Friday, September 3, 2010

Goldman Sachs Closing Principal Trading Desk (GS)

(Originally covered @Economicburn)
This just out.. Goldman's stock has been up quite a bit today.. Where are the traders going to go? Speculation is they are heading to another firm. The stock has reacted positively to the news, up nearly 5.5%.

Bloomgberg provides more insight:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is shutting its principal-strategies business, a group that makes bets with the firm’s own capital, to comply with new U.S. rules aimed at curbing risk, two people with knowledge of the decision said.


Goldman Sachs, which says about 10 percent of its revenue comes from proprietary trading, is grappling with a provision of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act that prohibits banks from risking capital by betting for their own accounts. JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to close its prop-trading units in response to the law, signed by President Barack Obama in July. JPMorgan last month told in-house commodities traders in London that they may lose their jobs, a person briefed on the matter said this week.