The pinko left of the left at Fortune magazine really are too harsh. Can't they embrace change and accept that the Wall Street elite knows what is best for America? Oh sure, maybe there is less competition and the proprietary trading systems have rigged the system but that's what progress is all about. Then there are those who might suggest that it was anything other than chance or good luck that the big trading houses managed to avoid any losses on any day in the opening quarter of 2010.
Well, some were jealous of Barry Bonds homerun records or Floyd Landis winning the Tour. I'm just glad we have an administration that knows how to let Wall Street be Wall Street without hassle.
Wall Street's gravy train is in danger of being hijacked. Investors beware; the Volcker rule is the single biggest threat to the share price of the oligopoly. Another threat is the cap on future growth of the oligopoly.
The bill requires Federal Reserve approval for bank holding companies with assets over $50 billion before they can acquire a wide range of other nonbank financial companies, like asset managers with more than $10 billion in assets. Just how big a threat is clear from first-quarter 2010 earnings: Trading revenue at Goldman Sachs increased by 61% to $9 billion; Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase saw their trading revenue more than double from 2009.
Even more amazing, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase did not lose money during any single trading session of the 2010 first quarter. This astonishing performance underscores the casino the oligopoly has become. It bears testament to the payoff from the Wall Street bailout of 2008, which resulted in the elimination of competition and the concurrent strengthening of the few giants left standing.
