Most of our clients know that I have had a bone to pick with the way that Goldman Sachs has managed the risk associated with public (and now government) shareholder capital for a long time now (I started shorting it in November of 2007). They privatized their profits and socialized their losses.
Today, Goldman's CEO, Lloyd Blankfein (under the duress associated with protestors with pink banners) is giving the most straight talk that I have yet to hear from a CEO running a horse and buggy whip in the land of public Investment Banking Inc.
Dear Lloyd,
For whatever it's worth, I am going to give you some love. You are talking my language - the language of Partnership and Capital Preservation. You even used some Research Edge lingo when it came to discussing Risk Management, Team Based Compensation, and the "Global Interconnectedness" of the world's markets.
In terms of measuring the delta in my own mind about GS stock, this is a meaningful shift. I, for one, will stop shorting your stock... for now.
We all know that you abandoned true Partnership for the payout associated with being a public company. With public funds you are now hostage to public accountability.
Today, for both America and her stock market, you made a very important step.
Thanking you for seeing The New Reality,
Keith R. McCullough
Chief Executive Officer
