
The mystique of Goldman Sachs - JumpCrisscross
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-eternal-mystique-of-goldman-sachs/2016/12/14/4fa8d4ca-c0ab-11e6-afd9-f038f753dc29_story.html
======
StClaire
One thing HN might care about: 3 years ago, 25% of Goldman employees worked in
the IT division. They probably had more developers than Facebook and LinkedIn
combined.

[http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-has-more-
engine...](http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-has-more-engineers-
than-facebook-2015-4)

~~~
jbob2000
It's disgusting to me that that much brainpower was/is dedicated to stock
trading. All that programming and the only thing we get for it is that we can
correctly value a company.

~~~
NikolaeVarius
Its insane that you think this is the case.

The markets are an incredibly important part of the economy and this
technology does not only simply value a company.

~~~
zzleeper
I thought it was satire. Although you might make an argument for why reducing
time-to-trade from 50ms to 100ms would not be the end of the world

~~~
witty_username
That would make markets less efficient and thus allocate capital in a worse
manner.

~~~
aleeds
Less efficient for literally 50 ms. Then it all balances out.

~~~
zeveb
The world GDP is about $76 trillion; that means that the global economy
produces about $120,000/ in 50 ms. Reducing the time to work on a trade from
100 to 50 ms gives a trading algorithm that much of an edge, which ultimately
helps increase the size of that $76 trillion pie.

------
Wonnk13
I've been thinking about applying to their IT / analytics teams in the SLC
office. Curious if anyone has any anecdotes about the environment. I've worked
in financial institutions before, but curious how it compares to the FANGs.
I've met really smart people in both environments.

------
ForHackernews
Obligatory: [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-
american...](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-
bubble-machine-20100405)

"The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere.
The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped
around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into
anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial
crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the
suddenly swindled dry American empire, reads like a Who's Who of Goldman Sachs
graduates."

------
lordnacho
I've been out with my fair share of brokers and salespeople, and Goldman's
guys always stick out.

They're always incredibly nosey about what your firm is up to, what your
opinion on the market is, what you're thinking in general.

All other brokers are happy to just eat an expensive meal and be pals.

GS guys act like they've all been personally told to get some useful
information from the client.

I've noticed the difference when a guy moves away from GS, they stop being so
focused on getting info.

------
cylinder
Macquarie is more interesting IMO. Was only founded in the 60s in an isolated
place.

------
gragas
>Cut to 2008, when Goldman made money off the economic collapse by shorting
the housing market. The firm was charged with fraud in 2010.

First of all, that's non-sequitur. Second, why is it evil to short the housing
market?

Washington Post really knows how to cater to its readership...

~~~
forgetsusername
> _Second, why is it evil to short the housing market?_

People don't understand the basic concept that in order to _buy_ something,
someone needs to _sell_ something...which is going short.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
No. It's only going short when you sell something _that you don 't have_ \-
that is, you sell something borrowed. It's not clear to me how one would do
that with houses. You could short homebuilders and mortgage companies, but
that's about all.

~~~
andrevvo
Mortgage payments are bundled into securities called RMBS. By shorting these
securities, you are not shorting the mortgage company, but the assets
themselves (the mortgage receivables).

~~~
AnimalMuppet
_Can_ you short those?

~~~
andrevvo
Yup, best way to think about them are as bonds in which the credit rating is
determined by the underlying asset quality rather than the company itself.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
TIL.

------
currysausage
_> To keep reading, please enter your email address._

Thanks, but no thanks.

~~~
accountable
I agree. It's annoying how often HN links to paywalls. Luckily, they aren't
hard to get around, more of an announce than anything. Just clear your cookies
for the site and try again.

~~~
dang
Paywalls with workarounds are allowed here. We all agree that it's annoying,
but doing without NYT, Economics, New Yorker, WSJ, and (et tu now?) WaPo
articles would make be worse.

This is in the FAQ:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html)
and (suitably, for a FAQ) has been discussed countless times, e.g.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989).

