Goldman's Highest Priest, Is No Longer "Blessing" WEB's Greatest Wish

[Guest ValueCarl]

Fifteen dollar TICKS are ending in one month's time, much to Mr. Buffett's chagrin, I'm sure. With their brand name tainted, and more fallouts to come, maybe he'll sell their "STOCK" now too? imo

 

Goldman To Redeem Berkshire's Preferred Shares After Fed's OK      03/18 10:43 AM

 

 

 

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS:$159.8000,$4.0500,2.60%) plans to redeem preferred shares held by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A:$125,489.00,00$1,464.00,001.18%) (BRKA, BRKB), saying the Federal Reserve has no objection to that and other shareholder-friendly moves.

The investment bank has been seeking permission to pay back the $5 billion investment from the conglomerate run by Warren Buffett. The Fed first wanted Goldman to hammer out guidelines on bank dividend increases, The Wall Street Journal reported in November, citing people familiar with the matter.

Goldman plans to redeem Berkshire's preferred shares for $110,000 each, plus accrued and unpaid dividends, on April 18. Berkshire continues to hold a warrant to buy 43.5 million Goldman shares, which it bought along with the preferred stock in October 2008.

The Fed also has no objection to Goldman repurchasing common stock or potentially increasing its quarterly dividend, it said.

Berkshire had expected the move, hadn't looked forward to it as the stake was among fixed-income investments that had contributed "substantial sums" to its reported earnings, Buffett wrote in a letter to shareholders last month.

"Goldman Sachs (GS:$159.8000,$4.0500,2.60%) has the right to call our preferred on 30 days notice, but has been held back by the Federal Reserve (bless it!), which unfortunately will likely give Goldman the green light before long," he said.

The nation's biggest bank holding companies are announcing increased dividends, share buybacks, stock issuance and plans to repay their government bailouts following the Federal Reserve giving answers to their capital assessment plans.

The company expects the move to cut its first-quarter earnings per share by about $2.84 a share.

Goldman shares recently traded at $160, up 2.7%.

-By Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240; matthew.jarzemsky@ dowjones.com

[Liberty]

Yeah, that's what I was asking myself; will Buffett keep the GS stock for the long-term or dump it?

 

I'd guess dump, if only because he learned from Soloman that these types of banks are great for bankers, but not so great for shareholders.

 

At least Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, and American Express are going to increase their dividends, so it's not just bad news...