Friday, March 16, 2012

Two Creeps Meet

Two men who think they are God, or at least doing God's work, met yesterday on Wall Street.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited Goldman’s headquarters in Manhattan in a show of support after a departing employee publicly criticized the firm’s culture yesterday, reports Bloomberg news.


“The mayor stopped by to make clear that the company is a vital part of the city’s economy, and the kind of unfair attacks that we’re seeing can eventually hurt all New Yorkers,” said Stu Loeser, a spokesman for the mayor.

Mayor Bloomberg visited the firm today about 11 a.m. and met with Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein and numerous employees, Loeser said.

What is really special about Mayor Bloomberg and Goldman is that success for both of them is tied to playing footsie with the Federal Reserve.

The Fed, of course, is well known for shoveling money to Goldman during the height of the financial crisis. What is less known is that Michael Bloomberg's entire empire was built upon the fact that he got to put on his quote machines the "inside quote" at which primary dealers (like Goldman) were trading with the Fed.

Back in the day, before the Fed announced it Fed funds target publicly, the only clue you had as to what the Fed  was doing was through  the inside quote. If you were a trader, especially a bond trader. you needed that inside quote, so you needed Bloomberg's quote machine. The Fed did not allow access to the inside quote to any other quote services, many tried. I know because I was a consultant to one major bank that requested access and was turned down.

Without the inside quote, Bloomberg machines wouldn't have gotten off the ground. His news service would have been as valuable to  traders as the paper sold by homeless in major cities.

It remains a mystery as to how Bloomberg gained access. He has never said a word about it publicly. But it is no surprise that he has rushed to back up Goldman. Like Goldman, he would be nothing without big help from the Fed. Blankfein and Bloomberg, two really creepy guys playing God and backed up by the Fed.

2 comments:

  1. So in other words, Bloomberg is also a primary dealer, but in information rather than in bonds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great catch RW! Bloomberg, Blankfein and Soros the nexis for the criminal government aka Feds.

    ReplyDelete