Goldman Sachs Switches Forecasters

Slumping profits are 'payback' from Main Street whipped by bad practices

(NEWSER) - Those concerned about the nation’s banks should forget about the “softly, softly policy” of the Obama administration that has allowed Goldman Sachs to go back to business as usual in spectacular fashion. The real problem, Paul Krugman writes, is banks like Citi and Bank of America that are still floundering despite taxpayer largess. And the calculus remains the same: “Heads they win, tails the rest of us lose.” More»

Cohen predicts S&P to gain 10% by Jan 2010

(NEWSER) - A top Goldman Sachs forecaster predicts the recovery in stocks that began in March should hold, Reuters reports. The S&P 500 could rise as much as 10% from its current level to top 1,050-1,100, says Abby Joseph Cohen, the chief of Goldman’s investment policy committee. "We do think the new bull market has begun," Cohen said. "It may prove it began in March of this year." More»

Recession doesn't curb bank's bounty

(NEWSER) - A wildly successful first half is pointing to the best year ever for Goldman Sachs, and that means record staff bonuses in the midst of the recession, the Guardian reports. Revenues have soared at the bank, which now has little competition; it promised in April that half of its nearly $2 billion first-quarter profit would go to employees. But some fear Goldman’s bonus plan could be dangerous. More»

(NEWSER) - Markets were up today on a successful sale of 30-year Treasury notes and other indicators of economic recovery, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bank of America saw a 9% upswing after its CEO testified on Capitol Hill. The Dow gained 31.90 to 8,770.92. The S&P rose 5.74 to 944.89. And the Nasdaq tacked on 9.29 to finish at 1,862.37. More»

(NEWSER) - Jon Stewart, take note: Jim Cramer is not that bad at picking stocks, the New York Times reports. A study of Cramer’s televised market advice shows that the former hedge fund manager beat the market in 2005-07. The raw numbers from the fictional “Cramer portfolio” outperformed the S&P and other indices. With the addition of other factors, the CNBC host was merely so-so. More»