahs-ark-found-turkey-arafat/
Turkish officials in the area around the Noah's Ark exploration will ask the central government in Ankara to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status so the site can be protected while a major archaeological dig is conducted. Better keep Bill Clinton out of the loop or we'll see the last of poor ole Mount Ararat, as we did Kennewick Man in the state of Washington whose ancient Caucasian remains proved the white man preceded the red man in America.
What about Noah?
JR
Where is Kennewick man now ?
Kayman