Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Blankfein – Bigger than Jesus!

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As reported here yesterday, the CEOs of three investment banks, including, of course, Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein, decided to give the most powerful leader in the world a big ol' F.U. by blowing off their scheduled meeting. The bankers that did show up made a patronizing gesture of getting there via Amtrak, personal cars, and other middle-class modes of transportation. I'm surprised one of these zillionaires didn't take Greyhound, just to show he's just like us reg'lar folks.

Blankfein et. al.'s excuse of "inclement weather" made it even more insulting, since there was just a little fog in the air. Wow. That takes some serious chutzpah, Lloyd. You better hope there isn't another time in the Obama administration that you need the man's help.

Anyway, it made the front page of the New York Times' business section:

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One Sad Stock

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If there's one stock that can be credited (or blamed) for kicking off the mega-rally in 2009, it is Citigroup (C). Remember the infamous March 10, 2009 memo from Pandit stating how they were profitable again? In the span of just eight days, pretty much the entire rally that C enjoyed for 2009 transpired.

Since then, it's been nothing but a grind. Indeed, the current price is lower than C was on March 19th! So even though most stocks – and certainly banks – have suckled at the breast of government cash for this year and risen handsomely for it, C seems to be the weakling. If things ever get soft again (and I am starting to get weary of waiting), I'd guess they're pretty much doomed.

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