Goldman Sachs (GS) 01 (Jun 08 - Apr 10)

[kennynah]

yeah...u right... have to raise the bar to S$500K for privilege banking...S$1mil for bank butler services...S$5mil for "specials" from the SYT private banking staff....

[millionairemind]

Goldman Sachs May Reap $1 Billion in CIT Bankruptcy (Update1)
By Dakin Campbell


Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is set to earn about $1 billion should CIT Group Inc. enter bankruptcy or otherwise end a $3 billion financing agreement, according to a person familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified because the payout hasn’t been disclosed.

[millionairemind]

Published October 16, 2009

Goldman Sachs Q3 earnings jump

It will give out more than US$20 billion in year-end bonuses

(NEW YORK) Goldman Sachs Group posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings yesterday and stayed on pace to hand out more than US$20 billion in year-end bonuses.

Wall Street's dominant firm reported third-quarter profit that was bolstered by strong fixed income and derivatives trading results.

The firm posted net income for common shareholders of US$3.03 billion, or US$5.25 a share. That compares with US$845 million, or US$1.81 per share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Analysts on average had forecast earnings of US$4.24 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois, said: 'They're real earnings, the question is how repeatable are they.'

Goldman shares were down 2.5 per cent in premarket trading.

Through Wednesday, the shares were up more than 300 per cent from lows set last November.

Net revenue in investment banking and financial advisory fell during the third quarter, reflecting the decline in mergers and acquisitions. Investment banking net revenue was US$899 million, 31 per cent lower than the third quarter of 2008.

Results in financial advisory were US$325 million, down 47 per cent.

Its annualised return on common equity, a measure of how well the firm reinvests earnings, was 21.4 per cent in the quarter compared with 7.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2008. Book value per share grew to US$110.75 from US$106.41 at the end of June.

Goldman set aside US$5.4 billion for compensation during the quarter, raising the total to US$16.8 billion so far this year.

The quarterly compensation figure puts the firm on pace to stash away more than $20 billion for its year-end bonus pool. - Reuters, Bloomberg

[winston]

Goldman Sachs Is Robbing Us Blind by Dylan Ratigan

In a world where real competition, modern technology and lack of special government standing means most American businesses have no choice but to adapt and innovate -- Wall Streets wimps only apparent skill is rigging the game.

In fact, on Wall Street there have always been only two basic ways to make money. The first and most difficult: Be a great investor -- to the best investors go the profits, rewarding those who are best at picking winning businesses for America and punishing those who fail through the loss of their money.

The second, and seemingly preferred method, exploit those who know less than you -- and take their money, even if you have to change the laws to do so.

http://www.businessinsider.com/dylan-ra ... nd-2009-10

[millionairemind]

Goldman benefits from trading bonanza

By Francesco Guerrera and Michael MacKenzie in New York

Published: November 4 2009 18:42 | Last updated: November 5 2009 00:13

Traders at Goldman Sachs recorded only one daily loss in the third quarter, highlighting the trading bonanza sweeping Wall Street as central banks continue to pump billions of dollars into the financial system.

The performance – revealed on Wednesday in a regulatory filing – compares with two losing trading days in the previous quarter and confirms that the authorities’ drive to revive markets after the crisis is yielding huge windfalls for some banks.

Before the crisis, banks regularly recorded trading losses on several days in a quarter.

Goldman made more than $100m in profits on 36 of the 65 days in the three months to September and recorded more than $50m in profit on more than eight out of 10 trading days, the filing shows.

These figures were down from the second quarter, when Goldman reported record trading revenues and had 46 days with $100m-plus in profits. The smaller number of days with $100m-plus profits in the third quarter partly reflects the bank’s decision to rein in risk-taking in areas such as interest rates and equities.

Goldman’s ability to reap large profits – its trading operations had net income of $6bn during the third quarter – without ramping up risk underlines the changing nature of trading on Wall Street.

After taking large bets with their own capital prior to the crisis, several banks have now taken advantage of reduced competition, higher margins and government-provided liquidity to make money in less risky activities. Goldman doubled its trading profits in credit from $1bn in the second quarter to $2bn in the third quarter and also increased profits in equities by about 25 per cent to $3.4bn, according to the filing.

The firm, which last year had to become a bank holding company to access government funds, lost $3.6bn in currency trading in the third quarter, more than twice its loss in the previous period. However, that figure is volatile because it includes positions used to hedge currency exposure across Goldman’s portfolio.

Trading in the US fixed-income market this year has been dominated by the Federal Reserve, which recently finished buying a planned $300bn in Treasury debt, and is on track to complete buying $1,250bn of mortgage securities by the end of March. These purchases have helped keep market rates low and also normalised the relationship between government bonds and other fixed-income securities.

Dealers say banks have made big profits by the timing of Fed purchases of government debt and subsequent Treasury debt sales, and by betting that the relationship between Treasury bonds and other fixed-income securities would normalise.

[kennynah]

yeah...i read that this year, GS made 116 days, each at a whopping $100million... nabey, these guys are good....really good...

[millionairemind]

Nov 9, 2009
Banks do 'God's work'

LONDON - THE chief executive of Goldman Sachs, which has attracted widespread media attention over the size of its staff bonuses, believes banks serve a social purpose and are doing 'God's work'.

In an interview with London's Sunday Times newspaper, Lloyd Blankfein also said he believed big profits and bonuses at banks were a sign that the world economy was recovering.

'We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. We have a social purpose,' he told the paper.

The dominant Wall Street bank posted third-quarter earnings of US$3 billion (S$4.2 billion) and plans to hand out more than US$20 billion in year-end bonuses.

Mr Blankfein told the Sunday Times that the bank's compensation practices correlated with long-term performance.

'Others made no money and still paid large bonuses. Some are not around anymore. I wonder why?' He added that he understood, however, that people were angry with bankers' actions: 'I know I could slit my wrists and people would cheer.' -- REUTERS

[winston]

The dominant Wall Street bank posted third-quarter earnings of US$3 billion (S$4.2 billion) and plans to hand out more than US$20 billion in year-end bonuses.

US$3b per quarter = US$12b of Earnings per year. This is excluding taxes.

Bonus will be US$20b.

Bonus > Gross Earnings ?

[millionairemind]

If I am not wrong, their bonus is taken straight from the revenue.

They have a huge trading arm that is making money left right and center.

[millionairemind]

This might help clarify. An older report.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009 ... ts-bonuses
During the quarter, Goldman dedicated 49% of its revenue to paying its staff – amounting to a compensation fund of $6.65bn, or $226,000 for each of its 29,200 staff. If the bank's bottom line prospers to the same degree for the rest of the year, employees could end up with average annual pay of more than $900,000 – an increase of nearly 150% on last year's figure of $363,000.