Goldman: We made money betting against mortgage market (Internal e-mail released Saturday)

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Source: McClatchy



Goldman: We made money betting against mortgage market

By Greg Gordon | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — In an internal e-mail released Saturday, http://thehill.com/images/stories/news/2010/PDFs/goldma... Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein wrote in November 2007 that the firm "didn't dodge the mortgage mess," but "made more than we lost" by betting against the U.S. housing market.

Blankfein's e-mail, which a Senate investigations panel released with three other subpoenaed company documents, appears to contradict Goldman's denials that it profited from the subprime mortgage meltdown by secretly betting that housing prices would fall. At the same time, Goldman was selling tens of billions of dollars in risky mortgage securities.

Goldman has said that its contrary bets were largely on behalf of its clients.

The release of the documents sets the stage for a confrontation on Tuesday, when Blankfein and six other present and former Goldman executives are scheduled to testify to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which will begin revealing the results of a yearlong investigation.




Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/24/92812/goldman-e-mails-we-made-money.html