Main focus of Thursday, July 16, 2009

Goldman Sachs full steam ahead

Approximately ten months after the eruption of the global financial crisis the US bank Goldman Sachs has substantially increased its profits in the second quarter, posting a net income of 3.4 billion dollars. Europe's press evaluates the company's robust profit against the backdrop of the crisis.

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

Goldman Sachs' profit margin would have been sensational even before the crisis and is all the more so now, writes the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung: "This week's quarterly results are a glimpse of what the banking world of the future will look like: a small circle of globally operating banks is emerging strengthened from the crisis. … But even if some are doing better now, the banking sector is still far from recovery and will have to continue to rely on taxpayers' money for the foreseeable future. … The United States is at an advantage in this respect because it took a quicker and more aggressive approach to rescuing its banks than the Europeans. … The economy can only come out of the recession if it has stable and healthy banks. … It's not enough that Goldman Sachs or the Deutsche Bank are well managed. The system as a whole needs to be stable. Last winter the global economy was on the brink of the abyss. If this is forgotten too soon there is indeed a danger that the catastrophe will be repeated at some point." (16/07/2009)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Banks, » Germany, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Nikolaus Piper

La Tribune - France

"The financial crisis has not just claimed victims", writes the business paper La Tribune. ... "Goldman Sachs (GS) has emerged from the crisis even stronger and is becoming a new symbol of the US's [entrepreneurial] pre-eminence, along with Microsoft, Google and Coca-Cola. After the shock of General Motors' bankruptcy is it pertinent to ask: 'Is what is good for GS also good for America?' … By unashamedly flaunting its health and growing profit for the second quarter the commercial bank is polishing up Wall Street's image. There's only one thing people dream of there: a return to 'business as usual'. ... Admittedly the crisis has reinforced the monopolistic tendencies of financial capitalism by separating the wheat from the chaff." (16/07/2009)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Banks, » U.S.
All available articles from » Philippe Mabille

La Repubblica - Italy

The left-liberal daily La Repubblica warns that the news of Goldman Sachs' robust profit should be taken with a pinch of salt: "Goldman Sachs received 10 billion dollars from TARP [The US government's Troubled Asset Relief Program]. Now the wind has changed. Not only did Goldman Sachs repay the loan a month ago but it is also once again resting on its old laurels. But the worrying thing about this is the accretion of 11.4 billion dollars in the first quarter that were necessary to pay the golden loan. … A further aspect that will fuel discussions is that Goldman Sachs was able to finance its speculative activities thanks to a policy giving it access to cheap loans. These [loans] were intended to boost the economy and consequently employment. But in the case of Goldman Sachs they led to massive profits." (15/07/2009)

» more information (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Financial Markets, » Banks, » U.S.
All available articles from » Arturo Zampaglione

Expansión - Spain

The business newspaper Expansión believes the billions in profit made by the US bank Goldman Sachs give no clear indication of the state of the US banking sector: "These undoubtedly very positive figures show that Goldman Sachs' improved performance in the first quarter [of 2009], with growth of thirteen percent, was not an illusion. Does this mean the US banks are already on the road to recovery? Despite the decline of the investment bank as an independent business model Goldman Sachs was not one of the banks worst affected by the crisis. Therefore we would be well advised to wait for results of other banks (JPMorgan, Citibank and Bank of America will be announcing theirs in the next few days) to confirm that things are generally improving." (15/07/2009)

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Financial Markets, » Banks, » U.S.

» To the complete press review of Thursday, July 16, 2009