Goldman Sachs' magic trick - December disappears!

Started by Martim Silva, April 14, 2009, 06:50:28 PM

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Martim Silva

We all heard about the great results that Goldman Sachs posted today, which far exceeded the analysts' expectations...

However, in his blog at the NYT, the Economics Nobel Prize calls the attention to an article by Floyd Morris, reported via Ritholz - the real reason why Goldmans' earnings were so good is due to magic: they made the whole of December disappear!

Quote:

"Yesterday, we noted that the bulk of their [GS] profits had come from AIG transfer payments — the AIG 100% payouts funded via bailout monies that saw Goldie as one of the largest recipients. Floyd Norris notes that most of the AIG effect was in December. "For the first quarter, the total A.I.G. effect on earnings was, in round numbers, zero."

How is it possible that this occurred? Isn't GS on a December to February calendar? Well, there is a small asterisk about that. It seems that GS is moving from a December to a quarterly calendar. Meaning their latest Q is January thru March.

But what of December, with all t he AIG monies and the comparison to the strong December 2007 and all?

In a word, Orphaned:

   Goldman's 2008 fiscal year ended Nov. 30. This year the company is switching to a calendar year. The leaves December as an orphan month, one that will be largely ignored. In Goldman's news release, and in most of the news reports, the quarter ended March 31 is compared to the quarter last year that ending in February.

    The orphan month featured — surprise — lots of writeoffs. The pre-tax loss was $1.3 billion, and the after-tax loss was $780 million.

    Would the firm have had a profit if it stuck to its old calendar, and had to include December and exclude March?

Truly astounding . . . the word Chutzpah simply does not do it justice . . ."

Floyd: http://norris.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/the-case-of-the-missing-month/

Ritholz: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/04/how-to-puff-up-earnings-goldman-sachs-style/

Krugman: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

Caliga

0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

Neil

Sneaky.  Still, I would imagine that draconian new accounting regulations brought in by the Neil Administration will solve this sort of sorcery.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

Caliga

Quote from: Neil on April 14, 2009, 07:02:05 PM
Sneaky.  Still, I would imagine that draconian new accounting regulations brought in by the Neil Administration will solve this sort of sorcery.

But don't Jewish sorcerers already do your bidding? :blink:
0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

MadImmortalMan

Quote from: Martim Silva on April 14, 2009, 06:50:28 PM

Truly astounding . . . the word Chutzpah simply does not do it justice . . .


Nope. You also need the words conspiracy, Zionist, protocols, Bilderberger, Freemasons, Bubonic Plague and "alleged holocaust".
"Stability is destabilizing." --Hyman Minsky

"Complacency can be a self-denying prophecy."
"We have nothing to fear but lack of fear itself." --Larry Summers

Neil

Quote from: Caliga on April 14, 2009, 07:03:17 PM
Quote from: Neil on April 14, 2009, 07:02:05 PM
Sneaky.  Still, I would imagine that draconian new accounting regulations brought in by the Neil Administration will solve this sort of sorcery.

But don't Jewish sorcerers already do your bidding? :blink:
So because someone does my bidding means I shouldn't make them obsolete and take their power from them?

They're beholden to me, not vice-versa.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

Razgovory

Is this one of Martim Silva's Portugese fascism thingies?
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

Neil

Quote from: Razgovory on April 14, 2009, 07:16:25 PM
Is this one of Martim Silva's Portugese fascism thingies?
I would assume so.  Always going on about how good he had things when Carlos Santana ran the country.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

grumbler

Quote from: Razgovory on April 14, 2009, 07:16:25 PM
Is this one of Martim Silva's Portugese fascism thingies?
I'd have to read it to find out, so i guess that will forever be a mystery to me. :(
The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.   -G'Kar

Bayraktar!

Admiral Yi

Quote from: Martim Silva on April 14, 2009, 06:50:28 PM
We all heard about the great results that Goldman Sachs posted today, which far exceeded the analysts' expectations...
I hadn't until today.

Weatherman

Quote from: Neil on April 14, 2009, 07:18:03 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on April 14, 2009, 07:16:25 PM
Is this one of Martim Silva's Portugese fascism thingies?
I would assume so.  Always going on about how good he had things when Carlos Santana ran the country.

Free concerts for everyone?

DGuller

They've already destroyed a lot of wealth. Been there, done that (very well).  Months of the year are a logical new challenge.

Crazy_Ivan80

December needs to be destroyed so it can be renamed.
And december is right in time for the birth of christ, who is the messiah after all.
A bit like how Obama is the messiah in today's america.
So it's only logical that December will be renamed to Obamy

Martim Silva

#13
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 14, 2009, 07:04:51 PM
Quote from: Martim Silva on April 14, 2009, 06:50:28 PM

Truly astounding . . . the word Chutzpah simply does not do it justice . . .


Nope. You also need the words conspiracy, Zionist, protocols, Bilderberger, Freemasons, Bubonic Plague and "alleged holocaust".

That bit was a quote from the article, not mine [hence the "..."]. And the author is jewish, which is why he used the word 'Chutzpah'. Read the articles.

(Seriously people, are you so nuts that you even consider declarations written by Jews as 'anti-semitic' if you think they were written by gentiles? It denotes a serious level of paranoia)

garbon

Hopefully Morales and his Anorexia Tour will save us!
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.