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UB Like it's 1776!
Posted September 13, 2007(191 replies)
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Meet Jasper, he’s a little bunny on a mission to surprise his wife for Valentine’s Day. He wants the perfect present, so trudges out in the snow looking for inspiration from his neighbors. When no gif ...
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GoClifftord’s Heart-y PartyCuddle up and listen to the Big Red Dog’s favorite Valentine’s Day books, make holiday cards and take a picture with the lovable pup.When: Sat. 2/11, 3pm; Ages 3+; Free.Where: The Scholastic Store, ...
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Heard a rumor that at GS and other banks most of the i-bankers had their base salaries raised a lot (like 2-4x) in order to pay out what will look like a lower amount in bonuses in 2010. This tactic is to avoid the scrutiny on the bonus figures. Are Americans really so dumb that we will fall for that? Lower a bonus but increase a base salary because nobody asks about those??? Oh and that only makes the system WORSE as base is guaranteed and not discretionary. Pls tell me I only heard a rumor and it's not true.
55 replies [ Reply | Watch | Morewhy do you care? If you want to make more money, give up your life and become a banker. they deserve every dollar they get. and no, niether I nor dh are bankers.
[ Reply | More ]Why do I care? I don't know. Because my tax dollars had to bail them out last year and now they are building even more expense into a fragile system. That's why.
[ Reply | More ]Actually, it sounds as if THEIR tax dollars bailed them out, and your tax dollars didn't contribute too much. On the less snide side, investment bankers had nothing to do with the real estate collapse. It was the you and I's who thought we could afford Jumo mortgages, becasue that's what it takes to buy a large enough house. And when we lost our jobs we realized that was stupid. Investment Bankers weren't underwriting those deals, you and I were. Stop the finger-pointing and move on.
[ Reply | More ]np: i agree that it wasn't I-bankers, but you can't absolve the scummy lenders and the bankers who were securitizing these bad loans and the credit agencies who failed us and let's not forget the federal reserve who allowed so much cheap money into the system for so long
[ Reply | More ]OP: fair enough. Too bad the other poster above you had to inject a snide and inaccurate btw comment. Otherwise she made good points. But there were traders involved and compensated for packaging these things up and selling them to clients. they were rewarded for that while others lost and ultimately had to bail THEM out.
[ Reply | More ]i can't believe how truly stupid this OP is. read the fking papers. GS was not bailed out by you or anybody else. Obama forced them to take a loan to cover up the issues that other banks had. in doing so he kept a bunch of bad banks like Citi that should be bankrupt off the ledge. GS and JPM were the first to pay back the govt loans, with hefty interest rates and a prepayment clause. so this didn't cost you anything, you and other stupid tax payers actually made money on the deal. now stfu and get your facts right next time.
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Who are you absolving? You just can't point fingers on this one. Even our most brilliant economists have no true idea of whhat happened. If you want to go to the very heart of it, blame the individuals who took out the loans. I was one of them. It was my fault. I knew it was a whopper, but I am used to "charging it". WSJ had a great editorial how years ago, the only people who got loans were the ones who didn't need them. That just ballooned out of control. But it's starting up again. Just watch.
[ Reply | More ]The bottom line is it's a complicated problem, started with too much cheap money and our keep up with the Jones's society. This was only exacerbated when Wall Street learned they could make a ton of money trading these things while insuring them with the likes of AIG. But to take a trader's pay and increase it so you can tell the public later he/she did not get as big a bonus is silly. It's overall comp that matters. And the traders/wall street/whoever should feel the pain when their deals go bad.
[ Reply | More ]Bankers make from $500K-$5 million. You think their salaries should be smaller as punishment for deals gone bad for how long exactly?
[ Reply | More ]I don't think they should be reduced from where they were. What I am saying is this: the public is furious that huge bonuses are paid. OK, the firms say, let's find a way to pay lower bonuses. Wait for it - let's triple of quadruple salaries then we can pay less in bonus! total comp will still be the same but the bonus number that NBC talks about will be less!
[ Reply | More ]I udnerstood your original post. I just think its time to move on. People who are paid $2 million in "total compensation" generated $200 million for their companies,which is helping our economy, and will pay $1 million in taxes, so find some other group to complain about. How about my crappy MC, which charges 28% interest?
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I am missing something in your post. we should blame "scummy leaders and bankers" for having "failed us"? so we should blame "scummy restaurants and chefs" for making us fat? you make choices in life. live with them. ever heard the saying 'lack of good judgement on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part'??
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Not all banks got bailed out. It was mainly the big banks who gave away mortgages to people qho were greedy and bought homes that they could not afford and now cry because their interest rate went up.
[ Reply | More ]Goldman Sachs got bailed out more than almost any other bank when AIG was bailed out resulting in payments of ~$30B to Goldman. You are naive if you don't see how ALL of the banks were essentially bailed out.
[ Reply | More ]I'm glad we can clear this up for you. You should read a newspaper. Goldmand didn't NEED the money. They had to take it so as not to expose which banks actually did need the money in the bailout. They have since paid it all bank. Your tax dollars did NOT go to Goldman. If you want to complain about some other banks, you can argue that route. Not Goldman.
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It's not your money. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs each repaid their $10 billion in federal aid, joining a parade of financial institutions making their exit from the government rescue program. all 10 banks allowed to exit the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program had said they had repaid the TARP money. Among them, American Express returned $3.39 billion, Bank of New York Mellon $3 billion, Capital One Financial $3.57 billion, State Street $2 billion and Northern Trust $1.58 billion.
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Um, no. Though I agree that's what the sensationalist media would have you believe.
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Yes, I've read the news, hence the reference to sensationalist media. There has been plenty of misrepresentation and oversimplification of the facts in the media. Whether this is driven by agenda/bias, lack of understanding of events that are in fact very complex, or simple difference of opinion, I don't know.
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I find these responses so laughable. I mean do you realize how many bankers have been completely screwed? Do you have any idea how many, what you call, "bankers" have no job and no way to get back to doing what they have spent years building careers in? Why don't people yet get that there are very few people who make the kind of $$ that everyone around hear assumes goes to the entire industry? wake up
[ Reply | More ]it's the same issue for detroit workers. but they never got paid enough to save for early retirement. a lot of bankers could have been prudent with their money and therefore prepared for not working for a while. but they had to have the greenwich home, the hamptons house, the three kids in private schools, shoes always cost at least $500. it's hard to feel sorry for people that did not save their good comp when they had it.
[ Reply | More ]You need to get a newspaper. Your post screams jealousy. I am not one of those families, but bankers were not the problem. McMansions were a part of it.
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I am very black and white. Do you blame restaurants and grocery stores for your weight problem? Some people see shades of gray, and say yes, large portions, advertising, foood sellection at my grocery store all are partial contributors to my weight problem. I know I am fat because I ate too much food. I have an education, I know I should eat 2,000 calories, and I only blame myself for my weight. I think I am in the minority. Most people like to blame their environment.
[ Reply | More ]NP: You all realize that more than 1/2 the foreclosures were related to health care costs. And that people were walking into banks asking for $40,000 and getting $100,000 with those NINO loans. Yes, people should not have overextended, but bankers share some of the responsibility if not blame (sorry to repeat myself, but you are also)
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And to answer your question, the problem started when people, you and I's. started to default on our loans. If we hadn't gone for the jumbo, and realized it was a bit too big, the economy would NOT have crashed. Bankers could repackage loans, sell them to foreign investors, but ultimately, it was home lending. So no, I don't blame the bankers. But again, I take responsibility for my actions.
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yes, exactly. I only feel bad for people who have an HHI that is less than mine. grow up, seriously!!!!
[ Reply | More ]hello - are you serious? You are exactly what I am talking about! You think all bankers make $150K and these big bonuses? Keep your head in the sand in smarty
[ Reply | More ]no, I was poking fun, did you miss the "grow up, seriously" part? my DH is an investment banker. he lost his job last year and only recently found something. and I am in school (thank god I have no student loans), so we had no income for a while. he was given 3 months severance, that's it, since he was in a junior postion and had not been there long.
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Barclays Capital did this for many senior people in NYC, they had nothing to do with the tax payer bailout though since they are not a U.S. company.
[ Reply | More ]They did this for some junior people as well (although more like a 50% bump, not a 2-3x) and it was entirely to get payment in 2009 and avoid the UK banker tax in 2010.
[ Reply | More ]It is true the base salaries were raised because base salaries are fixed expenses. The bonuses were always variable expenses based on a % of the performance base. Most people on "main street" don't understand what went on. Paulson,Bernacke, Rubin just to name a few should all be in jail. The AIG bailout did directly benefit Goldman that is a fact. Paulson only let Lehman go under because Lehman had been Goldman's biggest rival and for those of you who don't know this Paulson came from Goldman and is a major shareholder. Paulson had no problem bailing out Merrill and his buddy John Thain-ex-Goldman also. So everyone should stop bashing the industry and look to the regulators-or should I say so called regulators. I am so happy John Thain is now the CEO of CIT I was worried about his job future. The real scapegoat in this whole mess is Ken Lewis. He was ambushed by Paulson and Bernacke to take Merrill. They should have let Merrill go as they did Bear and Lehman. Now let us move on to another industry I am so tired of people bashing the "street" without it companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Pfizer, etc. would have never been able to issue common stock and allow these companies to grow without incurring debt. Also don't forget the average American owns these companies whether in a mutual fund or outright.
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