5 ms·

On main street, GS is known as the "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells lik

by snarfy 8y ago

On main street, GS is known as the "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money"

Mvandenbergh 8y ago
Their reputation "on main street" is largely irrelevant to them.
- will_brown 8y ago
  Well they took a huge hit with their investors when leading up to the 2008 real estate bubble they were pushing and selling toxic assets to their clients, while they were liquidating their own positions of those very assets. Initially they claimed there was no conflict of interest and that’s simply how finance works, but then internal communication leaks showed they knew the assets they were selling clients were not just shit (but knew the underlying mortgages were fraudulent themselves going back to 2005) and they were doing that in mass as part of an effort to artificially prop the asset value up as they were liquidating their own. It all came out in a case they settled for $5B with the government. From the department of justice : “This $5 billion settlement includes a $1.8 billion commitment to help repair the damage to homeowners and communities that Goldman acknowledges resulted from its conduct, and it makes clear that no institution may inflict this type of harm on investors and the American public without serious consequences.” yet they still operate, are more powerful than ever, and there is a revolving door with them and top levels of government...so I agree with you reputation is irrelevant to them. Plain and simple everyone knows they are scumbag oligarchs at the top of that organization, but they are oligarchs nonetheless. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/goldman-sachs-agrees-pay-more-5-billion-connection-its-sale-residential-mortgage-backed https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/goldman-sachs-agrees-pay-more...
- tma-1 8y ago
  Their stock price is down ~40% YTD.
- gammateam 8y ago
  > irrelevant And so is Malaysia
  - TomMarius 8y ago
    Why does anyone care then?
    - komali2 8y ago
      Some people take the ferengi viewpoint - if you made a profit and got away with it, you are successful HARD STOP.
mruts 8y ago
Well on "main st," Trump is the messiah. So maybe we shouldn't really care what they think.
- SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
  Are you aware that the major players on Wall Street and Mainstreet all donated to Clinton far more than Trump? Clinton’s corporate contributions dwafted Trumps. I mean, I’m not fan of Trump but to say he is looked upon favorably by corporations over his opponent is verifiably untrue. Let alone claims of “the messiah”.
  - skrebbel 8y ago
    mruts said the opposite.
  - geofft 8y ago
    FYI for those not getting the reference, "Main Street" is typically used to refer to investors who aren't large institutions, in contrast to "Wall Street". https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mainstreet.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mainstreet.asp (Neither of these terms are particularly accurate—I used to work a block away from Wall Street, and all the actual trading happened by ssh to New Jersey—but they're metonyms with specific meanings.)
- malmsteen 8y ago
  "We" ? You are probably underestimating the number of trump supporters on HN (and in the tech scene in general)
drharby 8y ago
Funny how a news article can influence forum dialogue almost a decade later. Good journalists are worth gold
- antidesitter 8y ago
  Catchy soundbites != good journalism.

by snarfy 8y ago

On main street, GS is known as the "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money"

Mvandenbergh 8y ago

Their reputation "on main street" is largely irrelevant to them.

will_brown 8y ago
Well they took a huge hit with their investors when leading up to the 2008 real estate bubble they were pushing and selling toxic assets to their clients, while they were liquidating their own positions of those very assets. Initially they claimed there was no conflict of interest and that’s simply how finance works, but then internal communication leaks showed they knew the assets they were selling clients were not just shit (but knew the underlying mortgages were fraudulent themselves going back to 2005) and they were doing that in mass as part of an effort to artificially prop the asset value up as they were liquidating their own. It all came out in a case they settled for $5B with the government. From the department of justice : “This $5 billion settlement includes a $1.8 billion commitment to help repair the damage to homeowners and communities that Goldman acknowledges resulted from its conduct, and it makes clear that no institution may inflict this type of harm on investors and the American public without serious consequences.” yet they still operate, are more powerful than ever, and there is a revolving door with them and top levels of government...so I agree with you reputation is irrelevant to them. Plain and simple everyone knows they are scumbag oligarchs at the top of that organization, but they are oligarchs nonetheless. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/goldman-sachs-agrees-pay-more-5-billion-connection-its-sale-residential-mortgage-backed https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/goldman-sachs-agrees-pay-more...
tma-1 8y ago
Their stock price is down ~40% YTD.
gammateam 8y ago
> irrelevant And so is Malaysia
- TomMarius 8y ago
  Why does anyone care then?
  - komali2 8y ago
    Some people take the ferengi viewpoint - if you made a profit and got away with it, you are successful HARD STOP.

mruts 8y ago

Well on "main st," Trump is the messiah. So maybe we shouldn't really care what they think.

SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
Are you aware that the major players on Wall Street and Mainstreet all donated to Clinton far more than Trump? Clinton’s corporate contributions dwafted Trumps. I mean, I’m not fan of Trump but to say he is looked upon favorably by corporations over his opponent is verifiably untrue. Let alone claims of “the messiah”.
- skrebbel 8y ago
  mruts said the opposite.
- geofft 8y ago
  FYI for those not getting the reference, "Main Street" is typically used to refer to investors who aren't large institutions, in contrast to "Wall Street". https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mainstreet.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mainstreet.asp (Neither of these terms are particularly accurate—I used to work a block away from Wall Street, and all the actual trading happened by ssh to New Jersey—but they're metonyms with specific meanings.)
malmsteen 8y ago
"We" ? You are probably underestimating the number of trump supporters on HN (and in the tech scene in general)

drharby 8y ago

Funny how a news article can influence forum dialogue almost a decade later. Good journalists are worth gold

antidesitter 8y ago
Catchy soundbites != good journalism.