Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said the credit-market contraction that started with subprime mortgages is at least halfway over.
``We're not in the ninth inning by any means, we're maybe two-thirds through, a half to two-thirds,'' Blankfein, 53, said today in an interview. ``I think it will consume our attention for the rest of this year.''
Goldman, the biggest securities firm by market value, posted record profit last year, avoiding writedowns that caused historic losses at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Citigroup Inc. Banks and brokerages have recorded more than $180 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses since the beginning of 2007 on securities and loans tied to subprime mortgages. The losses have spread to leveraged loans, commercial real estate and municipal bonds as U.S. economic growth slows.
``It's going to be difficult, there's going to be stress and pain, not just for Wall Street but more importantly for citizens, but it is being worked through,'' Blankfein said. ``The signs of it are all the attention, the writedowns, the fact that assets are being disposed of'' and sold to ``more patient capital.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoCEyaYwNUPI&refer=home
More patient capital...he, he, he...
``We're not in the ninth inning by any means, we're maybe two-thirds through, a half to two-thirds,'' Blankfein, 53, said today in an interview. ``I think it will consume our attention for the rest of this year.''
Goldman, the biggest securities firm by market value, posted record profit last year, avoiding writedowns that caused historic losses at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Citigroup Inc. Banks and brokerages have recorded more than $180 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses since the beginning of 2007 on securities and loans tied to subprime mortgages. The losses have spread to leveraged loans, commercial real estate and municipal bonds as U.S. economic growth slows.
``It's going to be difficult, there's going to be stress and pain, not just for Wall Street but more importantly for citizens, but it is being worked through,'' Blankfein said. ``The signs of it are all the attention, the writedowns, the fact that assets are being disposed of'' and sold to ``more patient capital.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoCEyaYwNUPI&refer=home
More patient capital...he, he, he...
