Search results for Goldman Sachs
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Posted
Oct 31 2008, 04:30 AM
by
Andrew Horowitz
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 As if the economic bailout by U.S. taxpayers isn't enough to make you sick to your stomach, new information has come to light that several banks are planning to pay billions of dollars in year-end bonuses from the bailout funds they received. Investigations are beginning into the nine banks that took in the first $125 billion -- the same $125 billion that was supposed to be used to unclog the credit system which was preventing banks from providing much needed funds for individuals and businesses.
There are many feathers in a ruffle over this and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and several congressmen are furious that over $20 billion has already been earmarked as bonus funds for management and employees. Unbelievably, that is just the estimates from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. There are six more banks that are also working on similar heists.
Here is their rationale for using that money:
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Posted
Apr 16 2009, 03:56 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
General Growth Properties (GGP), the second-largest mall operator in the country, has filed for bankruptcy, as many experts thought it would. The company has $27 billion in debt and, with real estate prices depressed, it may be impossible to raise even close to that amount of money through asset sales.
As would be expected with any large commercial real estate enterprise, General Growth is highly leveraged and was probably able to get mortgages with ease at the height of the real estate boom.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “The bankruptcy will have far-reaching implications for the mall industry, including putting pressure on already declining property values of U.S. malls, and subsequently mall mortgages.” Put another way, the commercial property business is about to be hit by a domino effect. Prices drop, defaults rise, and more properties have to be sold, so prices drop again.
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Posted
Sep 24 2008, 10:41 AM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
It's positively swell that Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett has agreed to put $5 billion into Goldman Sachs. Especially for him.
Yes, the move is a way to show confidence in a beleaguered stock market and a beleaguered financial stock whose value has been cut nearly in half since October 2007. But make no mistake: He called the shots on this one. That’s what happens when you can put up $5 billion on a moment’s notice.
And because he can do that, he got a much better deal than you or I could get
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Posted
Jun 10 2009, 02:29 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
In early 2006, when subprime powerhouse New Century went bust, vulture investors began to salivate at the opportunities a collapsing mortgage market would offer up like manna from the trading gods. They started raising money. And lots of it.
Billions were poured into so-called "mortgage opportunity funds," which planned to pick through the wreckage of the once-high-flying housing market. Some investors aimed to focus on mortgage-backed securities, hoping to buy in at pennies on the dollar so just a few bond payments would reap sizable returns. Others, however, delved into the realm of whole loans, buying troubled mortgages from floundering banks.
As noted in the Wall Street Journal this morning, an investment strategy that seemed like a slam dunk on paper -- buying distressed mortgages on the cheap, and working out equitable arrangements with borrowers -- has proven extremely difficult to execute.
The prevailing wisdom was that, as delinquencies rose, and banks amassed a seemingly limitless portfolio of troubled loans, the likes of JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) would be forced to unload assets at firesale prices. Because they were buying at super-low prices, investors expected to have the necessary cushion to forgive principal, lower interest rates, or otherwise get borrowers back on track. They would, of course, earn a hefty profit for the effort.
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Posted
Aug 24 2009, 04:02 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Steve Jobs worked at Apple (AAPL) for $1 a year in 2000, just before the launch of the iPod, which completely changed the company’s fortunes and made him astonishingly wealthy. Lee Iaccoca worked for $1 in 1978 when he took charge of crippled Chrysler.
The dollar-a-year tradition has fallen on hard times. The most recent apostle of the practice was Edward Liddy who took the chief executive’s job at American International Group (AIG) when it was deeply troubled. He had been the head of Allstate (ALL), so he probably did not need to make several million dollars. Liddy took the job as a public service, an action which seems to be both anachronistic and idealistic. Liddy worked hard to restructure the insurance company, but was derided mercilessly by Congress because AIG executives received large pay packages on his watch. The irony of this issue was that Liddy had nothing to do with the compensation agreements. Liddy was replaced by Robert Benmosche, the former chief executive of MetLife (MET). Benmosche presumably is wealthy enough to work for nothing, but insisted on being paid $7 million. The taxpayers who own 85% of AIG are appropriately enraged that AIG let Liddy leave.
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Posted
Dec 30 2008, 08:52 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Thousands of employees have gone to Glassdoor's site to rant and rave (but mostly rant) about their jobs and share salary information. They also have plenty to say about their CEOs, and Glassdoor reviewed the CEO ratings to find out who's been naughty and nice this year. According to the reviews, the CEO that Santa should have rewarded the most this year is Art Levinson of Genentech, who was praised for making great products and taking care of his employees. Apple's Steve Jobs came in second place, followed by Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs. Who was the naughtiest of them all? Steve Odland of Office Depot, who is accused of stifling retail stores with failed business programs and allowing underperforming workers to stay on board. Others on the list include AOL's Randy Falco and Greg Brown of Motorola. Here are the full naughty and nice lists:
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Posted
May 12 2009, 10:15 AM
by
Andrew Horowitz
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
For some time, there have been questions about the veracity and the ability for the market to sustain a prolonged rally. Questions have been asked such as: Is it real? Is it safe? Will it turn down again?
Many of the concerns were due to several meaningful components that made up the rally from the devilishly low point in March of 666, reached by the S&P 500 index. Since then, stocks have been on fire and recovered all of the 2009 losses and more. But why so many questions?
For one, volume has always been suspect. Traditionally, a market rally would start slowly and then grow as more participants believed they could put their hard earned money to work to earn a rate of return greater than money market funds or other competing assets. As the rally progresses, more investors become desirous of investing and volume begins to swell. That has not happened this time around, just as it hadn't during the past few bear-market rallies. As a matter of fact, most of the high volume days came when the markets were down. This is not a sign of a healthy market rally
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Posted
Oct 02 2008, 10:52 AM
by
admin
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
At a time when the country is obsessing over the need for a $700 billion fix for the economy, billionaire investor Warren Buffett is positioning himself to be one of its biggest beneficiaries.
Not that Buffett needs bailing out. Instead, he's doing what he does best: Buying assets on the cheap when he perceives he has an advantage. As BusinessWeek points out, Buffett is doing what investors like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan have done in crises past, propping up faltering institutions.
But as he does so, Buffett, via his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, is playing salesman to average investors, even as he gets deals they could only dream of. Look at the GE deal: Buffett's buying $3 billion in perpetual preferred stock from General Electric. Buffett's investment has a 10% dividend -- $300 million a year -- and GE can’t undo the deal for three years. Buffett also gets the right to buy $3 billion in GE common shares at a price of $22.25. So he can sit back and watch the GE stock chart, and if it hits $45, for instance, he can double that $3 billion without having risked an extra dime.
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Posted
Nov 17 2008, 03:37 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
In a remarkably shrewd move, the top seven executives at Goldman Sachs will give up their 2008 bonuses. That should keep Congress and regulators off the investment bank's back and allow it to move forward with its daily business without the distractions and objections that would come from paying out tens of millions of dollars in compensation after a year in which even Goldman has remarkably poor earnings and an awful stock performance. The shares are down from a 52-week high of $234 to $67.
According to The Wall Street Journal, "The executives, including firm Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Lloyd Blankfein, asked the board's compensation committee that they receive no bonus and the board Sunday approved the request. As a result, the executives will only be eligible for their base salaries, $600,000 for each of the seven executives."
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Posted
Nov 19 2008, 09:08 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
If you're planning to beg Uncle Sam for $25 billion, it might be smart to brush up on your poor-boy act first.
The CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler overlooked this basic fact when they flew to Washington in private jets to testify before Congress.
Wagoner's trip to Washington in a G4 private jet cost his struggling company an estimated $20,000 roundtrip. A commercial flight booked online would have cost about $576 for coach and $1,674 first class round trip.
Sure, sure a CEO's time is more valuable
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