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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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It is becoming more and more obvious Goldman and Paulson were the ones spreading CNBC rumors, pulling liquidity from LEH & BSC and naked shorting together these stocks for their very own gain. They caused the panic after establishing monster positions
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I will save all of you the research… Banking, lobbying and then special individual interests are the top lobby dollar providers.. and Finance Lobby Dollars Rule in almost all cases… in the plainest of terms the Lobby Dollars from Finance are the most dollars contributed to all of these members…
These people are all bought and paid for whores, lobby =’s legalized bribery.
Birnbaum: "I'm not even sure there was a change in the firm's position". LOL! And he said it with a straight face!
Just uploaded a Dow weekly chart showing a bearish broadening top pattern.
And Euro is breaking down now.
MARKET UPDATES:
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/latest-market-outlook-0
That's enough now please, JW n FL, that's a good chappie.
Points to you for diplomacy. Me, not in the mood for it for some reason.
I went to the same place yesterday...
The Goldman boy Sparks is the poster child for what is f**ked up with the corporate world. He talks in circles, never gives you a straight answer and of course did nothing wrong even when he is shown in black and white that he was packaging junk in CDO's, made billions by going short on securities he sold to their customers. Is this what our business schools produce?? Don't waste your money.
Of course this is what business schools produce. It's a valuable commodity. People get rich talking and lying in circles. The schools should be held to account for what they have created, but they won't be.
With any luck at all the economy will collapse so badly and for so long that the business schools will disappear for lack of purpose and not return for another 300 years. By then, when someone wakes up in the morning and has the inspiration to start a new kind of school devoted to business theory and methods of development and management, they will have never heard of leverage or financial services or arbitrage, and instead create a school that actually teaches people how to run honest businesses that create long-term value via sustainable growth and which contribute to society as a whole
No really. I'm serious. That would be great.
no, no. don't give the biz school credit for that. the lawyers trained them for today. a lawyer would never write "shitty deal" in an email. biz school people are dumber then you think.
No firm wide risk mangement plug ins? Goldman runs algos? but no internal risk balance? bullshit, cough bullshit. I bet those drives are wiped! re-wiped more over the 10 times... then shredded... and then burned on site.
I am talking about the risk software and histories to go with.
I am not able to watch the circus today, but the data points here on ZH make it sound like Darth Blankfein has crushed the rebellion, already.
His minions were set up to swing at all the "curveballs," now, so the Senators "throw their arms out," today.
Tomorrow, Lord Blankfein will come in and "hit their pitches out of the park," knowing full well what the panel members' agendas and weaknesses are, and playing right to them.
All too easy!
(Unfortunately, this will be a day long remembered by the empire.)
Don't worry, Tyler and the rest of us will prep the Senators for tomorrow's showdown.
Leo the hearings are still underway the star of the show is patiently waiting in the green room.
Geez, these are LONG hearings. Lloyd must be tired of waiting. Thanks for letting me know.
Well, no wonder. They let him talk and he has some of the highest paid political and legal experts and speech writers that fiat money can buy to write his answers, and, knowing the Democrats, they've provided the questions for him before he gets there. I mean, if you’re going have a dog and pony show, the ponies have to be trained before you bring them into the ring. Right?
And, of course, the highlights of a dog and pony show are the tricks that the ponies know and if Lloyd doesn't know a few tricks, why do they have him in the Goldman spotlight, anyway? Goldman needs a banking "reform" bill right now that it can work with, and so, it can put up with the circus' whirling TV cameras long enough to give the Democrats what they need to put their "financial overall legislation" through. And don't tell me the legislation was written by the Senate staffs. It was written by the bankers.
Bingo.
The facts of life on the simple from JR. Classic indeed.
Looks like more rogue traders (scapegoats). Jesus, looks like its an epidemic.
strategy is to have Lloyd testify during prime time
It's not worth watching. They are all part of the same mass of bubbling goo, eating our futures. The rebellion hasn't started...yet.
Quite true.
Nobody should be giving up based on today. Listen and learn, yes. The real fight is coming.
The real fight will be much harder than any of this.
ultimately, tho, catastrophic for GS...what company is going to want to do business with them after this......what municipality is going to deal with them?
The mind set of the gambler going in is that he won't lose. If he thought otherwise he would be in another line of work.
The mind set of the investor chasing yield through risk is that he won't lose. If he thought otherwise he would be in another line of work.
GS promises yield through risk. They do not actually tell you what the risk is, and that's what makes in a gamble.
And most investors gamble with other peoples' money. Which is what makes it theft.
I'm not sure all this is as ineffective as some are saying. To me, the GS people are coming across as total slime, basically refusing to cooperate.
They have already been pinned into corners that show them to be evasive liars. The franchise is taking a hit.
They are bankers. I think most were prepared to accept in advance that they were slime and liars.
Not to be unkind to the bankers here, but I don't have to tell you that your industry is not going to emerge from this the same, at least not for a couple generations. Maybe 200 years. Local bankers might have an easier time, but that's not a given.
Banker: The new scarlet letter.
Will these vermin go to jail? ~10% probability.
Will GS shareholders get absolutely crushed? >50% probability.
The little fish will fry... they did NOT have supervision... it was a multi-billion dollar sales arm with noooooooooooo supervision.. yeah! thats the ticket... http://snltranscripts.jt.org/85/85bliar.phtml
Apr 27 2010 | 2:39am ET
Citadel Investment Group founder Kenneth Griffin remains loyal to Goldman Sachs, and blasted Democrats for using the fraud charges against the Wall Street giant to push their financial reform proposals.
http://www.finalternatives.com/node/12290
What reform? the new bubble is the reform bubble.
You know you're in trouble when Ken Griffin is the only one who'll vouch for your integrity. Something along the lines of having Madonna vouch for your chastity.
Senators should let experts or banking expert lawyers ask questions. Too painful and slow to watch. Half the time is spent on the word SHORT. They're missing everything else
but then the senator doesn't get the airtime. duh.
They all have been coached too take thier time... in all questions and thusly burn up the clock.
So the assumption is that all they have to do is "get through this farce" and go home and everything is forgiven.
They might be right.
I think too that they are trying to make the entire process look farcical ... like it doesn't matter. As if Congress is just a bunch of clueless, grandstanding wankers after all (easy target that one). Even if the questions are good ones, talking around them and in circles can make the question look like a bad one.
Like it or not, this is the process we have. Something important might come of it. But if nobody thinks it matters then nothing can, really, and the critical battle is postponed a little longer.
PS: I don't hate you. Really.
I was not trying to post 100 pages... honestly. I was trying to get the information out for maybe the new comers... for people who dont have the information available that we do, I was trying to share... it was an epic fail with regard the amount of space... and I did try to edit it, but I was locked out before I could get back to it... it was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to long even for my taste. Please forgive me my anger... my transference is on full blast as well it would seem, plainly.
As for the dance and / or dog and pony show that is being provided for us... Goldman is a small fish, Lehman and Goldman's hate for each other goes back 100 years or more... Goldman killing off their sibling to profit will cost them.. JP Morgan is the Grand Father of all of this... and the derivatives market in the hundreds of hundreds of trillions of dollars is a real issue...
I think the largest problem we all suffer, is these groups do in fact grow their market share thru legislation... very effectively... enough so that they have forgone innovation as to expensive and thusly we as a society as a whole suffer a corporate culture that is not in favor or moving forward or growth in the real markets... the R and D is seen as to much of a what if. Whereas the synthetic financial markets that are touted and pumped privately offer NO real product... or production to sustain any real growth... it is the organic verses the synthetic growth that is seen as prohibitively expensive and thusly written off to the detriment of all.
The legislative branches are used to maintain market share and grow market share… this is only sustainable as long as the idiots are allowed to feed on themselves… the absolute return funds bore the full force of this robbery not that anyone in the lucky sperm or I should say very few… understand how they were in fact taken out and slaughtered.
I will add that the energy crisis that we are now suffering that gets exactly zero press (save Tyler here and his writings) is the cause of a lot of the ongoing underlying issues. We have lots of oil, what we don’t have and what we are in fact out of and have been out of for more than a little while now is affordable oil… how much of this re-distribution of funds is to allow for the carry while the broader import / export markets right themselves? That’s a bigger question than the hundreds of trillions in derivatives.
IMHO.
Sorry to be a dick, I am pissed more than I should be about all of this.
Do you know how they make swords? Really good ones?
They heat them up mad hot. Then they pound the fuck out of them. Then quench them hot to keep the "fuck that hurt Imma kill you" molded into the edge. Then the swords cut like crazy. Demon blades. Masamura-style epic "eats human blood" blades that go out and change the god-damned world.
Welcome to ZH. It's like a boot camp where mad becomes mean becomes changing the god-damned world.
Thanks both of you. Good show. Fight club can contain it.
The woman whispering into Levin's ear knows her onions.
deleted
Anyone know how much Goldman made in 2009 from brokering US Debt? Any informatino would be much appreciated.
My initial guess would be "enough to buy a controlling interest in the nation of Greece, at par"
Not very helpful, I know. But I'm in that kind of mood today.
They're allowing Goldman to frame this debate around whether shorts are good. They are good. Goldman wins that argument. These Senators are amateurs. Their staffs are weak. They're framing ONE losing social debate instead of getting into the details where the devil lay
Query for ye self-identifying goldbugs (posed in all humility et cie et cie): a marketwatch article yesterday about gold [http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/109384/gold-survives-...] closes with the thought that the big bullion banks will fight like hell to keep gold at $1162;
(1) Working through this from a supply/demand angle (that's all I got: Fibonacci is a kind of pasta, I think), that means that the bullion banks are offering to sell their supply at that price point, to prevent the price from rising because demand is outstripping supply ... is that right so far?
(1)(a): if that's so, how is that in their interest? Are we talking Rothschild-level bullion banks, rather than the ScotioMocatta's of the world, so short-term profit/loss aren't factoring in? Or is this a way for the banks to cover their ass somehow (e.g., they sold paper to investors but don't have physical to deliver to them and won't be able to buy enough if price rises)?
(2) Why 1162? I'm sure there's a formula for this, but why is that the "resistance point" as opposed to rounder numbers or numbers that speel out words (e.g., 53045 upside down and backwards on a calculator speels 'shoes', was all I learned in 2nd grade math)
More of a lurker around here, but feeling impelled toward proactive learning this afternoon. Thanks.
This Doctor/Senator seems to be crawling up Vinlar's ass. Is he a proctologist?
It's what they owed us.... that's great.
Viniar is dancing circles around them
On a day when GS execs and worker bees are getting grilled by Congress and the stock market is down the most its been in what seems like 32 years and financials are down, GS stock is up. You gotta love these guys. When I grow up I'm going to work at GS.
David Viniar is impressive, a solid CFO. He makes the younger brats who testified earlier today look like amateurs. Solid, very solid CFO. I call it like I see it.
Yep. Knows his stuff.
Why would LB use Repo 105s?
DV: Have no idea? You'll have to ask them.
Then proceeds to throw the "experts" from his firm under the bus.
Viniar: "Repo 105? Hmm...yeah, heard of them. Not sure, . . hmmmm. I've read about them, is all. I have no idea what they are or why you'd use them. Ummm....."
He's brilliant all right.
Viniar is lying re repo 105 question. His answer was that you can view Goldman's balance sheet at any time, not just at quarter end. What the f**k is he talking about?
Viniar is a politician. That's how you move to the top in an investment bank. Learn to look good and talk like that. Meanwhile, they manage people who tend to be all id. They try to hide the id as best they can. Viniar is a professional superego. face/voice
Supports breaking all over the place, has i told yesterday. Now i am looking also @ some forex crosses, namely shorting AUD against some other currency, maybe usd maybe jpy. I will update the crosses when i enter the trade in the next few days. I updated the index charts from yesterday. Hey Ho Let´s Go.
http://midasfinancialmarkets.blogspot.com/
And btw please click on follow blog :) i would like having you follow my work. Thanks.
Anonymous at 319347:
I read that book in 1970. Nice to see people looking at the "old" socialist/idealist literature.
Now it's time to get people into some good old labor history like Foner's history of labor or Sidney Lens' "The Labor Wars." Maybe light bulbs will start flickering and people will finally start connecting some dots.
A panel of sea cucumbers could have done a better job - this is just too painful to watch...
Last scrimmage between Levin and Viniar was very interesting. I missed what was said that made the room gasp. Anyone heard it?
Viniar f**ked up. He said it was unfortunate that the "deal was sh**ty" was recorded in an email. Assumption was that it was ok to think or say that just not to put in an email.
But, he's brilliant. Knows his stuff. He's not a smug, lying sack-o-shit. Really, he's not. He's brilliant.
Excuse me but it seems your sarcasm is showing.
Most likely this:
Finally a gotcha moment. Levin asked Viniar how he felt that it was selling securities that its own employees were describing as sh--y.
Viniar: I think it is unfortunate that it was said in an email.
The hearing room burst out in laughter.
Viniar corrected himself and said it was unfortunate that it was said at all.
We here at work missed it because we were all too busy being shocked that the subadditivity of VaR actually got explained in a Congressional hearing. Now if Levin could only stop calling it "V-A-R."
If e-mails didn't exist they would be smelling like roses.
jal
Fucking witch hunt. The chairman does not have a clue hoe the finacial markets work.
Not a witch hunt. A fishing trip for cephalopods. No sympathy for the squid.
Bernie Sanders in the Senate finally calling out Judd Gregg for being a Wall Street schill. I hate seeing Greggs smug face on CNBC whenever the banks beckon his call. Go Bernie
I wonder why the people with the prison garb have been allowed to stay in the hearing? Usually they throw people out of the hearings if they have signs or costumes.
Maybe they were actual convicts. You know, taking time away from selling drugs in prison to see how the real money plays.
Yes Viniar is a class act. The senators are eating out of his hand.
"short clause". Love how everyone acts surprised about the short clause. You can't get a PIPE loan (for all you penny stock followers) without including the short clause. This is the same game repeated over and over with different players and products. The PIPE deals stole BILLIONS from common shareholders through the 90' and 00's. They ran out of volume!
What is the "ethical creed" of GS?? LMAO!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, that's a good one!
"Mr. Chairman, we care very much about ethics here at Goldman Sachs"
but caring about your own ass and exercising it are two different things.
To all you professions out there who have to meet ethical requirements, I say....whadayathink? America is simply getting a lesson on our market makers. They need the lesson. Look in the eyes of Goldman, they don't understand this. They're confused. This is what they do. They thought everyone knew! They don't even see conflicts of interest because none exists when you're Goldman, because they're ALL conflicts. This is a lesson in logic too. When it's all, it's none. They're is no nuance left. They're animals who are confused as to why everyone else isn't too.
Dead on, Fraud Esq.
You either put the animals in the Zoo or you pay lots of money sowing everyone up year after year.
FACT: The meltdown was MUCH WORSE because Goldman was offloading their risk from a previously profitable trade.... by STEALTH. They couldn't sell without attracting attention. Motive and method. This method of offloading risk onto clients blew the country up. Period
"To sidestep these issues, Goldman and other major banks found a solution that subverted the laws of supply and demand, and escaped the price discovery of a transparent marketplace. They fabricated synthetic CDOs, such as Abacus 2007 AC-1. These toxic assets, invented out of thin air, made the meltdown worse than it otherwise would have been." - Fiderer
And now it's the King's turn to speak...
Now, they're threating to "export" the derivatives market. Good. Export it. Doesn't matter. We can regulate anyone who does business in the united States and the Fed reserve system is too powerful that banks could just "leave". This is another bit of using international jurisdiction as a stick against your country.
Whoa the Head Squid going under oath. . . popcorn ready.
Did they play the imperial march for Lord Blankfein?
GS crashed the economy and then was bought off not to continue crashing it?
Fair deal huh
I think the odds are high that one of the senators will indirectly reference one of Tyler's annotations to Lloyd's opening statement.
The background cerise is beautiful :)
In light of your opening statement, I'm curious as to exactly which of the functions you say Goldman performs constitute 'God's Work.'
not net short? in the market? did anyone send Tyler's docs from yesterday to these lobby whores?
Paraphrasing L. Blankfein,
We don't steal from the little people (credit cards, savings accounts),... we only the steal from where the big money is waiting for easy picking. ( granma's financial advisors and trust funds)
jal
Odds Llord Blankcheck says, "You know what pig fuckers, we shorted the market today!" And then vanishes in a cloud of smoke.
3-1.
Nice.
No... the good, good news is Lehman is dead... and Goldman's market share insures people have no where else to go in that stratosphere... JP is a Giant, thusly to big to fight with.
Hey, Did I call it?
The banks flush stocks to show SEC and Obama that they OWN this market and punitive litigation will not go unpunished.
Lloyd: "We treated those clients just the same way I treat my wife."
"How can you live with yourselves!?!?" - Chairman
"Ok. How would you regulate yourself? We don't have enough experts" - Senator X
I'm convinced the very best politicians moved to investment banks. We might as well just amend the constitution and elect Goldman's board. Might be the only way to exert control on banking. We elect some judges. These seems as important. No judge I know can do this to the economy.
perhaps it's my computer display but it looks like he has a horseshoe embedded in his head (no offense intended)
http://i41.tinypic.com/2k2243.jpg
This is getting ridiculous.
These senators aren't going to give us any red meat.
No... customers want Goldman to build it to fail.. for Paulson... who built it to fail... to sell it...
The excuse is demand... the dumbass customers wanted it, we built it and sold it to them... and insured the failure thru shorting and design? BBB- as AAA+?
I know Blankfein is worth hundred of millions, but I'd rather be poor than have his voice.
Yeah, wtf. Maybe Goldman is a criminal meritocracy, usually you have the tall, slick CEO.
He is totally swinging away. These guys deserve to go down hard!
The culture... is broken. There are no men of substance, only PR pretty boys who want to hit sales numbers to protect their bonus monies.
But when do you think there were men of substance? McCarthy in the 50's were awful. Founding Fathers? You gotta go waaaaay back. Ever since mass media, its all about PR.
I figured out who Llord Blankcheck is! You no longer need to watch this melodrama "unfold" on Capitoline Hill, because it was shown decades ago.
Princess Bride: Where is the poison?:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUee1WvtQZU
+1
It's all about the wine in front of me....
BBB- not fucking AAA++++++++++++++ to infinity... is failure by design.
Because the public is upset on what’s happened to its wealth—the lost money, the lost homes, the lost savings, the lost jobs, the lost opportunities--Congress’ primary reason for having a hearing is to show that it wants to help out the little folk. The public’s representative is going to get these big guys in the spotlight and ask them tough questions.
And, then, as usual, nothing happens.
There’s no way these Senators are going to make the time to understand what the news media calls these complex mortgage products or figure out what happened. It’s just another game of Let’s Pretend That We’re Going to Represent You. We’re going to get angry, we’re going to shout, we’re going to call in the press, and, then, when the dust clears, we’re going to vote for the bankers. I mean, how many widows have sent in their money?
And, of course, none of these Senate folk are a match to grill Blankfein and Viniar—this is Blankfein’s subject—he does this for his billions—and some senator who spends his time trying to stay in office is going to be able to figure out Blankfein’s complicated and obfuscated world of fraud and economic chaos, of Fed and Treasury manipulation and secrecy, of Wall Street finance and control of Washington, DC? This is not the way you find out truth. As for Goldman, these are gods of the beast of prey, whose diets consists entirely of feeding off other people’s wealth:
David A. Viniar : Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Operations, Technology, Finance and Se –Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Salary: US$1,100,320.00 (total compensation in 2008 - wikipedia).
Grant date of fair value of stock and option awards (Forbes):
12/19/2007 - 107,645 - $204.16 - $35,776,998.00
12/15/2006 - 56,942 - $199.84 - $19,032,362.00
Top Executives at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Esta E. Stecher Executive VP/General Counsel/Other Corporate Officer
Alan M. Cohen Executive VP/Other Corporate Officer
Gregory K. Palm Executive VP/General Counsel/Other Corporate Officer
Lloyd C. Blankfein CEO/Chairman of the Board/Director
Sarah E. Smith Chief Accounting Officer
John S. Weinberg Vice Chairman/Other Corporate Officer
David A. Viniar Executive VP/CFO/Other Corporate Officer
Gary D. Cohn President/COO/Director
James J. Schiro Director
Ruth J. Simmons Director
http://people.forbes.com/profile/david-a-viniar/37701
Blankfein, according to Andrew Ross Sorkin’s book “Too Big to Fail,” displays a framed Gary Larson cartoon on his office wall:
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/4912/5117451951f7aa62cde.jpg
would love to see him asked about that today
Are there any morals on Wall Street? What value system is used to justify these transactions? They can not answer a simple question on moral grounds. The question causes these executives to stammer in confusion.
The culture... is broken. There are no men of substance, only PR pretty boys who want to hit sales numbers to protect their bonus monies.
Market Maker?
I built a shitty deal.. per Paulson design requirements...
I shorted said shitty deal... based on Paulson had us build shit...
so Paulson could sell made to order shit... to dumbass who did NOT know the AAA rating was BULLSHIT!
The customer demanding AAA paper who got built BBB- shit... and who suffered the losses while all of the other players profited...
DID YOU HERE BLANKMAN? He said "I am not trying to be resistant" code for I am going along... just like I am supposed too... FUCK PEOPLE LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS SAYIN OUT OF HIS OWN FUCKING MOUTH!
"I am not trying to be resistant" who heard him say it? is it just me? and too much tea? am I fucking hearing things?
I heard the comment.
Ok, is Lloyd being ignorant or just plain stupid about the "betting" question? I don't think he understands Levin which is very scary. The CEO of Goldman Shacks is actually stupid or just ignorant. Either way, GS stock should go directly to "zero".
He's not stupid nor ignorant. He just has a different perspective from the rest of us.
Blankfein has a mindset similar to that of a sports bookie. He doesn't care what he buys or sells, or how good the bets are. He only cares about preserving his spread. As for the others, how they bet is THEIR problem, not his.
Correct, he definitely is in another place.
Have you even read the bill? No, its clear that you haven't. Go back to reading your teabagger emails. This bill is the most comprehensive set of reforms any of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. There is a reason why the banks are trying to kill it. I don't care if it came from the Dems or the Repubs, but this is just another case of the Repubs trying to prevent any Wall Street regulation at all. Effing morons. Good for me if there is no reform, but I'm sure you're part of the masses that will continued getting screwed by the street.
" This bill is the most comprehensive set of reforms any of us have ever seen in our lifetimes." Just because it's the most comprehensive doesn't mean it's correct (like the health care "reform" bill). Why change just to make a bunch of libbies happy? Do it right than rush it through Pelosi-style. Address the main issue first - no more bailouts. Then all the other talk should occur.
This bill is a cynical attempt to appease populsit rage. Nothing more.
Housing markets in Detriot.. caused the world to collapse?
There are not that fucking many shitty houses in detriot! or else where squared.
Blankfein is dodging the distinction between market making as to third party originated securities and securities crafted by Goldman for the specific purpose of creating and multiplying profits from loss: synthetic CDOs.
Ooooo, now we're talking about TARP money and why Goldman was forced to take the money.
I dunno McCain playing the tough guy - this thing stinks to high heaven. Both sides of the table are scum, I'm afraid. Maybe they are turning on each other.
Top Industries
John McCain
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
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$745,772
$32,711,907
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00006424&type=I
$33 million to McSame? and he's bitching about $9m of Blankmans? fuck Blankman pumped McSame for 20% of the $33 million? just guessing and being a dick it was a cheap shot.. but it felt so good.
Yeah, but ORahmaRod and the DNC are blasting Republicans for accepting campaign cash from GS when his party received 3:1 more money from these gangsters. ORahmaRod received more money from GS than any candidate in the history of the United States. ORahmaRod has refused to return his stash.
In terms of turning on each other, I think it's a show. McCain probably gave him a courtesy call last night.
On the otherhand, GS gave Obama 4x more in campaign "donations" than they gave to the "Maverick", so maybe he is trying to get even and is genuine in his dislike of the squid.
It doesn't matter either way. It's all going to burn to the ground in the end.
[Maybe they are turning on each other.]
Before all is said and done ... absolutely. In which case GS are nuked. Do not cross swords with someone who can summon the FBI down on your sorry ass.
synthetic verse organic?
wall verse main?
Call it what it is... magic verses the costs of real risk, real innovation and real growth... we learned to float the markets in the down times... to then pump it in the good times instead of using the pump when we needed it, we used it to hit bonus monies.
Yes Blankman is just avoiding the question re the shorting. Blankfein just trying to mislead by saying as market maker they are always taking the opposite side. This is bull in this situation. This is bs in the context here.
My weasle monitor is going nuts.
Levin has been on a very stupid track . I thought Blanfien destroyed his objections rather well rather than being evasive . Good for him.
What? I guess it isn't ODD you have FOOL in your screen name. You are an idiot, oh, fool.
I didn't. Levin has been doing just fine. Blankfien basically implied that there is nothing wrong with selling a crappy financial product to a client without disclosing that they're betting against the product they're selling. That's no different than an analyst saying BUY BUY BUY when they're really doing under the covers a SELL SELL SELL.
Wow, imagine having this guy as our president...he can barely talk much less coherently...we dodged a bullet here, phew! (opinions of Obama aside)
I agree. McCain's just tossing out populist softball questions.
Looks like we won't get any red meat from McCain either.
I'm not expecting much from this hearing. Why couldn't they have made this a joint session, and have Ron Paul or Brad Sherman asking the questions?
Close one's eyes - and me thinks I hear Jerry Lewis as the absent minded professor.
Jeez McCain is a joke, I'm sure Goldman would love to be "grilled" by him all day long.
McCain knows too little to address any substantial questions.
He is wasting committtee time and playing for sound bites for the TV.
jal
Seems to be the story of his political life as of recent.
Primefool, you are most definitely a fool. Blankfein knew what Levin was on about but he was able to take advantage of Levin's stupidity.
ASTOUNDED at Blankfein. I cannot believe this guy is so intelligent and educated. I can certainly say his public speaking and question answering skills are pathetic. They need a salesman this guy is a social BAFFOON.
Lloyd's voice is a little dweeby...
I agree but the dialect appears to be weasel.
High-weasel, actually. Probably acquired while studying abroad. I recognize the dialect from the principality of Weaselvania, an inherited demesne first captured from the Vandals during the Weasel Wars in 1534. It's a sort of Gay-Prussian-Slovak-Meallymouth prefered in Weaselvanian court cosplay.
I was going to build too it... its called time management... burning the clock... this is a hand and fucking hand song and dance.
Blankfein is most definitely an unsympathetic man. I think the more he talks the more likely GS will sink.
Oh gosh, it's John McCain...hey McCain, remember the S&L crisis? I hate you McCain.
BBB- as AAA++++++++++++ to fucking infinity...
And fucking McSame says its like a sports book in Vegas? the Rich guys lost thier money on a bet?
Well John McSame... the rating agency makes this not a sports book operation...
Question for Mr. Blankfein:
What percentage of Goldman's revenues come from hedge funds? Pension funds?
Sorry Leo... Doing God's Work prohibits the tracking of percentages in any form as well as tracking risk exposure, company wide...
The break down of flow & fee streams by section and sub-section. Just the raw daily close out would work for now..
LB just said synthetics allow you to move "quickly and precisely". That's nice for SEC lawyers to use when inferring dynamics. Think they're watching?
GS does philanthropy - please! And John McCain needs to retire
You're making a fool out of yourself McCain. Maybe Sarah Palin can help you with the facts.
I swear I heard him mumble... "I've fallen and I can't get up!"