Tag Archives: goldman-sachs

The Rage over Goldman Sachs

Lloyd Blankfein, the 54-year-old chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, is powerfully perplexed. In the past six months, his investment-banking and securities-trading firm has roared ahead in profitability by taking risks — that other firms would not — for itself and its clients in an edgy market. It has paid back the billions of dollars, and then some, of taxpayer money the government forced it to take last October; raised billions of dollars in capital from private investors, including $5 billion from Warren Buffett; and urged its cadre of well-paid and high-performing executives to show some restraint on the conspicuous-consumption front.

Credit Suisse Q2 profits climb by 29 percent

Credit Suisse on Thursday became the latest major bank to report a strong second quarter showing as its net profit rose by 29 percent to 1.57 billion Swiss Francs ($1.41 billion.) In a statement the Swiss banking giant attributed its performance to a “reduced-risk business model providing the basis for more sustainable, high-quality, lower volatility earning.” Its Investment banking arm, which incurred much of the blame for the bank’s record losses last year, weighed in with pre-tax profits of 1.66 billion Swiss Francs ($1.55 billion). Overall earnings rose by 10 percent to 8.6 billion Swiss Francs ($8.07 billion) from 7.7 billion Swiss Francs ($7.2 billion) a year earlier.

Stock Market: Why Are Financial Stocks Rallying?

Financial stocks — banks, brokers, asset managers — led the stock market down earlier this year, and almost left the stage as many shares sank into single digits. In recent weeks, however, the group has reversed course, rallying strongly, and even led the market to a robust gain on Monday, with the Dow rising 235 points.

Citigroup’s Surprising Profit: Are Banks Really Out of the Woods?

Citigroup chief financial officer Ned Kelly was trying to explain an aspect of the bank’s better-than-expected first-quarter results on Friday morning when star analyst Meredith Whitney interrupted him. “Could you dumb that down for me?” she asked. It was the question of the week.