Wall Street Journal Channels Bubka?
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:16 am
This is an odd beginning for an article ... but ... Bubba
Four at Four: Goldman’s Pole Vault
By David Gaffen
• If Wells Fargo set the bar high for the banking sector, Goldman Sachs pulled a Sergey Bubka on Wells, raising things to a height that few anticipate will be surpassed. That’s not to say Goldman’s results were wonderful – the company lost $780 million after taxes in December, a month that was not included as it transitioned to a bank holding company, and it didn’t make a ton of money outside of the commodity, currency and fixed-income trading unit. To many, the euphoric reaction, even as the market retreated Tuesday, is all a bit much. “We’ve had a fabulous move here, and I’m a little nervous when you turn on the TV and everyone is talking about if we get through 850 on the S&P, we’re going to go to 1000,” says Jeffrey Frankel, president of Stuart Frankel & Co. “I’m not as negative as I was in November, but you never know what’s around the corner.” Like many competitors, Goldman was a beneficiary of a plunge in interest rates, and the wide spreads in highly liquid fixed-income products that benefited those involved in active trading – of which there are a diminished number. “Our performance in the first quarter was also a by-product of a significantly altered competitive landscape,” said David Viniar, Goldman’s chief financial officer. “Many of our traditional competitors have retreated from the marketplace, either due to financial distress, mergers, or shift in strategic priorities.” Indeed. With only one real competitor among investment banks (Morgan Stanley), there are few companies that would be likely to repeat such a performance. “With fewer players in town, the oligopoly profits go up - another reason why the big banks are even more powerful than they were before the crisis,” writes James Kwak, at the Baseline Scenario. Goldman’s performance has provided another round of ammunition for those who believe the market is past the worst of its troubles, as flawed as the figures were. “With the banks, people really feel as though they’ve started to turn the corner,” says William Lefkowitz, chief options strategist at vFinance Investments. “Many [investors] have large short positions and it was easy to run them up. For the last year, everybody just bought puts and sold shares and made money, and now the reverse is happening.”
Four at Four: Goldman’s Pole Vault
By David Gaffen
• If Wells Fargo set the bar high for the banking sector, Goldman Sachs pulled a Sergey Bubka on Wells, raising things to a height that few anticipate will be surpassed. That’s not to say Goldman’s results were wonderful – the company lost $780 million after taxes in December, a month that was not included as it transitioned to a bank holding company, and it didn’t make a ton of money outside of the commodity, currency and fixed-income trading unit. To many, the euphoric reaction, even as the market retreated Tuesday, is all a bit much. “We’ve had a fabulous move here, and I’m a little nervous when you turn on the TV and everyone is talking about if we get through 850 on the S&P, we’re going to go to 1000,” says Jeffrey Frankel, president of Stuart Frankel & Co. “I’m not as negative as I was in November, but you never know what’s around the corner.” Like many competitors, Goldman was a beneficiary of a plunge in interest rates, and the wide spreads in highly liquid fixed-income products that benefited those involved in active trading – of which there are a diminished number. “Our performance in the first quarter was also a by-product of a significantly altered competitive landscape,” said David Viniar, Goldman’s chief financial officer. “Many of our traditional competitors have retreated from the marketplace, either due to financial distress, mergers, or shift in strategic priorities.” Indeed. With only one real competitor among investment banks (Morgan Stanley), there are few companies that would be likely to repeat such a performance. “With fewer players in town, the oligopoly profits go up - another reason why the big banks are even more powerful than they were before the crisis,” writes James Kwak, at the Baseline Scenario. Goldman’s performance has provided another round of ammunition for those who believe the market is past the worst of its troubles, as flawed as the figures were. “With the banks, people really feel as though they’ve started to turn the corner,” says William Lefkowitz, chief options strategist at vFinance Investments. “Many [investors] have large short positions and it was easy to run them up. For the last year, everybody just bought puts and sold shares and made money, and now the reverse is happening.”
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