LOGO: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines. A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman. Winner 2013 Webby Awards for Best Political Website
May 26, 2013

 Choose a size
Text Size

Trending:     chris hedges     economy     elizabeth warren     politics     robert scheer
Most Read

British Terror Attack Suspect Had Watched Friend Cut to Pieces

Truthdigger of the Week: Medea Benjamin

Three Questions Left Unanswered by Obama’s Counterterrorism Speech

How to Make a Million Dollars an Hour

Taking Gay Hypocrites to Task Over Bradley Manning

Most Comments
Most Emailed

Reports
 * NEW! * A Cooler Century? Wait and See

Ear to the Ground

A/V Booth

Arts & Culture
A Call to Action
Act of Congress

Digs

Truthdig Bazaar

The Balloonist

By MacDonald Harris and Philip Pullman
$14.95

more items

 
Ear to the Ground

Senators Grill Goldman Execs About Their ‘Shitty Deal’

Email this item Email    Print this item Print    Share this item... Share

Posted on Apr 27, 2010
Goldman execs
AP / Charles Dharapak

Goldman Sachs executives—from left, Daniel Sparks, former partner and head of the mortgage department; Michael J. Swenson, managing director, structured products group trading; Joshua S. Birnbaum, former managing director, structured products group trading; Fabrice Tourre, executive director, structured products group trading—are sworn in Tuesday prior to testifying before the Senate Investigations subcommittee hearing on Wall Street investment banks and the financial crisis.

Tuesday was not a fun day to be a top executive at Goldman Sachs. Sen. Carl Levin and his posse from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations made sure of that during a lengthy interrogation session, which included quite a zinger from Sen. Levin to Daniel Sparks, who used to run Goldman’s mortgage department. Meanwhile, the company’s stock rose a dollar and a penny.  —KA

Bloomberg Businessweek:

“How about the fact that you sold hundreds of millions of that deal after your people knew it was a shitty deal?” the Michigan Democrat asked Daniel Sparks, who ran the bank’s mortgage unit at the time. “Does that bother you at all?”

... In his comments to Sparks, Levin was referring to a June 2007 e-mail to Sparks from Thomas Montag, the former head of sales and trading in the Americas at Goldman Sachs. The message described a set of mortgage-linked investments that his bank had been trying to sell as part of “one shitty deal.”

“I don’t recall selling hundreds of millions of that deal after that,” Sparks replied, adding that he believed the e-mail referred to his performance, not the security itself.

“If you can’t give a clear answer to that one, Mr. Sparks, I don’t think we’re going to get too many clear answers from you,” Levin said.

Shares Rise

As the executives testified, Goldman Sachs was the only stock among 79 financial companies that gained in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. The stock rose $1.01 to $153.04 as of 5:04 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Read more

More Below the Ad

Advertisement


New and Improved Comments

If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page. Still having problems? Let us know. If you find yourself moderated, take a moment to review our comment policy.

amunaor's avatar

By amunaor, April 28, 2010 at 9:24 am Link to this comment

(((RE:  faith, April 28 at 3:17 am #
Well said, amunaor.  Unfortunately, I suspect it is all for show for the american people as well as the world. )))
***

I too suspect the same as you. Nothing ever ‘changes’ following these ‘feigned’ public displays of righteous indignation, by those, so called, guardians!

At the end of the day, the only thing that changes is the ‘gaming’ board being rearranged; with the size of the ‘take’ increased, as the house is rigged to always come out ahead.

Such is the result of unrestrained egos,  left to fly without any checks and balances.
Peace, Best Wished and Hope


WikiLeaks—Collateral Murder
http://wikileaks.org/

Report this

By jack, April 27, 2010 at 11:51 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Don’t hold your breath for prosecution - Le Place De La Concord redux - heads
should roll - literally!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why march on Washington?  March on Wall Street!!!!!!!!

If guillotines scare you - go easy on ‘em - send them to Abu Ghraib!!!!!

Report this

By faith, April 27, 2010 at 11:17 pm Link to this comment

Well said, amunaor.  Unfortunately, I suspect it is all for show for the american
people as well as the world.  Our Congress and our current government simply
utter words of distaste to the G-S leadership as well as all those you mentioned
above.  Secretly, I wonder if they care about regular people at all.  Hope is de
minimus at this point.  Our AG doesn’t even have the gumption to sue to enjoin
those corporatists from pillaging the funds that we tax payers provided for
bailouts.  We are bankrupt as a nation - both morally and economically.

Report this

By amex, April 27, 2010 at 11:15 pm Link to this comment

Some piece of shit senators scream all day in front of Goldfink Co. and probably then go out to suck them off for more money.  This system sucks, sucks, sucks.  Who is going to be prosecuted here?  That is how you create the deterrent.  I want to know how that creepy lurch got to go steal my money with a three page ransom letter and give it to those creepy goldfink thugs.  I want to know how it is that they received 100 cents on the dollar from AIG and I want prosecution!!!!  I want no stone left unturned.  That is the DETERRENT!!!

Fuck those American politicians - they should be lynched - all of them. I can’t believe that I am sitting in some agreement with those other fanatics - the teabaggers or whatever they call themselves, that they want to throw all of them out - they are right.

Americans - get pissed off and start screaming your fool heads off before its too late!!!

Report this
amunaor's avatar

By amunaor, April 27, 2010 at 9:16 pm Link to this comment

Shitty Deal behind door number 1: Michael Milken - the junk bond aficionado

Shitty Deal behind door number 2: Keating Five - Savings & Loan Fiasco

Shitty Deal behind door number 3: Enron - Drug Money Laundromat

Shitty Deal behind door number 4: Wall Street Casino Pig Fest

Can we expect to find a better shitty deal behind door number 5?

Peace, Best Wishes and Hope

WikiLeaks—Collateral Murder
http://wikileaks.org/

Report this
Newsletter

sign up to get updates


 
 
 
 
Join the Liberal Blog Advertising Network
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
© 2013 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved.