The Two Most Important Points From Today's Goldman Call

Raising $5 Billion to Pay You Back

Goldman Sachs held an earnings conference call early this morning which was live-blogged by the New York Times‘ columnist Floyd Norris.  Good, ’cause I had some Cookie Crisp cereal to eat right around that time.  Congrat’s on your $5 billion capital raise, but I gots to feed the machine.

There were two notable things on the call, however, that I thought I’d pass on from the Norris coverage.

1.  The Merrill analyst asked if they made money from the controversial, taxpayer-financed AIG transactions.

The answer is cautious. Most of the effect was in December. For the first quarter, the total A.I.G. effect on earnings was, in round numbers, zero.  So what was the A.I.G. effect in December? They did not say. Is it possible the loss then would have been larger without the A.I.G. bailout? We’ll see if any analyst asks.

They totally blew it off.  Wonder if anyone will pursue this issue.

2.  Goldman thinks the distressed asset bonanza is just around he corner.

Goldman says it thinks that within a few months the buyers and sellers for distressed assets will come together, and will then provide opportunities for Goldman.  That forecast, if it comes through, would end a lot of the problem with marking such assets.

This is good news, even if the Empire is one of the few investment banks left standing to reap the rewards.  Plus, I hate that f%$@in’ phrase “hard-to-value assets” like I hate going to the dentist, so let’s hope the buyers and sellers can start placing this garbage.

Click the link below for the full Live-Blog…

Full Story: Live-Blogging Goldman Call

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Full Disclosure: I have no positions in Goldman Sachs, long or short.