10 Burning Questions the Senators Should Have Asked Goldman Sachs' Author at High-Frequency Trading Conference
Courtney Comstock, Finance Writer at Clusterstock, to Join High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2010, May 27th at Flatotel Hotel, in New York City.
New York City, NY, May 19, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Courtney Comstock, Finance Writer at Clusterstock, and author of popular Business Insider article "10 Burning Questions The Senators Should Have Asked Goldman Sachs " will join GoldenNetworking.net's High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2010, "Innovating and Profiting from High-Frequency Trading in 2010 and Beyond" (http://www.HFTLeadersForum.com), May 27th, 2010, Flatotel Hotel, New York City.
She reported: "The Goldman hearing was frustrating because at times the Senators tripped over their questions and got nowhere when really, the Senators could have 'won' the debate. It's our thinking that Goldman shouldn't have been questioned so intensely about say, their taking $2.5 billion of AIG's bailout dollars or how Sparks 'got comfortable' with trading positions. Language like getting 'comfortable' is vague and confusing. What Sparks did is precise and sketchy: A client asked him, what's Goldman's position on this trade? Sparks answered: We're long. Really though, they were also short."
Ms. Comstock's burning questions the senators should have asked Goldman Sachs are:
1. Do you create markets for yourself (prop trade) with the same clients you make markets for (client trading)?
2. How do your clients and counterparties know the difference between when you are prop-trading with them and when you are making a market for them?
3. When they ask for your position on a trade, what do you tell your clients or counterparties?
4. Based on your explanation that they shouldn't care, why don't you tell your clients, "no comment?"
5. Could you detail the long/short position Goldman took on the subprime market, each quarter, from 2006 Q1 - 2008 Q3?
6. Do you "flash trade" based on the trades your clients have on the book with you? (Push a trade through faster than a client's huge block trade, so that you are able to buy low before his block buy pushes the price higher?)
7. Why wasn't ABACUS marketed without the statement "selected by ACA?"
8. Could you explain your personal role in the credit crisis?
9. Were the loans inside the MBS you sold were fraudulent?
10. Did you know they were fraudulent? Did you know they were not fraudulent?
Before joining Clusterstock, Ms. Comstock was at Forbes.com. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from UPenn and during college, she interned at CBS news and the magazine Next American City. Ms. Comstock lives in Brooklyn, NY.
High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2010 is produced by Golden Networking (http://www.goldennetworking.net), the premier networking community for business executives, entrepreneurs, investors and diplomats, founded by former McKinsey consultant and Columbia Business School MBA Edgar Perez. Upcoming Leaders Forums and Business Networking receptions include:
· High-Frequency Trading Happy Hour, (http://www.HFTHappyHour.com), June 8th, New York City
- Real Estate Leaders Forum 2010, "Successfully Investing in Distressed Real Estate Assets" (http://www.RealEstateLeadersForum.com), June 17th, New York City
Panelists, speakers and sponsors are invited to contact Golden Networking by sending an email to info@goldennetworking.net. Golden Networking has been frequently featured in the press, including recent articles in The New York Times, "Golden Networking Helps Job Seekers Make Overseas Connections" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/nyregion/07network.html) and Columbia Business School's Hermes Alumni Magazine, "10 Under 10" (http://www7.gsb.columbia.edu/alumni/news/ten-under-ten).
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She reported: "The Goldman hearing was frustrating because at times the Senators tripped over their questions and got nowhere when really, the Senators could have 'won' the debate. It's our thinking that Goldman shouldn't have been questioned so intensely about say, their taking $2.5 billion of AIG's bailout dollars or how Sparks 'got comfortable' with trading positions. Language like getting 'comfortable' is vague and confusing. What Sparks did is precise and sketchy: A client asked him, what's Goldman's position on this trade? Sparks answered: We're long. Really though, they were also short."
Ms. Comstock's burning questions the senators should have asked Goldman Sachs are:
1. Do you create markets for yourself (prop trade) with the same clients you make markets for (client trading)?
2. How do your clients and counterparties know the difference between when you are prop-trading with them and when you are making a market for them?
3. When they ask for your position on a trade, what do you tell your clients or counterparties?
4. Based on your explanation that they shouldn't care, why don't you tell your clients, "no comment?"
5. Could you detail the long/short position Goldman took on the subprime market, each quarter, from 2006 Q1 - 2008 Q3?
6. Do you "flash trade" based on the trades your clients have on the book with you? (Push a trade through faster than a client's huge block trade, so that you are able to buy low before his block buy pushes the price higher?)
7. Why wasn't ABACUS marketed without the statement "selected by ACA?"
8. Could you explain your personal role in the credit crisis?
9. Were the loans inside the MBS you sold were fraudulent?
10. Did you know they were fraudulent? Did you know they were not fraudulent?
Before joining Clusterstock, Ms. Comstock was at Forbes.com. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from UPenn and during college, she interned at CBS news and the magazine Next American City. Ms. Comstock lives in Brooklyn, NY.
High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum 2010 is produced by Golden Networking (http://www.goldennetworking.net), the premier networking community for business executives, entrepreneurs, investors and diplomats, founded by former McKinsey consultant and Columbia Business School MBA Edgar Perez. Upcoming Leaders Forums and Business Networking receptions include:
· High-Frequency Trading Happy Hour, (http://www.HFTHappyHour.com), June 8th, New York City
- Real Estate Leaders Forum 2010, "Successfully Investing in Distressed Real Estate Assets" (http://www.RealEstateLeadersForum.com), June 17th, New York City
Panelists, speakers and sponsors are invited to contact Golden Networking by sending an email to info@goldennetworking.net. Golden Networking has been frequently featured in the press, including recent articles in The New York Times, "Golden Networking Helps Job Seekers Make Overseas Connections" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/nyregion/07network.html) and Columbia Business School's Hermes Alumni Magazine, "10 Under 10" (http://www7.gsb.columbia.edu/alumni/news/ten-under-ten).
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