Goldman Sachs Ripped Off And Misled Clients, Senate Report Says

[bfdd]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/goldman-sachs-levin-investigation_n_849708.html

Goldman Sachs, the nation's fifth-largest bank by assets, systematically misled clients, sold them financial instruments it knew to be junk, bet against them and profited off of their losses, according to a Senate report released this week.

The report, the product of a two-year investigation, paints the firm as Exhibit A of Wall Street's evolution from a place that raises and deploys capital to worthy businesses into a vulturous creature that preys on unwitting investors.

Goldman's conduct in the two years leading up to the near-implosion of the financial system show a firm dedicated to "sticking it to their own clients," said Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who chairs the panel that produced the report. "Goldman gained at the expense of their clients, and used abusive practices to do it."

Sweet. So the Presidents largest contributor and homies he put on his cabinet screwed a shit load of people over and made billions. Sup Obama?

 

[NoStateofMind]

Sup Obama/Bush?

ftfy

 

[Doppel]

In other news the sky is blue, these guys are like a malignant tumor.

 

[manimal]

the pessimist in me thinks there will be one or two fall guys and no serious jailtime.


What should happen is the BOARD should get jail time. If CEO's and the boards were held responsible you can bet your last dollar these things would not happen. Remember when FDR sent the troops out to arrest that ceo and carried him out by his chair?

now that is balls!

 

[Abwx]

Lol....
A few years ago, Goldman upgraded Thomson (EU Paris stock exchange)
and adviced to buy at 20 EUR.
A very good indication that convinced me to short the said stock
that went his way south to about one EUR....

Goldy is well known in the financial milieu as a well teethed shark..

 

[theeedude]

You only have to look at GS compensation to know that:

That money is coming out of somewhere.

 

[Jhhnn]

But, but, Self regulated free market global finance is the most wonderful thing EVAR! Behold the Ownership Society!

Saint Ronnie told us long ago that Government is the problem! If only we'd believed him!

Freakin' chumps.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

But, but, Self regulated free market global finance is the most wonderful thing EVAR! Behold the Ownership Society!

Saint Ronnie told us long ago that Government is the problem! If only we'd believed him!

Freakin' chumps.

Self regulation does work at least partially here. No one believes a damn thing they say because everyone knows half the time they are playing the other side of the trade against their own clients.

 

[Jhhnn]

Self regulation does work at least partially here. No one believes a damn thing they say because everyone knows half the time they are playing the other side of the trade against their own clients.

But, But! The Invisible Hand! The invisible hand will smite the evildoers!

I suppose that would have kinda been true, if not for the bailout. GS and some others likely wouldn't exist, but the perps would still be stinkin' rich, and more powerful than ever, because they'd be the only people who had any money, a la 1931...

More often than not, staying on top is just a matter of holding the other guys down...

 

[MotF Bane]

The invisible hand can do nothing when it has been stabbed to the table by a government that has instituted the doctrine of too big to fail. Pathetic hack.

 

[Jhhnn]

The invisible hand can do nothing when it has been stabbed to the table by a government that has instituted the doctrine of too big to fail. Pathetic hack.

So, uhh, where do you figure we'd be now w/o govt intervention? Puppies and rainbows?

Dubya, Dickie, Alan and all the economic pundits of the Right swooned ecstatic on the way up, paved the way for their Bankster buddies. When they reached the top of the cliff and looked over the edge, well, they just activated the Greenspan Put in the form of the bailout. The ultimate golden parachute. All their bankster buddies knew it was there after the LTCM fiasco, threw caution to the winds, raked in obscene money over the following 10 years.

Invisible hand? Why was it invisible? Because it was at the end of Wall St's arm, up Dubya's ass, making his lips move...

 

[jackace]

the pessimist in me thinks there will be one or two fall guys and no serious jailtime.


What should happen is the BOARD should get jail time. If CEO's and the boards were held responsible you can bet your last dollar these things would not happen. Remember when FDR sent the troops out to arrest that ceo and carried him out by his chair?

now that is balls!

I agree 100%. The Board and CEOs should be held liable for all actions made by their firms. This would keep things inline and not let things get out of control.

 

[brencat]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/goldman-sachs-levin-investigation_n_849708.html

Sweet. So the Presidents largest contributor and homies he put on his cabinet screwed a shit load of people over and made billions. Sup Obama?

Carl Levin?? The fvcking guy doesn't even know what 'market making' is... that means taking the other side of a client trade (i.e. committing capital) on the long or the short side. That's not 'betting against' your client. That is client facilitation and sell-side firms are paid to take these risks. There is no money in agency trading (collecting a commission for putting buyers and sellers together) and especially in the esoteric products there might not be a client to take the other side. Most clients want quick execution no matter the product, and so that means the firm takes the other side of the trade.

Amazing the emotional knee jerk nonsense responses in this thread so far. The credit derivative instruments discussed ad nausium were sold to sophisticated institutional money managers, not retail investors. Institutional buy-side investors are presumed to be every bit as intelligent and aggressive as their counterparts on the sell-side (because many of them once worked on the sell side). Don't shed a tear for any one of these motherfvckers -- believe me, they knew the risks with these instruments. And if they claim ignorance, well too fvcking bad because that is a damned lie.

This report is an embarassment, and entirely predictable too. Carl Levin...what a joke.

 

[lothar]

I don't have any remorse for Goldman or any of their clients.
You expect me to feel sorry for some glorified hedgefund manager millionaires that were on the opposite side of a Goldman bet? Please...

All these hedgefund managers knew perfectly knew what they were getting into.
If not, then why did they go to a "Top 15" Ivy league school and what were they getting paid millions for? Absolutely nothing?

 

[dmcowen674]

The Board and CEOs should be held liable for all actions made by their firms.

This would keep things inline and not let things get out of control.

This

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Carl Levin?? The fvcking guy doesn't even know what 'market making' is... that means taking the other side of a client trade (i.e. committing capital) on the long or the short side. That's not 'betting against' your client. That is client facilitation and sell-side firms are paid to take these risks. There is no money in agency trading (collecting a commission for putting buyers and sellers together) and especially in the esoteric products there might not be a client to take the other side. Most clients want quick execution no matter the product, and so that means the firm takes the other side of the trade.

Amazing the emotional knee jerk nonsense responses in this thread so far. The credit derivative instruments discussed ad nausium were sold to sophisticated institutional money managers, not retail investors. Institutional buy-side investors are presumed to be every bit as intelligent and aggressive as their counterparts on the sell-side (because many of them once worked on the sell side). Don't shed a tear for any one of these motherfvckers -- believe me, they knew the risks with these instruments. And if they claim ignorance, well too fvcking bad because that is a damned lie.

This report is an embarassment, and entirely predictable too. Carl Levin...what a joke.

Obviously everyone is responsible to do their own due diligence but its pretty shady when you put together a security then immediately short it after selling. That most certainly is betting against your client.

 

[Doppel]

the pessimist in me thinks there will be one or two fall guys and no serious jailtime.


What should happen is the BOARD should get jail time. If CEO's and the boards were held responsible you can bet your last dollar these things would not happen. Remember when FDR sent the troops out to arrest that ceo and carried him out by his chair?

now that is balls!

One or two fall guys? Now you're being optimistic, not pessimistic. GS could have an entire division who's mission statement is to make money trading child soldiers in Africa and they'd settle out of court for a couple million.

 

[matt0611]

The invisible hand can do nothing when it has been stabbed to the table by a government that has instituted the doctrine of too big to fail. Pathetic hack.

Yup. When the big government has interests intertwined with big businesses this is what happens.

The big government liberals still do not get it.

 

[LegendKiller]

The invisible hand can do nothing when it has been stabbed to the table by a government that has instituted the doctrine of too big to fail. Pathetic hack.

The Invisible Hand was only mentioned once by Adam Smith and then only in passing. He even acknowledged that regulation needed to exist.

Do you really want to go back in time to see how horribly the "free market" failed in protecting people? It's not like large modern regulation was prevalent through history.

As far as this situation goes, the same group that sold CDOs to clients wasn't the same group that bought CDS. Now, if you want to talk about the same group of guys taking both sides of the trade, look at Magnetar.

 

[Jhhnn]

The Invisible Hand was only mentioned once by Adam Smith and then only in passing. He even acknowledged that regulation needed to exist.

Do you really want to go back in time to see how horribly the "free market" failed in protecting people? It's not like large modern regulation was prevalent through history.

As far as this situation goes, the same group that sold CDOs to clients wasn't the same group that bought CDS. Now, if you want to talk about the same group of guys taking both sides of the trade, look at Magnetar.

I'm with you up until the last part. The people at the top of GS directed the activities of both groups. There's also a lot of unofficial cross-talk in any organization. The notion that nobody saw the big picture is pure pollyanna.

 

[Anarchist420]

The big government liberals still do not get it.

:thumbsup:

They sure as hell don't

 

[fskimospy]

:thumbsup:

They sure as hell don't

Hahaha Matt, you're on the same side of an issue as Anarchist420.

 

[Darwin333]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/goldman-sachs-levin-investigation_n_849708.html

Sweet. So the Presidents largest contributor and homies he put on his cabinet screwed a shit load of people over and made billions. Sup Obama?

Abusive practices?

Isn't misrepresenting a product you are selling called FRAUD?

 

[Darwin333]

But, but, Self regulated free market global finance is the most wonderful thing EVAR! Behold the Ownership Society!

Saint Ronnie told us long ago that Government is the problem! If only we'd believed him!

Freakin' chumps.

Existing law isn't being enforced and you are calling for more laws..... that won't be enforced?

Puhlease, ownership society is correct, they own the politicians. BTW, that includes the ones on your team.

 

[CycloWizard]

But, but, Self regulated free market global finance is the most wonderful thing EVAR! Behold the Ownership Society!

Saint Ronnie told us long ago that Government is the problem! If only we'd believed him!

Freakin' chumps.

They are currently subject to government regulation, at least in theory. Where is this effective alternative to self-regulation? Where are the rolling heads?