Through cutthroat competition and self-interest one firm has managed to survive for more than a century. And in the process become the symbol of Wall Street. Goldman Sachs: The Company that Rules the World, Youtube 35.17, 2023
In 1886 after making a small fortune from his clothing business, the Jewish immigrant Marcus Goldman decided to get into finance. ibid.
The Goldman Sachs partnership is determined to break into the IPO underwriting business. ibid.
By 1914 Goldman Sachs become a prominent investment bank on Wall Street. ibid.
Goldman Sachs starts more investment trusts … Within a year hundreds of investment trusts go bust, taking down investors and investment banks with them. ibid.
Ford was the biggest IPO in history. ibid.
Legendary trader Gus Levy … his speciality is block trading, a form of arbitrage … For the first time a trader becomes a boss at Goldman Sachs. ibid.
Penn Central’s commercial papers … After the bankruptcy of Penn Central, the investors of its commercial papers are nearly wiped out and they immediately start suing Goldman Sachs for misrepresentation. ibid.
As the economic conditions continue to worsen in the 1970s, more securities Goldman Sachs issued go bad. ibid.
Harvard-educated John Whitehead … the firm needs to operate like the military … Whitehead also started to standardize the investment business of Goldman. ibid.
1983 Goldman Sachs makes a $400 profit … Whitehead retired from Goldman. ibid.
In 1987 Goldman Sachs senior partner Robert Freeman is under arrest for insider trading. ibid.
Goldman Sachs’ reputation has been dragged through the mud. ibid.
At the peak of the dom.com bubble Goldman Sachs goes public … selling 11% of shares. ibid.
By 2006 mortgage-backed securities become one of the most profitable businesses for Wall Street banks. ibid.
2007: The biggest financial storm in recent history: the mortgage meltdown … a financial weapon of mass destruction. ibid.
Goldman Sachs turns to an unlikely saviour: Warren Buffett. ibid.
'They made a big proprietary bet against the mortgage market.' iibid. another man in the know
Goldman Sachs has been caught in multiple illegal activities. ibid.
Vanguard: The nation’s first and largest index fund. The captain of Vanguard is a man with unlimited ambition who through sheer force of will built a financial empire. Vanguard: The 8 Trillion Dollar Empire, Youtube 37.04, 2023
In 1928 Jack Morgan is the most powerful man on Wall Street. Thanks to an era of easy money he and his fellow bankers set loose the Roaring 20s. The Stock Market has climbed nearly 40% in one year. The Twisted History of Morgan Stanley, Youtube 44.04, 2023
It is the worst crash the nation has ever witnessed. For Morgan, whose fortune is cut in half, he is convinced that the only way to save his company and the country is by ousting President Hoover. ibid.
Morgan may have helped put FDR in office but the newly elected leader swiftly turns against him and vows to pursue the bankers responsible for the crash. ibid.
Jack Morgan makes his son Henry Morgan and their business associate Harold Stanley partners of this newly formed company, Morgan Stanley. ibid.
The house of Morgan has always thrived leveraging other people’s money, and the birth of Morgan Stanley is no different. ibid.
As fresh industries burst on to the scene they turn to Wall Street. ibid.
Rival investment banks start to redefine the rules of the game. ibid.
These companies were very smart to raise money at the peak of the bubble. ibid.
In 1993 they find just the target company: by the early 1990s S G Warburg is one of the most prominent British investment banks. The marriage between the two companies will create the world’s largest investment bank … The potential merger goes south. ibid.
A new contender enters their radar: Dean Witter. ibid.
Dean Witter, Discover & Co, and Morgan Stanley completed their merger on May 31st 1997. ibid.
Despite his power at the firm, Purcell has no idea how to run Morgan Stanley. ibid.
A steep decline in performance and a mass exodus of talented employees. ibid.
The old guard prevailed … The exiled king comes back to power. John Mack is about to become the CEO of Morgan Stanley. ibid.
He begins to encourage traders to take audacious risks aiming for hefty profits. ibid.
Opportunity presented itself – mortgage-backed securities. ibid.
Morgan Stanley is about to fall to rock bottom. ibid.
Salvation for Morgan Stanley comes from an unlikely source – the government. ibid.
One of the most different is Howard Marks, the $150 billion-dollar vulture. Oak Tree is the world’s biggest vulture fund that invests in distressed securities. The Vulture of Wall Street: Howard Marks, 2022
Did he make those forecasts correctly because he was good at it or simply because he was lucky? ibid.
Howard Mark’s research group recommended a group of 50 stocks, so-called the Nifty Fifties to their clients … By 1979 those stocks lost 90% of their value. ibid.
An entirely new industry: junk bonds. ibid.
Howard Marks emerges from 2008 victorious. ibid.
By 2008 the world’s strongest economy had ground to a halt. Dozens of banks on the verge of collapsing. The housing bubble catches Wall Street by surprise. And the panic soon spreads like a virus … Alan Greenspan: The Man Who Broke America, 2023
Alan Grenspan, the man in charge of the Federal Reserve, may have led America directly into the storm … The Federal Reserve has become the House of Greenspan. ibid.
Greenspan admired these titans of the 19th century because he wanted to become one. ibid.
To President Truman the actions of the Federal Reserve are nothing short of treason. ibid.
His reputation quickly grows as an economic wizard and before long he catches the attention of Wall Street. ibid.
As Chairman of the Fed he was given the ability to control the supply of money … Catastrophe is just around the corner. ibid.
On September 17th 2011 in New York City a group of activists ignited a global protest movement. Occupy: The Movie, caption, Journeyman Pictures 2012
A toxic relationship between big business and media and our government. ibid.
There’s nothing more exciting than occupying the very iconic heart of capitalism which is Wall Street and to start our revolution there. ibid. Kalle Lasn
Banks got bailed out, we got sold out. ibid. protester
The taxpayer is already going to suffer the consequences. ibid. Paulson
This Bill commits up to $700 million taxpayer dollars. ibid. Bush
There are firms in this country which are too big to fail. ibid. Greenspan
Banks: A great vampire squid on the face of humanity. ibid.
You’re never going to be able to live the kind of life your parents lived, and if you want to have any kind of a future, then you have to fight for that future. ibid. Kalle Lsan
What happened on Brooklyn Bridge is going to be a stain on this city for a long time to come. ibid. Stuart Applebaum
The guy [Jamie Dimon] who’s in charge of one of the big banks [J P Morgan] is also in charge of the organisation that’s supposed to be applying oversight to the big banks. ibid. Jesse LaGreca
The term ‘toxic mortgage asset’ was coined in the financial crisis of 2008. ibid. caption
November 15th 2011, Zuccotti Park: …’beating the people with billie-clubs now …’ ibid. commentary
Resources that in the past might have been directed in ways that enhanced the public welfare are now being directed to industries that have participated in the capture of this governmental process. ibid. Lsan
The Koch empire has donated over $196 to Republican front groups. ibid.
Politicians are essentially corporate employees. They run errands for corporate lobbyists. They pass legislation written by corporate lobbyists. And when they get out of office they become corporate lobbyists. ibid. Chris Hedges
People sharing space and love is power to the people. ibid. guy
The biggest threat to the occupy movement in my opinion is the inability to reconcile the reformists with the revolutionaries. ibid.
The power elite has always attempted to crush movements. ibid. Chris Hedges