But detractors were quick to point out that the quarterly results would have been substantially weaker had the $1 billion loss from December 2008 been included (Goldman’s year-end moved to a calendar-year basis when it became a bank holding company).
Any profits are to be welcomed when the economy is contracting at an unprecedented rate. So we should not be too churlish about the fact that the US bank made most of its profits through trading and principal investments, offsetting a decline in fees generated from investment banking activities. Some 70% of earnings came from fixed income, currencies and commodities – twice as much as is normally the case.
Banks like to portray the way they make money as...
