http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36597290/ns/bu...ness/?GT1=43001

nevermind.... see ice's link under gas thread!

This is going to have very serious repercussions for GS and it's about time. This firm is as filthy and evil as it gets and makes Enron look like an angel, if you can imagine that. Does anyone in their right mind think GS made their profits legally or ethically?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/business/17goldman.html?hp

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/201...onduct-reveals/

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting...set=&ccode=

I haven't had a chance to read a lot of the articles on this yet, but I would imagine all the investors who lost $$$ on the CDO's they bought from GS (as GS was betting against them) will be filing lawsuits as well.

We are talking $5-10bln or more just in this one case and this is a can of worms as you are going to find that GS did this in plenty of other places, plenty of years. Every lawyer in the country is probably scrambling to find GS clients who lost large amounts of money. You may see some of the largest class action lawsuits against GS in the next year that you could ever imagine. Imagine giving advice to you to buy something that they've already determined they are selling. Then imagine them putting the lowerst quality things in the CDO's that you are buying and they are selling. I remember an old "Dallas" TV show episode where JR put drugs in a guy's car, then called a paid off cop to stop and arrest him. That is really what GS did. In reality what GS has been doing makes Bernie Madoff look lile a little leaguer.

More here:

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/%22ro...set=&ccode=

Ice -- The line about GS has always been that they're the ones with the biggest brains in the room. Funny, that's exactly the line that was used to describe Enron's guys also.

Robbbs,

I met some of the Enron folks. They at one point wanted to start a trading market for TV ads. They were as cocky as you can imagine. Unless you can manipulate a market to your advatage, noone can be as right as often or profitable in speculation as GS has shown to be without inside knowledge or fraud. Their record in and of itself gave them away and now everyone knows the story. I bet you it's not too much longer before we see tens of billions in class action lawsuits (w'ont be surprised if the number goes to 100 bln) and there's no need to bail that company out of anything. The company better get out in front of this soon otherwise it's going to be fighting for its survival.

I'm worried about Asia's reaction to this Sunday night. If it's bad we could be looking at a big selloff on Monday and a major haircut in GS stock price. I think some of the guys on CNBC (the same idiots that told everyone to sell Apple at $125 last summer), are making too little of this. This, IMO is the tip of the iceberg for GS problems.

Big issue for GS coming up is what is the SEC strategy. While some of the TV business networks are saying that only a small fry at the firm was indicted, and that GS may benefit from that, I think they are missing the boat. IMO, a small fry was indicted so that he can be given a sweet plea bargain to give evidence against the top of the firm in this and other matters, and if that's the case, then this is the tip of the iceberg for GS and the iceberg is the size of Mt Everest. I'm not expecting this to be a one-off deal, particularly given GS intent to fight it off ala OJ. Plus if the SEC was in this for small potatos it would have settled the case quietly without bringing the suit or the matter to the public. That has been the case with almost every SEC issue like this in the past. In the court of public opinion GS has already lost. Their fighting will only escalate the size of the battle, allowing far bigger cases (and lawsuits) to come out against them, and their settling, now that this is on the public record is an admission of guilt and a permanent damage to the firm. Already their are indications that the firms in this transaction alone will bring 1-2bln in charges against them. You can bet your life that any other big loser in a GS trade is going to ask the SEC to look into the details of those trades too and given the litigation the SEC may be compelled to do so. GS makes their money by being on both sides of the trade and now they are on both sides of a public issue that is lose-lose. IMO they have underestimated this matter and Obama's intent to level this filthy industry. On that matter I am 100% with Obama. No permanent safe banking and public markets, and with it a recovering economy, can be built long-term on an industry this corrupt. Plus the corruption exists solely so that management of GS and hedge fund managers like Paulson can keep reaping billions a year in bonusses.

Gotta love the firms answer to their clients by saying they didn't bet against the very securities they sold them in this transaction. No the firm's statement says they'd never do that and instead hedged against the overall market, which by accident, not design, was a hedge against those same securities. Give me break.

Ice, agree 100% this can open the doors to a lot of problems in everything they have done.

As long as you have no conscience you can go from rags to riches on Wall Street.

http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/articl...set=&ccode=

I like what UK prime minister Gordon Brown said of Goldman Sachs over the weekend -- he called the firm morally bankrupt.

Couldn't agree more. So this is "God's work", eh? Puh-leeze. The nerve of these people. Truly disgusting behavior and attitudes.

Goldman shares starting to crash. Down to $151 now. When they reported earnings last week I think they expected the stock to move toward $200. But just like they would give a bullish report on oil to prop up prices for their bullish positions in it on a day where data was terrible for oil, the SEC threw a gigantic monkeywrench into their earnings report on the day before it was released and made the stock move in the exact opposite direction and swiftly. When it didn't gain after that on a tremendous earnings report, you just got the feeling that someone held it up for some big players to get out and now the shrinkage has resumed. Also now we have our firts shareholder lawsuit. Wait until the clients and other Governments join in. The beauty of the first lawsuit is that it's also against Blankfein personally. And now also the senate is weighing in.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Goldman-CEO-...set=&ccode=

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Senate-probe...set=&ccode=

the bastard sure makes enough cash

Blankfein was born in the Bronx borough of New York City, raised Jewish and reared in Brooklyn's Linden Houses, part of the New York City Housing Authority. His father was a clerk with the U.S. Postal Service branch in the Manhattan borough of New York City[2] and his mother, a receptionist. As a boy, he worked as a concession vendor at Yankee Stadium. He received primary and secondary education in the public schools of the New York City Department of Education, and was the valedictorian at Thomas Jefferson High School in 1971. He attended Harvard, where he lived in Winthrop House, and earned his B.A. degree in 1975. In 1978, Blankfein received a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

Blankfein worked as a corporate tax lawyer for the law firm Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine. In 1981, he joined Goldman's commodities trading arm, J. Aron & Co., as a precious metals salesman in their London office.

He is the Gala Chairman of the Rockefeller family's Asia Society in New York. He serves on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization seeking to alleviate poverty in New York, as well as on the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College.

Blankfein earned a total of $53.4 million in 2006, making him one of the highest paid executives on Wall Street. His bonus allegedly reflected the performance of Goldman Sachs, which reported record net earnings of $9.5 billion. The compensation included a cash bonus of $27.3 million, with the rest paid in stock and options. While CEO of Goldman Sachs Group in 2007, Blankfein earned a total compensation of $53,965,418, which included a base salary of $600,000, a cash bonus of $26,985,474, stocks granted of $15,542,756 and options granted of $10,453,031.[3]

Blankfein was named as one of "The Most Outrageous CEO of 2009" by Forbes magazine.[4] Taking a different position, Financial Times, which named Blankfein as its "2009 Person of the Year," stated: "His bank has stuck to its strengths, unashamedly taken advantage of the low interest rates and diminished competition resulting from the crisis to make big trading profits."[5] However, there are critics of Goldman Sachs and Wall Street who have taken issue with those practices.[6]

On January 13, 2010, Blankfein testified before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, that he considered Goldman Sachs's role as primarily a market maker, not a creator of the product (i.e., subprime mortgage-related securities).[7] Goldman Sachs was sued on April 16, 2010, by the SEC for the fraudulent selling of collateralized debt obligations tied to subprime mortgages, a product which Goldman Sachs had created[8]

The real crime with GS is their direct link to the US Govt and the benefits that they receive because of this.
The current issue is more grandstanding than anything else.
GS will come out of this with a slap on the wrist, Govt will act like they are doing something and in a few weeks its business as usual.

seems most of the big CEO's have a link to some top gov't official too. ...regardless of party affiliation. 3rd party?!?!

Agree but not too many, actually none have the links and connections that GS does to certain people.
Think bailouts, Paulson, GS and it continues today. One week in US history tells you all you need to know. GS competitor, Lehman not bailed out, AIG is two days later who just happens to owe billions to GS.

Agree on 3rd Party. but the real crime is most people in the US have no desire to have any idea on what is really going on. More people in this country can name all the conestants on Dancing with the Stars or American Idol, but could not name 5 of 9 Supreme Court justices.

Bingo...and I think that's the real problem. The lack of civics knowledge in this country today is appaling, not to mention the overall ignorance displayed by so many in society. Yet we invest so much time and energy into such trivial nonsense (reality TV, celebrity gossip, etc). No wonder people get away with so much crap. That's one good thing about the Tea Party movement; I think more people are beginning to awaken from their slumber and take notice of what's going on. A democracy cannot thrive without an informed, knowledgeable citizenry.

huh, the gs execs are denying the charges

Blankfein looks and sounds like a wimpy "gofer" tax accountant.

i wanna punch that french jerk in the face

I seem to remember reading something along the lines...."and the meek shall inherit the earth". I'm guessing they were referring to the mentally meek because based on just the fact that a show like the "jersey shore" has a following shows me that there are plenty of meek out there.

(no offense to anyone who may be a big fan of "jersey shore"..but people who live here really hate the show"

possibly looking at criminal charges now

GS crashing this morning on those potential criminal charges. Down to $149.02 the last I looked.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/business...er=yahoofinance

S&P is killing them too:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/30/news/compa...rce=yahoo_quote

He reminded me of the young Clemenza in Godfather II.