Goldman to make record bonus payout

[CHIMO]

Source: The Observer

Staff at Goldman Sachs staff can look forward to the biggest bonus payouts in the firm's 140-year history after a spectacular first half of the year, sparking concern that the big investment banks which survived the credit crunch will derail financial regulation reforms.

A lack of competition and a surge in revenues from trading foreign currency, bonds and fixed-income products has sent profits at Goldman Sachs soaring, according to insiders at the firm.

Staff in London were briefed last week on the banking and securities company's prospects and told they could look forward to bumper bonuses if, as predicted, it completed its most profitable year ever. Figures next month detailing the firm's second-quarter earnings are expected to show a further jump in profits. Warren Buffett, who bought $5bn of the company's shares in January, has already made a $1bn gain on his investment.

Goldman is expected to be the biggest winner in the race for revenues that, in 2006, reached £186bn across the entire industry. While this figure is expected to fall to £160bn in 2009, it will be split among a smaller number of firms.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/21/goldman-sachs-bonus-payments

[ixion]

1. imagine that...

:eyes:

[hobbit709]

2. Dust off the guillotine

A shortening may be in order.

[Faygo Kid]

24. I'm with you. They never change their spots. Never. The rich and powerful always win.

We're not going to get ANY meaningful health care reform.

Decent, hardworking people are losing their jobs left and right. I'm 58 this year, and know I'm expendable. I expect to lose my job later this year, and not because of my performance, but their mismanagement.

Our tax dollars go to prop up these bastards.

No action on the environment. Health care hopeless. Education a shambles. Discrmination rampant. The "little guy" has no chance.

I'm sick of this shit.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

37. THEY ARE PROBABLY IN THE LONDON OFFICE

[sasquatch]

45. Hear, hear!

:patriot:

[sakabatou]

3. Ugh, how sickening.

[UpInArms]

4. the biggest and nastiest pigs at the trough

I wish them ill.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. I wonder how much stock

Henry Paulson has in Goldman.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Windfall profits tax 'em. n/t

[pattmarty]

7. Ahhhhhhhhhh, CHANGE. When???????????????

[JDPriestly]

8. So, let's see how much of their bonuses these folks will pay to the U.S. in taxes.

I'm serious. Wealthy people always complain about the tax burden on them. So, how much will they really pay out of these windfall profits -- which they owe directly to the government bail-out, meaning to the American people. They should pay the whole year's windfall of profits to the American people and government.

[dreamnightwind]

9. k & r

[galileoreloaded]

10. This should be one of the top 5 stories on DU.How telling.

[notesdev]

11. Wow. Just... wow.

I can't believe the unmitigated arrogance and gall that it must take to do this. Maybe some more bus tours are in order.

[Mz Pip]

12. Unless Goldman received

money from taxpayer bailouts, I don't see what can be done about this.

If they received any money from the government then all bonuses should be on hold until they pay it all back.

Mz Pip

[Scooter24]

13. Goldman was forced by the fed to take TARP money

to prevent any one bank from appearing in trouble. They recently paid back their loan with dividends.

At this point Goldman is once again a free company.

[OKNancy]

18. I have mixed feelings because the company has always

been a huge donor to Democrats ( well not the company itself, but people who work there)
I don't know if they have a PAC, but if they do, I'm sure it leans toward Democrats too.

[FailureToCommunicate]

22. Really? Any links? And did they pay their share of taxes? Somehow I doubt it.

[bbinacan]

26. Try this

http://www.opensecrets.org/parties/contrib.php?cmte=DPC&cycle=2008

[FailureToCommunicate]

30. Thanks. Clearly Goldman folks give a LOT to Dems. But does the company give to the IRS? (for all

the gazillions they profit from bond trading US bonds, etc.?)

[Pharlo]

23. But how much of those profits came through AIG and their

taxpayer bailout?

[AngryAmish]

31. A large % of the AIG bailout went to G-S

AIG held it for about ten seconds.

[SharonAnn]

35. GOlfmand received the money from AIG that AIG received from the government.

The AIG money was also used to pay various world banks.

[WriteDown]

14. I have a friend who works for Goldman...

Maybe I should think about hitting him up for some cash.

[SOS]

15. Goldmine Sachs rakes in a quarter trillion in profit

while the American worker suffers a painful financial death.

Ain't oligarchy grand?

[ldf]

16. wtf is wrong with this picture

it may be legal, but how can so much profit be made while the economy is in the toilet?

there are obviously TWO economies.

edit for punctuation

[jmowreader]

27. You didn't know that already?

Think back to 1981-1989, which was supposedly this huge time of plenty. If you were in the financial services sector it was; if you were in manufacturing things weren't so great.

[Joanne98]

17. NATCH

[madrchsod]

19. "money,money,money,it`s a rich man`s world"

[Solly Mack]

20. K&R

[Dinger]

21. Didn't That geithner Guy Have Something To Do with goldman?

Or am I all wrong?

[inna]

43. Paulson most certainly does, but i'm not sure if Geitner has a direct connection...

nothing obvious pops up in a google search, if you (or anyone else) can find a connection, please post!

[Botany]

50. From Wiki .... Hank Paulson

Conflict of interest claims
It has been pointed out that Paulson's plan could potentially have some conflicts of interest, since Paulson was the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, a firm that may benefit largely from the plan Questions remain about Paulson's interest, despite the fact that he had no direct financial interest in Goldman, since he had sold his entire stake in the firm prior to becoming Treasury Secretary, pursuant to ethics law. The Goldman Sachs benefit from AIG bailout was recently estimated as USD 12.9 billion and GS was the largest recipient of the public funds from AIG. Creating the collateralized debt obligation (CDO's) forming the basis of the current crisis was an active part of Goldman Sach's business during Paulson's tenure as CEO. An investigation into whether the creators of these debts had failed to disclose their underlying risk—likely in civil damage suits arising out of AIG's failure—would necessarily involve scrutiny of Paulson's own role. The fact that his sale of his Goldman Sach's interest was tax-deferred, netting him nearly $200 million in tax benefits, resulted in questions about the motives of his joining the government.

July 3, 2006 – January 20, 2009

[democracy1st]

25. this administration better deliver on regulations

[shireen]

28. exactly what did they do to earn those huge bonuses?

nothing

:mad:

[shireen]

29. did you see the last paragraph?

Last week, the firm predicted that President Barack Obama's government could issue $3.25tn of debt before September, almost four times last year's sum. Goldman, a prime broker of US government bonds, is expected to make hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from selling and dealing in the bonds.

this is INSANE.

[Faygo Kid]

32. It IS insane. Disgusting. Appalling. No adjectives are adequate.

I am sick of the shithole that this nation has become. Can't believe I'm saying that.

[eppur_se_muova]

33. Well, they did have a record year, didn't they?

:sarcasm:

[mbperrin]

34. Of course, they didn't give back the government guarantees on their debt or the

discounted credit from the Fed. How very uh....independent of them!?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ik0cTziDq25tH6gfk_uVrZl_Sm1QD98TVRCG1

Despite their relative strength, the banks still rely on government subsidies, including guarantees on debt they already issued and discounted credit lines from the Federal Reserve.

Fuckers.

[bluesmail]

36. Henry Paulson was/is to the treasury that Cheney was/is to Halliburton, (KBR) eom

[laylah]

38. I certainly don't want to get banned,

OR put on suspension; HOWEVER, those lousy male rooster suckers from HELL. And who...WHO? is going to stop this bullshit? I cannot pay my mortgage (yes I have internet...flame away. I really do NOT care!) I will be 58 on the 1st of July and this whole freakin' mess is disgusting to me!

I had great "hopes", only great worries now. I am still thinking too early in, he has inherited so MUCH shit but when will it STOP!

I want him to pick up the "walk softly and carry a BIG stick" meme. THAT is what I voted for!

[Divine Discontent]

44. amen!

always laugh at the at "you have internet" bullcrap line some use - internet is like 3% of what a mortgage payment is, and some people use libraries or their neighbor's wifi signal.

yes, Pres. Obama is not doing what I hoped. He's not remotely as bad as McSame woulda been, but, outside of a few noticeable issues that I'm thrilled of the changes, he's the same on many fronts as Johnny woulda been.

[SOS]

49. We need these words spoken (again) from the Oval Office:

"We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace--business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.

They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.

Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred.

- FDR, October 1936

[TBF]

39. I'm shocked. K&R n't

[inna]

40. O_M_F_G. i'm SO sick of this shit.

bastards, rapacious, obscene, out of control, evil bastards.


and no, we're not getting any meaningful health reform because.... i guess because we are sheep and let these guys (image below) be in control:




seriously, i feel like i'm going to throw up. pigs, f*cking pigs. :puke: :grr: :mad:


and rec#33 btw, people should know about this shit. :mad:


seriously, what do we do?? how do we fight this?? this makes me so mad, but we are completely helpless.

[givemebackmycountry]

41. Goldman Sachs...what a monument to a "moral" and "Godly" United States.

What does Goldman Sachs produce?
What does Goldman Sachs manufacture?
What does Goldman Sachs contribute to the overall good and well being of the nation?

I think it was in the movie "The Godfather" where I first heard the line that you can steal more with a pen, than you can with a gun.

These people trade paper, they trade numbers, they trade air, they trade our dreams, and the more that we suffer the more they profit.
And the bigger the bonuses for these pigs become.

I am a peaceful man.
But, I'm almost ready to believe that maybe it's time we dragged the executives of Goldman Sachs and their bonus swelled pockets and egos down into the street, and we bash their fucking skulls in like a bunch of baby seals.

Just to send a message.
We ain't putting up with this bullshit anymore.

I know the above statement is over the top and I admit to being prone to hyperbole at times when I am mad.
I am so getting sick of this shit.
I'm 54 and hanging on by my fingernails and I am SO much more fortunate than most in that I have a good job.
But, that could change on a whim by the CEO and the stock price.

Enjoy your new Mercedes and BMW's assholes.

[Divine Discontent]

42. We have no govt control on these dirty criminals... I don't trust our govt & that includes

everyone but a couple handfuls of reps & senators that stand up against this shit...

they are the death of the people... (the banks & the govt support of the rape of our treasury)

[pjt7]

46. Ha Ha! Goldman skull F-d us.. again

HA! HA!

Geithner's Chief of Staff was Goldman's Top LOBBYIST!

HA! HA!

Nobody in the press ask Obama about this...

[Initech]

47. God I'm so fucking sick of this shit. No justice.

[valerief]

48. Socialized capitalism at its best. nt

[OwnedByFerrets]

51. Fucking hell. It just keeps getting better and better