Goldman Earnings Better Than Expected

Goldman Sachs posted net income of $3.44 billion or $4.93 a share, up from $2.09 billion, or $4.58 a share. Net revenue leapt 46% to $13.76 billion thus proving that it really is possible to make buckets of money when the government keeps throwing it at you. Nobody is really all that surprised by the news of Goldman's great quarter. Rumors have been circulating in the financial press claiming that the company was teeing up record bonuses for its employees and making gobs of cash trading. Indeed Goldman has set aside $6.65 billion during the second quarter to compensate its 29,400 employees and $11.36 billion for the first six months, up 33% from the comparable period in 2008. I know I've hammered on this point far too much in the recent past, but I'll say it again: There is something very wrong with the way that our government has chosen to boost the economy, when the method boosts the ability for many who were responsible for an economic catastrophe to have record profits, while the rest of the economy remains in the dirt. Sure Goldman might have survived anyway, but it wouldn't be making record profits without massive help of the Fed, Treasury, and FDIC.