More evidence that the economy is recovering: Goldman Sachs reports big earnings

[PhiGam]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Goldma...-14913483.html

Goldman Sachs, in another sign that banks may be turning around, beat Wall Street's earnings expectations as it reported a profit of $1.66 billion for the first three months of this year. The bank also said it planned to raise $5 billion in stock to help it pay back government bailout funds.

The New York-based bank said it earned $3.39 per share, easily surpassing analysts' forecasts for profit of $1.64 per share. This compares with earnings of $1.47 billion, or $3.23 per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 29 of last year, and is a huge improvement over the $2.29 billion Goldman lost in the fourth quarter.


Goldman's news, released a day earlier than anticipated, came days after another top-performing bank, Wells Fargo & Co., said it expected to report record first-quarter earnings of $3 billion, well above Wall Street's estimates. That news fed a huge stock market rally Thursday, but with companies including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. still to report their first-quarter results, it's too soon to say the banking industry is indeed finally recovering from the devastating losses caused by the credit crisis and the recession.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Many economists would say the author of this article is hopelessly naive.

[Thetagirl218]

What I don't understand is how can they report a gain when they are technically in debt to the US government?

[AGDee]

Michigan's unemployment rate jumped to 12.6 percent in March, up from 12 percent the month before.

The state's unemployment rate has risen over the past year at a faster pace than any 12-month period since 1980. A year ago, it stood at 7.5 percent -- a full five percentage points lower.

*Keep in mind, unemployment rates only count the people who are still receiving benefits. Once you drop off of that role or if you are underemployed (find a job working 10 or 20 hours a week at a reduced pay), you don't count either.

[Munchkin03]

My friends are still losing their jobs, even the ones at Goldman.

I know this is hard for a lot of us, since our generation demands instant gratification, but we're stuck with this here Great Recession for a while.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

My friends are still losing their jobs, even the ones at Goldman.

I know this is hard for a lot of us, since our generation demands instant gratification, but we're stuck with this here Great Recession for a while.

That's what I'm hearing as well; I've had a good number of friends who had their start dates pushed back at their firms from September until December or January. A couple got offers to push back until September 2010, with a stipend and help in securing public interest jobs in the interim. Plus, a bunch of firms have cut their summer programs by as much as a third.

A couple of places even have given their summer associates word within the past week or two that they couldn't hire people for the summer. So, some people are stuck without a job, and with very few options.

I won't believe there's progress until I see it, and I definitely don't see it.

[AGDee]

It's severely affecting Kettering University, which used to be GMI (General Motors Institute). Their whole school system is set up to go to school for 12 weeks, work an internship for 12 weeks, etc, year 'round. GM has pulled out, allowing only seniors to finish their rounds of internships, so many many kids are searching for internships. They have to do so many semesters of internships before they can graduate. Most of the kids their pay at least half their tuition with the money they make during their internships too.

Everybody around here is just anxiously awaiting this June 1st deadline. Word on the news last night is that Pontiac, Saab, Hummer, GMC, and Saturn are going to be gone completely leaving only the Chevy, Buick and Cadillac lines. Personally? I only like Pontiacs and Saturns so I doubt I'll be buying GM again. I really love my Saturn and GM is talking about progress toward selling it off. I'll be really curious to find out who buys it.

[knight_shadow]

JPMorgan Chase is reporting better-than-expected profits, as well.

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