Friday, April 16, 2010
Goldman Sacked?
The Goldman fraud charge is obviously huge news.
The Connecticut Attorney general wants to file criminal charges:
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And New York might not be far behind.
Germany and other European nations and companies might also sue.
ProPublica points out that other major banks did the same thing as Goldman. Yves Smith points to one example:
The Wall Street Journal reports that Dutch bank Rabobank has filed a suit alleging that Merrill Lynch engaged in the same type of behavior as Goldman did with John Paulson, namely, devising a CDO on behalf of a hedge fund who was using it to take a short position, and not disclosing that fact to investors in the deal.
Shahien Nasiripour writes:
Securities fraud charges against Goldman Sachs are just the beginning as federal regulators and investigators comb through the wreckage of a fraud-induced recession, caused by a pervasive and systemic culture of deceit at Wall Street's biggest firms, say Wall Street analysts.
Simon Johnson thinks "our Pecora moment" - where the powers-that-be are finally confronted, and the tide starts to turn - has arrived.
Are the prosecutions finally starting? Is the dam finally breaking? Has Goldman really been sacked?
Maybe.
But Tyler Durden thinks it's all bread and circuses.
And as Mish points out (edited slightly for readability):
Here is a list of some of the things the SEC has ignored.
∙ 77 Fraud, Money Laundering, Insider Trading, and Tax Evasion Investigations Underway Regarding TARP
∙ Secret Deals Involving No One; AIG Coverup Conspiracy Unravels
∙ Questions Geithner Cannot Escape
∙ Time To Indict Geithner For Securities Fraud
∙ Bernanke Guilty of Coercion and Market Manipulation
∙ Paulson Admits Coercion; Where are the Indictments?
∙ Bernanke Suffers From Selective Memory Loss; Paulson Calls Bank of America "Turd in the Punchbowl"
∙ Let the Criminal Indictments Begin: Paulson, Bernanke, Lewis***
We need a complete ethics overhaul but we will not see it until people are thrown into prison and corporations have to choose which business they want to be in as opposed to the current state of affairs where anything for a profit is acceptable.
- Firms give advice based on how much profit the firms will make on it
- Firms trade their own books to the detriment of clients
- Firms make upgrades and downgrades after they take positions themselves
- Firms front-run trades
- Firms engage in dark pools
- Firms deemed too big to fail take advantage by upping leverage
- Firms like Goldman Sachs (which is nothing more than a giant hedge fund with no ethics) have access to Fed funds at low interest rates to do whatever the hell they please
Is someone finally standing up to the vampire squids of the world?
Or is this yet another p.r. stunt, where deals will be cut, some tens or hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fines imposed (a slap on the wrist for a behemoth like Goldman), a few low-level patsies will be convicted, and business as usual will continue?
Only time will tell ...
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Another P.R. stun...that's it
ReplyDeleteAlmost has to be a PR stunt, because if they follow this line of investigation to its logical (and legal) conclusion, they're going to end up putting most of Wall Street, and about half of the past two presidential administrations, in prison.
ReplyDeleteRemember when Federal Prosecutor -Patrick Fitzgerald went after Carl Rove???
ReplyDeleteLOL, April Fools!!! It was all for show then, and this is all for show now.
GS is the PPT Obama cannot do without.
Shake hands with your master, and say hello to fascism for another generation of fools.
"...Simon Johnson thinks "our Pecora moment" - where the powers-that-be are finally confronted, and the tide starts to turn - has arrived."
ReplyDeleteWell, if that tide has turned, it'll be one helluva ride downward as the reciprocal response from the "big boys" ain't gonna be pretty. Hold on to your hats.
This seems a dubious proposition. More likely tptb have descided to crash the stock market to raise the value of us bonds. It is a fabulous game, played by very bright people!
ReplyDelete"Simon Johnson thinks "our Pecora moment" - where the powers-that-be are finally confronted, and the tide starts to turn - has arrived."
ReplyDeleteSimon Johnson and his sidekick, Quack, offer the most misleading sort of tripe out there. Throughout the crisis, Johnson, at best a thorough-going system-supporting wuss, has always been just at the edge of meaningful criticism but never quite capable of acknowledging that the system has failed and is now utterly irremediable. "Pecora moment", Pecschmora moment. We'll have the same kind of "turning of the tide" that we had "health care reform" with the recently passed Insurance Company Idemnity Act. Johnson needs to quit exploiting the crisis with his TV appearances and book writing. I'll believe his personal "Pecora
Moment" has come when he helps organize a general strike.
Andrei Vyshinsky
Alsolutely, this is all for show. These days, what isn't?
ReplyDeleteBut, where the tide is turning - and fast - is against the extremist Zionist government of Israel.
This awakening is resulting in growing activism by American patriots - - Jews and non-Jews, alike, including those with dual US/Israeli citizenship.
This ground swell is direct opposition to the power of the Jewish/Zionist lobby (e.g., AIPAC) in this country and the brilliant and complete Zionist control of the American government -- including US/global banking.
Everthing is intimately connected.
This contention is fact, not opinion. If you doubt this, do some research online - it won't take you long) and decide for yourselves. Stay away from Wikipedia. Topics such as these and all that are those that are related, were compromised long ago by Zionist propagandists - Wiki administrators who completely control and censor the entries.)
It is a FAR better investment to focus on eliminating the cause of the premeditated American/global financial meltdown rather than the symptoms, no matter how serious.
Dov Freidman
we - the common people that is .. will miss the point if we lay all the blame on government and regulation.
ReplyDeleteSurely there is a lesson to be learned??
Just like the conn job, theres a teaser or two, a few minor wins,(savings they call it) then once the lots thrown into the pot, whoosh .. its gone!
"Well thats the way the game goes folks! Better Luck next time!!!"
The Government cant ensure people are trustworthy. We need to exercise, and to develop our perceptions. If one cant read blankfeins motives in his face, it doesnt mean they are not written there, it means we had better improve our face reading; Its written Bold and Brazen.