Isn't it amazing and gratifying that the beneficiaries of our help are doing so well! What a surprise!
Just a year after surviving the financial crisis with billions in federal aid, the banking giant Goldman Sachs reported strong results Thursday that beat expectations and promptly went on the defensive about its bonuses. ... The bank said that it earned $3.19 billion in the third quarter, powered by strong trading and gains on its own corporate investments. Revenue was $12.37 billion.
It seems they're a little worried that we might jump all over them. Can't imagine why. In any event -- and even though they aren't paying us back or helping out those among us who not only helped Goldman out of their mess but are also homeless and jobless -- they're helping somebody...
In part to allay criticism of its profits and bonuses, Goldman announced a $200 million contribution to its foundation, which promotes education.
Oops! Looks like they're helping themselves avoid Mr. Tax Man. Looks like we're going to have to continue to make up the difference.
Meanwhile, some Goldman managers will enjoy a jackpot.
Goldman also disclosed how much it had set aside for its annual bonus pool. It said that it had earmarked $5.35 billion in compensation and benefits, an increase of 84 percent from the year earlier period, putting it on course for a record payout to its executives by the end of 2009.
The CEO is gratified everyone else is doing so well, too.
“Although the world continues to face serious economic challenges, we are seeing improving conditions and evidence of stabilization, even growth, across a number of sectors,” the chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein, said in a statement.
Well, not everybody.
Fifteen million Americans are locked in the nightmare of unemployment, nearly 10 percent of the work force. A third have been jobless for more than six months. Thirteen percent of Latinos and 15 percent of blacks are out of work. (Those are some of the official statistics. The reality is much worse.)
Let's see. What if we were to divide 15,000,000 hurting Americans into $5.35 billion earmarked for select Goldman employees, that would be... Sorry, my calculator can't handle the overload. Guessing: a couple or three months' worth of groceries?
Shhh! Moral considerations are so not Wall Street.
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Elsewhere, the Times reports:
Concluding that some of the nation’s biggest banks are in good enough shape to raise capital from private investors, senior Treasury officials would like more of them to repay billions of dollars in taxpayer money that bailed them out over the last year.
But many of those banks would prefer to keep the money for several more years rather than raise new money and dilute their existing stockholders.
