The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on After-the-Fact Posturing grilled four present and former Goldman Sachs execs today. It was actually entertaining, in a surreal way - can anything compare with watching a bunch of Senators lecture a bunch of Wall Streeters about candor and ethics?
The NY Times fails to capture the spirit:
Senators Put Goldman on Defensive Over Mortgage Deals
Uh huh. A bunch of heroes who are afraid to host a town hall where angry voters will bury them on health care (and immigration!) get real brave when they can put under oath some people already facing a civil lawsuit.
The Goldman guys were on the defensive because the housing market crashed and their deals went south; one Senator admitted that even Congress could share in the blame for the housing debacle, but no one suggested that the Goldman crew be allowed to ask each Senator whether they voted to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the years. Who'd be on the defensive then? Yeah!
Oh, well. I will mine this nugget of news from the Fabulous Fab of the SEC complaint and the Abacus deal:
For his part, Mr. Tourre said the two investors in the transaction were institutions with significant resources and experience in the C.D.O. market and had every opportunity to clarify their position with the bank.
He said that he never told one of them, ACA Management, that a hedge fund manager, John A. Paulson, “would be an equity investor in the AC-1 transaction or would take any long position in the deal.” According to the S.E.C. complaint, Mr. Paulson requested the creation of the Abacus instruments in 2007 so as to bet against them.
“Although I don’t recall the exact words that I used, I recall informing ACA that Paulson’s fund was expected to buy credit protection on some of the senior tranches of the AC-1 transaction,” Mr. Tourre said. “This necessarily meant that Paulson was expected to take some short exposure in the transaction.”
Mr. Paulson is not named in the civil suit. Referring to the other investor in the transaction, IKB, a large German bank, Mr. Tourre said: “I wish to repeat — I did not mislead IKB or ACA, two of the most sophisticated institutional investors in these products anywhere in the world.”
He said Goldman had “no economic motive” to design the deal to fail.
The confusion at ACA was a key to the SEC complaint, but it may not hold up to much scrutiny or testimony - CNBC previously reported that a Paulson employee spilled the beans to ACA as well.
When I was younger I used to dream my old Jr. High School invited me to be the guest graduation speaker and I let loose about what I really thought of that hellhole and how it killed the spirit and mind.
Now, I sometimes dream I'm a Senatorial witness and say what I really think of those camera hogging miscreants.
Posted by: Clarice | April 27, 2010 at 04:03 PM
Since I got everyone so caught up in last weeks IPL Cricket Semi-Finals action in India, I hope no one will mind if I tell you who won the overall Championship and thus provide closure on the very exciting 2010 Season.
Unexpectedly the Hyderabad (Deccan Chargers), last years champions and this years post Season Favorites to repeat, got booted in the Semi's by the Chennai Super KIngs (the Yellow Banana's). Here are some shots of the ">http://kraran.com/deccan-chargers-cheerleaders-pics/4/"> very sad Hyderabad Cheerleaders.
In the other Semi, the Mumbai Indians beat somebody ( I can't find out who exactly), but from the look of these unhappy cheerleaders I expect it may have been the ">http://www.rajasthanroyals.com/Fanzone/photo-content-view.aspx?mediaID=364"> Rajasthani Royals.
This left the Chennai Super KIngs in the Finals, who BTW had just snuck in to post season play by beating beautiful Bollywood actress ">http://fullytimepass.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/12-11.jpg"> Priety Zinta's Punjabi Eleven's.
Chennai's opponents in the Finals were the very powerful Mumbai Indians. Besides having home field advantage, since the match was rescheduled and played in explosion safe Bombay (due to terrorist stadium bombings at Bangalore, where the match was supposed to be held), the Indians also had much of the support of the ">http://www.iplt20.com/photos.php?id=422"> Bollywood Celeb community.
Regardless, the Chennai Yellow Banana's somehow pulled off a 22 run Championship victory, possibly because they had the support of ">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshowpics/5829211.cms"> this "Be the Ball" guy.
The Chennai boys obviously deserved it, and here are some photos of the ">http://spicyflavours.net/index.php?app=gallery&module=images§ion=viewimage&img=21904"> very sad Mumbai Cheerleaders.
Thank you for this opportunity to provide closure:)
Posted by: daddy | April 27, 2010 at 04:16 PM
Harry Reid was with Chucky Schumer last night scamming up millions more from Chucky's Wall Street buddies while Obama was excoriating the Republicans.
Apparently, tonight it's on to Chicago for Reid to suck up even more dirty money....
Brought to you by the Democratic Party, a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs.
Posted by: matt | April 27, 2010 at 04:32 PM
daddy;
was the final followed by the burning down of any Muslim neighborhoods in Mumbai? overturned cattle? Did they all jump up into a Bollywood musical number that had nothing to do with anything when the final gun went off? Did they tear down the goalposts/wicket?
Enquiring minds want to know!
Posted by: matt | April 27, 2010 at 04:39 PM
I know nothing about cricket. I take it from daddy's always informative posts, it has a lot to do with buxom cheerleaders.
Posted by: Clarice | April 27, 2010 at 04:43 PM
Matt,
Apparently this is how they celebrate in the ">http://www.iplindianpremierleague.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ipl-night-03.jpg"> Bollyhood.
Posted by: daddy | April 27, 2010 at 04:51 PM
It could catch on, if they sold it like that over here
Posted by: nathan hale | April 27, 2010 at 04:52 PM
As I understand it, cricket is just like baseball, except there are no foul balls, the windup is much more elaborate, and the bats are flattened. I should bicycle over to Flushing Meadow Park some Sunday morning and watch a match. Do they wear whites? I love sports where you are required to wear whites--tennis, croquet, etc.
Posted by: peter | April 27, 2010 at 04:56 PM
Daddy,
Did those cheerleaders cause any eatthquakes with their bosom as the Iranian clerics warned?
Posted by: PaulV | April 27, 2010 at 05:05 PM
--(due to terrorist stadium bombings at Bangalore, where the match was supposed to be held)--
I have to ask; did the terrorists use Bangalore torpedoes?
Posted by: Ignatz | April 27, 2010 at 05:15 PM
Will have to watch the 'proceedings' to get the full flavor of this dog and pony show but for those who saw it, won't this ultimately come down to whether, as an underwriter, and then the dealer, does Goldman have a responcibility to provide full dislosure via their documentation -like their flip book - to let investors know how the instrucment was created? I would expect due diligence by the German bank and 'let the buyer beware' and all that, but I wouldn't expect them to be mind readers or have to hire a team of private investigators to find out basic facts that common sense would say would color their decision to buy the thing or not to begin with. Dear Lord, where are the adults here?
Posted by: Fenderdeluxe | April 27, 2010 at 05:29 PM
"Tied to a whipping post"? How 'bout "The vicious Vampire Squid was ensconced in a comfy chair and tickled 'til he giggled"? Levin got off a couple of cracks but this was the thinnest of gruel.
Fenderdeluxe,
I thought the fact that GS received a 'find me a sucker' fee of $15 million from Paulson for setting up the deal might have been of some interest to the
victimssophisticated investors involved in losing their shirts but apparently the rules covering operation of sporting house/casinos consider that fact not to reach the threshold of being material.Are you sure you don't want to watch the debate over whether Lloyd's Boot Polish tastes great or is less filling? Someone will be by shortly to take one side or the other.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | April 27, 2010 at 06:14 PM
Wrapping up the wrap-up of the Cricket Season, this story tells us that minutes after the Chennai Yellow Banana's unexpected victory, League President Modi was suspended and and charged with corruption, and IRS agents were launched out across the country in search of anybody who made a Rupee on illegal betting on the Playoffs. Former UN Under Secretary Tharoor had already been booted out of office for corruption before the Playoffs. Much of that I'm in favor of...and some not so much.
As for quality celebrations in Chennai (Madras), home of the ">http://www.zimbio.com/Cricket/articles/1218/IPL+Cheerleaders+Pictures+Videos+IPL+Twenty20"> Super-King Cheerleaders, it is evident they are new to the business of victory.
Whereas the Punjabi Eleven's have always been able to vicariously celebrate through their gorgeous Bollywood Team Owner, ">http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=preity+zinta&aq=0s&aqi=g-s1g4g-s1g1g-s1g2&aql=&oq=Priety+&gs_rfai=&start=0"> Priety Zinta, and the Rajasthani's have always been able to celebrate through their own their gorgeous BollyWood Team Owner, ">http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=shilpa%20shetty%20&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi"> Shilpa Shetty, the Chennai folks have been way behind the power curve. All they could muster for their teams great victory was a little twittering from local actress ">http://thatscricket.oneindia.in/news/2010/04/27/ipl-3-chennai-win-trisha-celebration-tamil.html"> Trisha, whom as the accompanying photo clearly shows, is not in the same league with Priety or Shilpa, and thus is only a star in Madra's 2nd Tier "KollyWood", not Bombay's "BollyWood". Thus it must be said that though the Chennai SuperKIngs were definitely ready for the Big Leagues, sadly their fan base in Madras was not.
Posted by: daddy | April 27, 2010 at 06:17 PM
If things are going so great in China, why are they planning Stim II? Should thye be saving up to buy Turbo Timmy's Terrific Treasuries? After all, he really needs the money.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | April 27, 2010 at 06:42 PM
Two bits of irony in the Times, although they didn't intend it, one is a review of Richard
Clarke's latest book about cyberwarfare, which references the most recent Die Hard, missing that the villain was a broad caricature of Clarke himself. and another is an interview with Pater Carey, who has this new novel with a Tocqueville manque, where he misunderstandsthe later, takes a pot shot at you know who, not realizing that Obama was exactly the kind of character De Tocqueville had feared in this
nation
Posted by: nathan hale | April 27, 2010 at 06:56 PM
Gee, Rick, I thought Claire McCaskill was specifically talking to you. She seemed to have the same keen grasp of finance that you do. Until she had to retire to watch Oprah after mixing up her e-mails, that is.
But, I really enjoy a guy named Levin attacking a guy named Blankfein for being an evil Jewish banker.
Posted by: Patrick R. Sullivan | April 27, 2010 at 08:42 PM
I see that nobody on the Senate Committee had any objections to Goldman Sachs acquiring bank holding status AND the extensions of their special capital reserve exemption.
It is as if they were already prepared to ignore that giant sinkhole.
Posted by: Gabriel Sutherland | April 28, 2010 at 01:14 AM
The only way I can keep the Goldman Sachs situation straight in my mind is that the government/GSE's provided the setting for this whole derivative market and there were folks who wanted to take the risk of betting on whether portions of the mortgage market would perform.
In this CNBC interview with Blankfein he says he wants a strong US economy which is opposed to what Zero is doing to this country--a dichotomy I do not understand.
Posted by: glasater | April 28, 2010 at 03:57 AM
Goldman, Obama, Hedges, Pound of flesh
So let's see what is salient about Mr. Blankfein's testimony yesterday. First, I point to his fulsome adulation of Obama and his brand of financial "reform." Maybe this explains why Obama was so heavily favored by Goldman's political contributions. Of course, they were his top donor. (Even beating out George Soros.) But then Goldman always hedges their political bets in a thoroughly agile and timely manner, as the latest Wall Street psychobabble would put it. After all wasn't it Hank Paulson, he of Goldman stack who went on bended knee, hat in hand, crocodile tears and all to Pelosi and begged for a bailout? And Goldman got it too, didn't they? Straight from the Treasury to AIG to Goldman. Thanks Uncle Sam, you sucker! Of course, Blankfein says he would have got his pound of flesh anyway. Yes that's right. 200,000 teachers are being laid off now and Goldman, and the buggers on Wall St wallow in it. This simply is a noisome and odious disgrace and cancer upon the body politic which must be amended if we hope to ever truly prosper again.
Posted by: Thingumbobesquire | April 28, 2010 at 07:29 AM
Strawman,
Fine point on the dry Ice meteor. QED!
I used to think Gary Larson had it pretty much on the money with his ">http://klab.lv/users/kemune/41220.html"> The Real Reason The Dinosaurs Became Extinct, but then I realized there were no cavemen around with opposable thumbs to light their growth stunting cigarettes. Naturally then, the Global Cooling Theory of Dino Demise must maintain credibility as no cavemen likewise could have been around to stop the deep freeze by Hominid Global Warming. Thus it had to be global cooling from a lack of Dino farts etc QED.
Sorta' seems like a QED kind of day, unless of course you're a Moral Math freak.
Posted by: daddy | April 28, 2010 at 08:48 AM
I am left with a weird feeling that most of these senators and Congress-critters have no idea how markets work.
Isn't obvious that every seller must have a buyer .. no matter if it's chewing gum at the local store or synthetics financial instruments. Every time somebody is getting a great deal, there is somebody on the other end getting something less, but still, they do the deal.
Posted by: Neo | April 28, 2010 at 11:26 AM