| Goldman Sachs is being naughty!; But the Feds aren't spanking | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 8 2009, 08:04 PM (218 Views) | |
| Carolyn says | Jul 8 2009, 08:04 PM Post #1 |
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Man, someone should take a ruler to Goldman Sachs' backside. But don't hold your breath that the government will do it. Here's the latest on that bucket of sleaze that owns Wall Street - and our tax dollars via the bailout and stimulus. The news is all courtesy of two financial blogs I surf constantly - 'Zero Hedge' and 'The Market Ticker'. Both of those sites have begun sniffing bad doings by GS. It's all bits and pieces so far - but here is the latest of what my tiny little mind can comprehend of a very complex situation. A Russian techie who formerly worked for Goldman Sachs - guy by the name of Sergey Aleynikov - was arrested by the Feds last week on charges of having stolen a secret coding system which he worked on while employed by GS (and then, according to Aleynikov, hid 'somewhere in Germany'). Now, GS was quite coy about what that code did - but Zero and Market Ticker went sniffing and discovered something which - believe it or not - was verified by GS. Apparently the code that Russian stole was one that (in technical terms I can't even begin to understand) essentially helped GS cheat. It's something to do with 'high frequency' trading and "trading strategies (that) can move the market quickly during the trading day." IOW, it's about a code which allow the business that owns it to get a nanosecond's head start in trading. Here's the link (scroll down to the 'guest post' by Tylder Durden - 2/3 down the page). It's a doozie. http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/ Anyway, this tiny head start will only result in, say, a penny's profit every couple of thousand dollars - but when thousands of dollars turn into billions in the course of one day - well, that's a lot of pennies. And it's all apparently being stuffed in Goldman Sachs' pockets. But it gets better. Well, not better for us - we're getting screwed. But it is getting better for GS. As stated in the link below, it appears that GS not only has a code which gives it unfair advantage - it also has something else - access to government data as a result of 'government perks'. (Wow! I'll bet that surprises you, huh?) http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1192-FLASH-Goldman-Code-Theft-BOMBSHELL.html "...GS, through access to the system as a result of their special gov't perks, was/is able to read the data on trades before it's committed, and place their own buys or sells accordingly in that brief moment, thus allowing them to essentially steal buttloads of money every day from the rest of the punters world." Hell, forget the damned ruler! I'd like to take a cannon to their derrieres and keep shooting until they're nothing but a smear on the horizon. |
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| genny6348 | Jul 8 2009, 08:41 PM Post #2 |
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Genny6348
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Right.
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| comelately | Jul 8 2009, 10:07 PM Post #3 |
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There is less here than meets the eye. It is simply a trading program that GS uses (or maybe does not use - it is not obvious). Such programs have to be kept secret for obvious reasons: if I could predict what a large entity (such as GS) will do, I could make money on it. Everybody uses trading programs; some are dumber than others; a good trading program might give you a small advantage; GS is supposed to be a very competent organization; I would expect them to make a little more money than others do - legitimately. And ANY large entity can manipulate the market (with or without a program) - but it is a seriously punishable offense - and rightly so. Many people (including the lowly "quants") have access to such codes ("code" in this context is the same thing as "program" - a sequence of instructions in some language like "C"); even more people have access to pieces of such codes. It is a normal human folly to overestimate the value of such tools, especially if one has participated in the design or implementation. Generally, stealing this type of software is a bad idea: it is hard (though not impossible) to convert into some sort of cash, one might get caught (with unpleasant consequences), etc. And if you know what a code does, reproducing it (in one's own style) is not very hard - provided you are a decent programmer, and know what you are doing. And pretty much impossible to catch. So some clown decided to steal a trading program, and GS decided to throw the book at him. Big deal! It does not even mean that they are using (or are planning to use) the code: they might be simply hiding the fact that they ARE NOT using it. The little Russian turkey deserves to be spanked (IF he has actually stolen the code) - for his stupidity, if nothing else.
Edited by comelately, Jul 8 2009, 10:25 PM.
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| LTC8K6 | Jul 9 2009, 01:57 AM Post #4 |
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Assistant to The Devil Himself
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If only you were Chuck Schumer... |
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| comelately | Jul 9 2009, 02:01 AM Post #5 |
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You really know how to scare a guy, don't you?
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| Baldo | Jul 9 2009, 09:25 AM Post #6 |
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Goldman Sachs, it pays to be connected! |
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3:24 AM Jul 11