[Cloud9]

This Out of Rolling Stone
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]The Great American Bubble Machine by Matt Taibbi:

“…the recent financial crisis which doubles as a history of the decline and fall of the suddenly swindled dry American empire reads like a Who’s Who of Goldman Sachs graduates….All that money you are losing, it’s going somewhere, and in both literal and figurative sense, Goldman Sachs is where it is going: The Bank is a huge highly sophisticated engine for converting the useful, deployed wealth of society into to the least useful most wasteful insoluble substance on earth- pure profit for rich individuals….It’s a gangster state, running on gangster economics…And maybe we can’t stop it but at least we should know where it is all going.”

[Cloud9]

Now this: http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/06/n ... ldman.html

It is clear that a plutocracy has run us all into the ground.

[Novus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'T')he Bank is a huge highly sophisticated engine for converting the useful, deployed wealth of society into to the least useful most wasteful insoluble substance on earth- pure profit for rich individuals…
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16763183/Taib ... end_send=1

[mattduke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'T')he Bank is a huge highly sophisticated engine for converting the useful, deployed wealth of society into to the least useful most wasteful insoluble substance on earth- pure profit for rich individuals...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16763183/Taib ... end_send=1

[jasonraymondson]

Surprised to hear myself agreeing with Matt Duke, but leave profit out of it. Profit is a good thing, what these people were doing had nothing to do with profit, only stealing.

[mattduke]

More comments from the author.

http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/06 ... -a-chance/

[shakespear1]

Wish every American would read this article

[TreeFarmer]

I agree with mattduke and jayson, profit is the result of delivering a good or service to someone that makes them happy, in return they give you some of their money.

If this article is accurate, what Goldman has been doing is scamming the system.

TF

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'T')his Out of Rolling Stone: The Great American Bubble Machine by Matt Taibbi: $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '�')��…It’s a gangster state, running on gangster economics….”

[Prince]

It's interesting to look at stock charts for GS in the last 18 months. They hit a high of around $200, dropped down to less than $50, and in the last 4 months have more than tripled back to $150. They have made out, quite literally, like bandits. Given their ties to Obama and the US political machine in general, I somewhat expected they would be safe, but I didn't think it would be so obvious.

[nobodypanic]

in the modern corporate sense, profit is loot, loot is profit.

the unrestricted pursuit of profit is largely why we're now staring deep into the olduvai gorge.

[dorlomin]

Dont Goldman Sachs fire a percentage of there staff every year? Or is that just the London office?

And as for profit, well even anarchist collectives aim to return a profit.

[pablonite]

He seems to have a problem with only one arm of the Octopus? It goes back to 1694 when the Rothschilds took control of the Bank of England and before that the Knights Templar, their symbolism is everywhere today.

"The few who can understand the system will be either so interested in its profits, or so dependent on its favours, that there will be no opposition from that class, while, on the other hand, that great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that Capital derives from the system, will bear its burden without complaint and, perhaps, without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests."
Letter written from London by the Rothschilds to their New York agents introducing their banking method into America.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Prince', 'b')ut I didn't think it would be so obvious.

[Daphne64]

This is the most stunning article I have read in over a year. Since I spend way too much time reading finance blogs, it's fairly uncommon I find any real new information.

This one threw new information at me in bundles.

A short synopsis:

1) Goldman played a material part in the internet bubble, by changing the rules of IPOs without telling rank-and-file investors. Inside deals were cut so that IPO'd stocks would rise phenomenally, adding to the excitement of the bubble. Fines it paid for some of it's shenanigans were very small compared to the profits they had reaped.

2) Goldman had an outsized role in the housing bubble. One of it's mortgage backed securities became a textbook example of how bad the underwriting became (you may want to read a separate article on this security - GSAMP Trust 2006-S3. The article doesn't give the full picture of how bad some of these securities were- and how much of these securities got AAA ratings.)

Goldman knew how bad their securities were and so shorted them and insured them against default at the same time they were selling them. Goldman Sachs was a significant chunk of the CDS business that sunk AIG.

3) Goldman was behind oil hitting $147 a barrel last year. They had gotten a secret exemption to a rule limiting commodities hedging to legitimate producers. Nobody knew about this, so there wasn't a whole lot of attention to Goldman increasing the proportion of oil in it's commodities index funds.

4) Goldman is poised to profit from the upcoming cap and trade regulations.

One thing I have read that was NOT in the article was that Goldman managed to get an exemption from the short selling ban last summer.

We need to forward this article to as many of our friends as possible.

It's telling that in this day and age, the main sources of real financial information are blogs, comedy central and Rolling Stone.

[hiker75]

It appears that Rollig Stone has pulled the article. At least that is what I get when clicking the link.

[Daphne64]

Try this link, it's more readable anyway.

http://www.correntewire.com/great_ameri ... _machine_0

[drew]

thanks, that was a good read. I saw an interview with the author just the other day on BNN.

Drew

[Mesuge]

Thanks, great article, sums up nicely some of the uknowns as well.
Now, the questions are obvious:

1/
Q: Is the Goldman gang still in charge?
A: In the U.S. yes, globally with possible mas$ive devaluation and regional BRIC like trade arrangements not that likely.

2/
Q: Where is the casino/bubble/circus heading next?
A: Emission trading..
A: Another energy related bubble.
..
.

?

[deMolay]

This article by Rollingstone has 7 pages. Read Page 6. The Carbon Trading Market and GoldmanSachs. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/st ... _machine/7