Goldman Sachs, criminal enterprise

[marmar]

Shahien Nasiripour [e-mail] | HuffPost

Goldman Sachs Emails: Firm Had 'The Big Short' As Economy Fell
First Posted: 04-24-10 10:30 AM | Updated: 04-24-10 03:12 PM


As homeowners were falling behind on their subprime mortgages, wreaking havoc for investors that owned slices of their mortgages in securities peddled by Wall Street, Goldman Sachs was "well positioned," according to internal company emails from top executives.

The firm had "the big short," declared chief financial officer David Viniar -- Goldman Sachs was making money off the souring of the very securities it had peddled to the market.

The internal emails released Saturday by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations paint a picture long known by most of the country, yet never before so vividly and explicitly articulated by Goldman officials. (Scroll down to see the full text of the emails.) As early as May 2007, as homeowners were being crushed under the weight of subprime mortgages, the most profitable firm on Wall Street had long taken out a form of insurance on those delinquencies.

The firm made money on the upside -- originating, securitizing and selling subprime mortgage-based securities to investors -- and on the downside, thanks to the insurance. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/24/goldman-sachs-emails-big-short_n_550547.html

[Joanne98]

1. Here's a good chart

[malaise]

2. I like the BBC Report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8642413.stm
<snip>
Goldman Sachs executives boasted about the money the bank was making while the US housing market was collapsing in 2007, released company emails show.

The emails detail how the investment house profited from the mortgage crisis by betting that the market would fall.

The bank says that it lost money in the market crash.

It says it lost $1.2bn (£780m) in the residential mortgage market during 2007-08.

The emails were released by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation into the origins of the financial crisis ahead of a hearing on Tuesday.

In one of them, Goldman Sachs executive Donald Mullen wrote to his colleague: "Sounds like we will make serious money."

In another email, a Goldman trader stated that the investments he had sold were "like Frankenstein turning against his own inventor".

"I'm trading a product which a month ago was worth $100 and today is only worth $93. That doesn't seem like a lot but when you take into account.... (the investments) are worth billions, well it adds up to a lot of money", wrote Fabrice Tourre.

[Bluebear]

3. kick

[Ardent15]

4. And being protected by the President and the Treasury Secretary

Change you can believe in!