Making millions on "elephant trades"
October 21, 2012 4:30 PM
Ex-employee Greg Smith accuses Goldman Sachs of selling financial products so complex that clients don't understand how much they're paying in hidden fees.
Goldman Sachs VP explains why he quit
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- The absurd sensitivity of outfits like GS or MS to ethical review of what Wall Street actually does is significant. Most citizens don't realize how Wall Street really works and where the profits and bonuses often come from, i.e., ripping off unsophisticated purchasers (the "Great Unwashed") who have less information or unable to make sense of meaningless complexity. Of course, this is also how much of capitalism actually works and with the end of easy growth in the 21st Century we seem to be relying increasingly on institutionalized fraud just to keep the illusion of a functioning economy working. As the majority increasingly understand just how corrupt the finance-state nexus actually is, they may also begin to realize and question crony capitalism itself. For the first time in a long time, most young people are questioning the American economic system itself. (Whatever America has become with globalization, it certainly isn't "free enterprise".) Once you open this Pandora's Box, where will it end? There are a number of futures that may unfold in the decades ahead. As they do, thinking and feeling citizens must acknowledge that some paths really are better than others. Certainly the current course is unsustainable.
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- This is the same thing retail investment sales people do with mutual funds, the fees are hidden and the customer does not realize they are sometimes paying up to 6% back end loaded commissions to their "trusted" sales person. Most of the these funds are almost identical the etf's: SPY, DIA or QQQ (which you can buy thru any discount broker for a $5 or $7 fee).
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