Goldman Sachs execs sold $700 mn of stock: Report

[OhioChick]

Source: Economic Times India

14 Jul 2009, 0644 hrs IST, AGENCIES

LONDON: Executives at US banking giant Goldman Sachs sold almost 700 million dollars worth of stock after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Most of the sales, worth 431 million pounds or 500 million euros, occurred when the firm enjoyed the support of 10 billion dollars in US government capital injections, the London-based newspaper said.

The FT based its report on compilings the newspaper had made of filings by banking executives with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The surge in selling among Goldman partners, at a time when the US Treasury had thrown Wall Street a lifeline through its asset relief programme, is likely to spark criticism from lawmakers in Washington, the FT said.


Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4774670.cms

[Uzybone]

1. WOW. Did they also buy the stock?

that whole game is rigged.

On a serious note; who was buying Goldman stock?

[BR_Parkway]

8. Probably anyone who looked at the current crop of crooks in the

"new" administration grabbed some, knowing that GS wouldn't be allowed to fail.

Just like all the reports of freepers buying up all the ammunition and repeatedly emptying the shelves cause Obama was going to take their guns - of course bullet manufacturers report record profits the next quarter.

[NBachers]

2. "likely to spark criticism from lawmakers in Washington"

Yeah, becaues the "lawmakers in Washington" want their cut of the profits.

[KoKo]

3. When will ANYONE do something about this Bloated, Behometh...taking Tax Payer Dollars

raiding our 401-K's and treasury...and filling the Obama Administration with Crooks & Liars and Thieves...

How much more needs to be put out about GS before SOME Regulatory Agency pulls the plug on them.

:banghead:

[natrat]

6. q1-never,q2 doesnt matter there's a reason its called government sacks

[ShamelessHussy]

4. and who said those boyz aren't smart?

smartest fella's in the room :evilgrin:

[On the Road]

18. As Far as Being Smart Goes,

It actually looks like they panicked and lost money.

The day after Lehman failed, GS opened at $106 and closed at $108. Today it opened at $151.

There's nothing in principle wrong with an insider selling a position -- you just aren't allowed to use insider information. You could presume that Lehman executives should have better iformation about their company's prospects than the average investor and should be able to use that money. But in this case they didn't.

[ShamelessHussy]

20. It sounds like they were hedging

[On the Road]

21. They Might Have Been Cutting Their Risk

but it's an awful lot of money for just hedging. Sounds more like a panicked flight into cash, which didn't require any inside information.

Of course, they might have bought their stock back at a lower price a couple months later, but there are no corresponding stories about hundreds of millions of dollars of insider buying.

This is one of the few stocks I've actually followed over the last year. Was looking for a financial company that was unlikely to go bankrupt and bought a little GS at about $107. Wasn't exactly the best timing, but holding paid off in this case.

What's interesting now is this whole program trading thing. Have no idea what they were doing or whether it was legal, but it certainly made a fortune since March. Of course, pretty much anyone who got into the market in March has made a fortune.

[Odin2005]

5. Insider Trading. Jail time.

[IrishBuckeye]

9. Haha, the SEC won't mess with their own kind

I use to think the SEC was just toothless and ballness. I know know that isn't the case, they just don't dare pick on the big players of this fixed game.

[galileoreloaded]

15. The SEC is very important.........

who do you think runs interference for GS? Someone has to take out the competition.

[aquart]

7. Can we hang them now?

Nobody ever gets hanged anymore.

[No Elephants]

10. Both the bailout and the stimulus were poor-structured. The federal government

should have put more conditions on both and taken more of the upside on the bailout.

[willing dwarf]

12. I'd say you're too kind

The government and regulators both here, in England and around the globe is rife with former Goldman Sachs employees who seem to be operatives on behalf of their former employer. I suppose they own a lot of GS stock and have made sure it remained secure.

I'd love to see them fall...

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lucky Luciano]

11. I wonder how many of the sales were for meeting margin calls!

It was so ugly at that time that many sales were forced. Others just wanted out after lehman failed - very understandable, but they are probably pissed for selling at the lows!

[geckosfeet]

13. A group worthy of a billion dollar taxpayer funded bailout.

They must have been struggling to survive with such miserably un-diversified portfolios.

The bank declined to comment on the FT report other than to say that its partners receive a big share of their annual bonuses in stock, and that for many, stock sales represent an effort to diversify their holdings.

The shame of it all. It must have been hell.

[snot]

14. I've got a plan

Adopt a rule that says employees of a publicly-traded company (i.e., a company that you or I might be invested in) may not buy or sell shares of their company's stock, EXCEPT

They may receive stock or stock options; but those MAY NOT be back-dated, forward-dated or otherwise modified after the fact; and

They may not SELL ANY shares until the first to occur of either: the expiration of ten years after ther termination their employment with the company (whether as an employee, consultant, subcontractor or otherwise) OR they're dead (from means other than suicide).

[Alcibiades]

16. there's little here

Hate to say it, but there's little suspicious here, assuming these sales were of stocks they got as compensation.

Though if Martha Stewart can go down for less....

[City Lights]

19. Move along people, nothing to see here.

:argh:


This better not be another mess that will be swept under the rug!


:nuke:


Recommended.

[redqueen]

22. The question no longer seems to be "Are they cheating?". It's more like "Does anybody care?"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6057091