Goldman Sachs multibillion-dollar offering

Here is some more flavor which may scare the hell out of you, too

http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/04/incredibly-shrinking-market-liquidity.html

Tku for this & for the link - interesting reading.

when smart people are selling their stuff... then are you dumb for buying?

never buy what an investment banker is selling

So let me get this straight... they are changing ownership so that the employees can get paid a lot more... hell where do I get in on this thing? It's like if all the employees at a McD says we are changing ownership b/c they won't pay us above minimum wage... I'm sure there wouldn't be any smart equity money going into this McD, but who the hell said people w/ money are smart?

To look at that in the most positive way is to say GS want to keep going strong for years to come without any restrictions. This NYT reports may fit in nicely
...
The turning point for Stephan Jung came in February, around the time bonus checks were slashed. A veteran of UBS, one of many banks tarnished by the financial crisis, Mr. Jung realized that the old Wall Street would not be bouncing back any time soon. It was time to head for the new.
...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/business/12wall.html?em

Nevertheless, I like the idea better to get out and forget about this market for a while....

This reminds me of when Fortress became the first hedge fund to go public back in February 2007 - a sign that we're in for a BIG downturn.

Right. GS is no longer a venerable financial institution with very little influence in the private and public sectors.

If a firm is healthy enough to be independent of my tax money, I personally want that line of credit closed.

I bought some GS last week for 116...When I read this dilution article I was not happy. I can't decide whether to dump this stock at the open on Monday or hold until they report. Now that the news is out, I figure if the stock tanks on Monday, I will just hold it for longer than a week. If the stock continues to rally, I may catch a break and sell it for about 130 after they report. I guess they figure that, if they can raise 10 bil privately the street might like that and it could be construed as bullish, but I doubt it.
For me, I am going to listen to Meredith...she says to hold through earnings and then sell before the stress tests results. It's pretty clear to me that the govt. is trying to prop up these banks so they look good and can maybe get the private to give them the next hundred bil as oppossed to the govt. Also, I think that only banks that will fail the stress tests are the ones that have atrocious earnings..if any fail. More than likely the stress tests are another circus to give the appearnace that the banks are doing well.

or Blackstone IPO