Meek lose inheritance; Goldman Sachs given rights to Earth
August 4, 2009 by William K. Wolfrum
WALL STREET — For years now, the Meek have lived with the comforting knowledge that they would inherit the Earth. Now, they don’t even have that. In a complicated financial maneuver, Goldman Sachs today took over the rights to Earth.
The wrangling of the Earth from the Meek began in 1999 with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. Starting in 2004, predatory lenders began targeting the Meek, offering unheard-of deals on home loans. The Meek – unaware their inheritance would be used as collateral – then began foreclosing on their homes at a dramatic pace. Last week, the threshold was passed, giving Goldman Sachs a plus-50% holding of the planet at the time of their deaths.
“Once again Goldman Sachs has proven to be a leader in world markets, in this case literally,” said Former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. “The economy and the planet are in better hands with Goldman Sachs.”
For the most part, reaction from the Meek has been mostly muted.
“Meh, whatever,” said Noted Meek Tim Johnson of Tupelo, Miss. “I never expected to see that inheritance anyway.”
Goldman Sachs announced the opening of a new division called simply “The Planet.” The Planet will be publicly traded, with shares of the Earth available for $87.45 at the IPO to be held later this week.
–WKW
Goldman Sachs was the biggest packager and seller of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), packaging thousands of mortgages together, 75% subprime, yet passing them off as AAA paper. When the market deteriorated, Goldman made profit by selling them short.
And many retirees, mutual funds, and city governments who bought these bonds with assurances of Goldman sales people were badly hurt.
Goldman Sachs also was a large purchaser of credit default swaps (CDSs), many from AIG. Representatives from Goldman placed pressure on Hank Paulson for government bailout funds for AIG. And where did billions of those bailout funds go? To pay off Goldman!
And we the taxpayers are picking up the tab.
Goldman Sachs developed computer algorithms for high frequency trading. As such, they insert themselves in rising or falling stocks, buying and selling with lightening speed and making huge profits.
As a result, the individual investor buys these stocks at higher prices and sells them at lower prices.
Goldman Sachs is profiting from the financial crisis recovery by taking the same huge risks with a bonus-driven culture.
And they have covered this risk by changing their designation from an investment bank to a bank holding company, which enables them to get FDIC protection and almost free Fed money.
So, please tell me how Goldman Sachs’ activities and business model benefit our society as a whole by creating financial products that contribute to the growth of American financial industry? What do they do that is valuable to other people? Or does Goldman merely create financial gimmicks to make money for Goldman, leaving the crumbs for the rest of us, and subjecting individual investors to a stock market with a casino mentality?