Goldman Sachs Fixes NYC Marathon, Winner Won't Show U.S. Birth Certificate

It's Monday. An American (named Meb, out of Africa... hmmm) won the N.Y.C. marathon yesterday. We always view the marathon as the true start of the holiday and fall season. Here in Arizona even more, when the air does not even begin to turn cold until,... now.

Things are quite cold for Goldman, Sachs, and Greg Gordon at McClatchy gives us still another piece on Goldman filled with a bunch of isolated facts that, taken together, are meant to imply guilt except that, 1) every other firm did much of the same thing and 2) none of these things done were illegal. You can read the comments after the piece, and marvel at people's willingness to comment strongly on issues and businesses beyond their understanding. One can read Mr. Gordon's entire piece, with quotes from academics and lots of "ifs, ands or mayhapses," but he never gets around to breaking any ground on the matter, or proving any ill gotten gains.

The idea that you should expose your hedges to all your clients, and to the public, borders on the absurd. If Goldman was not considered Jewish, we might not even be having this single-minded focus on one firm, that, thankfully, is still running, making money and keeping our financial system from totally falling into the toilet.

Various firms that bought mortgage securities want to backdate Goldman's prescience (to the beginning of time no doubt), despite the fact that at one time everyone, EVERYONE, was working under the assumption that home prices would continue to rise indefinitely. A few individuals, firms, and companies thought otherwise, or paid close enough attention to come to their senses faster than the others (who often were motivated entirely by short term greed). Nobody is to blame for anyone overpaying for an asset, be it a tulip, gold, a home, a  dot com company or a mortgage backed asset.  Further, you don't fault a financial firm for hedging its exposure in its various lines of business. As individuals don't we both invest in our homes, paying for it over time, while simultaneously holding insurance to protect against lost?  That's a duality that is not overly complicated, unless one is being willfully ignorant.

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I am sitting here listening to Florence and the Machine, the song "Girl With One Eye" and not quite sure if they are a passing sonic fancy, much like Macy Gray and Amy Winehouse. Sometimes a voice is so unique that is seems contrived, even when not. Time will tell.

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In other news:

• Afghans decide to make life complicated... what is it with this sitting out elections just to undermine everything. Oh Abdullah, Abdullah. Might be time for us to call it a day and focus on Americans. We can't raise the dead by beating a dead horse. 
• New biography out on Ayn Rand, whose thoughts seem to permeate the conservative mind of late, leading them to mental perdition. Ayn did you see that rational market crash? Oh wait, you are dead. N.Y. Mag argues that her philosophy (like many philosophies), is merely the personal face of bias seeking a logical looking mask. Her bootstraps assertion of nobody helping her on her arrival in the United States is pointed out as a falsehood, but it's the type of myth by which certain types of conservatives inebriate themselves. Like most people, and ideas, Ayn is partially right, and partially wrong. People without discernment should stay away. 
•  Democrats are fighting, fighting, to hold on to things like New Jersey. Jon Corzine, governor of New Jersey, is in a close race. Given the ex-Goldman superpower mythology that is out there, he is probably getting ready to put his fist together with some other ex-Goldmanite and say, "Wonder Twin powers, activate, form of "landslide", shape of "avalanche". Christopher Christie, the Republican opponent, has a superhero on his side as well. South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson was on hand to say, "You Lie!" on behalf of his brother in arms. 
• The Yankees won again, needing one more. That is a sign of promising things. It will stimulate the inflation of payrolls by teams in other cities, which is good for consumer spending across the land. Ever notice that places like Afghanistan don't have strong sports leagues? Yea... build some sports leagues and everything would be peachy over there. 40,000 more athletes, not troops. Let the Taliban have a team too. They can call them the Taliban Yankees.