Goldman Sachs (GS US) US$313.85

Goldman Sachs (GS US) was the last US investment bank to post quarterly earnings overnight and there is always a lot to learn in these numbers. They give us insight into how the biggest investment banks in the world are seeing things, more importantly through their actions rather than their rhetoric, while most of them also have large high street operations giving insight into the health of the important US consumer. Firstly, the results were better than expected across the sector but they generally are, so that’s not a big learning. Their high street operations are performing well, implying the US consumer is in good shape. Investment banking is down significantly, implying no deals are getting done while revenue from trading was up given the volatility. What was most telling though, was that Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citi., JPMorgan and Bank of America all reported headcounts that were up from the previous three months and a year earlier. Of the six largest banks, all of which reported financial results in the past week, only Wells Fargo cut the size of its staff. This is not typical of banks that see a deep and painful economic contraction on the horizon.