Goldman-Sachs hording Aluminum, causing shortages

[dbackjon]

And raising the price of your beer...

LONDON/DETROIT (Reuters) - In a rundown patch of Detroit, enclosed by a cyclone fence and barbed wire, stands an unremarkable warehouse that investment bank Goldman Sachs has transformed into a money-making machine.

The derelict neighborhood off Michigan Avenue is a sharp contrast to Goldman's bustling skyscraper headquarters near Wall Street, but the two operations share one important element: management by the bank's savvy financial professionals.

A string of warehouses in Detroit, most of them operated by Goldman, has stockpiled more than a million tonnes of the industrial metal aluminum, about a quarter of global reported inventories.

Simply storing all that metal generates tens of millions of dollars in rental revenues for Goldman every year.

There's just one problem: only a trickle of the aluminum is leaving the depots, creating a supply pinch for manufacturers of everything from soft drink cans to aircraft.

The resulting spike in prices has sparked a clash between companies forced to pay more for their aluminum and wait months for it to be delivered, Goldman, which is keen to keep its cash machines humming and the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world's benchmark industrial metals market, which critics accuse of lax oversight.

Analysts question why London's metals market allows big financial players like Goldman to own the warehouses which store huge quantities of metal even as they trade the commodity.

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[Ivytalk]

Whew! Glad I'm a scotch drinker.

[∞∞∞]

Wall Street just make up the rules as they go along nowadays...they don't need to bother with this whole "supply and demand" thing anymore. Pshhh, it's an archaic concept that us commoners are still learning from our outdated 20th century textbooks. And to think Wall Street used to be primitive enough to think such thoughts too...

But seriously, 25% of the world's aluminum?

[D1B]

Fucking conks

capitalism

[Grizalltheway]

Cue baldy explaining how this is OBVIOUSLY the government's fault.

[Ivytalk]

Cue baldy explaining how this is OBVIOUSLY the government's fault.

Looks like the British regulators (under whose jurisdiction the London Exchange falls) saw no problem, and the US agency had no comment. The article pointed out that the LME's own archaic regulations are the problem.

[D1B]

Cue baldy explaining how this is OBVIOUSLY the government's fault.

Or how Goldman-Sachs worked hard for their aluminum and can do what they want with it.

[bulldog10jw]

Damn Goldman-Sachs.

If I was Obama I would return that million dollars they contributed to his campaign.

[JoltinJoe]

The people at Goldman Sachs think they're smarter than everyone, when in fact, they simply have no sense of shame and decency, and are unable to distinguish right from wrong.

[kalm]

The people at Goldman Sachs think they're smarter than everyone, when in fact, they simply have no sense of shame and decency, and are unable to distinguish right from wrong.

What in the hell do shame and decency or for that matter, supply and demand have to do with the free market?

[Ivytalk]

Sooner or later, this will bite GS in the azz. The Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market 30 years ago, and they ended up taking it in the chops.

[D1B]

The people at Goldman Sachs think they're smarter than everyone, when in fact, they simply have no sense of shame and decency, and are unable to distinguish right from wrong.

Exactly.

Baldy will never admit it, but Goldman Sachs represents the pinnacle of capitalism - monopolistic and exploitive.

[Ivytalk]

The people at Goldman Sachs think they're smarter than everyone, when in fact, they simply have no sense of shame and decency, and are unable to distinguish right from wrong.

Exactly.

Baldy will never admit it, but Goldman Sachs represents the pinnacle of capitalism - monopolistic and exploitive.

You seem to be an advocate of distributism, an economic theory that advocates the widespread private ownership -- as opposed to socialistic state ownership -- of productive assets. Some leading Catholic social thinkers, like Day and Chesterton, supported that view. So you and Joe may have more in common than you think!

[D1B]

Exactly.

Baldy will never admit it, but Goldman Sachs represents the pinnacle of capitalism - monopolistic and exploitive.

You seem to be an advocate of distributism, an economic theory that advocates the widespread private ownership -- as opposed to socialistic state ownership -- of productive assets. Some leading Catholic social thinkers, like Day and Chesterton, supported that view. So you and Joe may have more in common than you think!

The market should be as free as possible. There are many noble large corporations who have a sense of right and wrong. If great men and women are not rewarded to the maximum for their vision, ingenuity and hard work - our society collapses.

Thanks Ivy, enjoyed reading about this concept! Very interesting.

Perhaps Me, Z and Joe have something in common :

From Wikipedia:

Banks

Distributism favors the elimination of the current private bank system, or in any case, its profit-making basis. This does not necessarily entail nationalization, but could involve government involvement of some sort.

Distributists look favorably on credit unions as a preferable alternative to banks.

[JoltinJoe]

You seem to be an advocate of distributism, an economic theory that advocates the widespread private ownership -- as opposed to socialistic state ownership -- of productive assets. Some leading Catholic social thinkers, like Day and Chesterton, supported that view. So you and Joe may have more in common than you think!

The market should be as free as possible. There are many noble large corporations who have a sense of right and wrong. If great men and women are not rewarded to the maximum for their vision, ingenuity and hard work - our society collapses.

Thanks Ivy, enjoyed reading about this concept! Very interesting.

Perhaps Me, Z and Joe have something in common :

From Wikipedia:

Banks

Distributism favors the elimination of the current private bank system, or in any case, its profit-making basis. This does not necessarily entail nationalization, but could involve government involvement of some sort.

Distributists look favorably on credit unions as a preferable alternative to banks.

I don't have an issue with banks per se, but I think the "too big to fail" bank" simply means that the bank is "too big." The banks are exactly as described by Steinbeck in chapter 5 of The Grapes of Wrath, and our ability to control the banks decreases even more, proportionately, the larger they get. I try to avoid doing business with any of the SIFIs, but no matter what, they always buy the bank I am banking with.

Credit unions are definitely preferable. But there's nothing wrong with the small, private, local bank model that worked so well for this country for most of the post-depression 20th century.

[AZGrizFan]

CU's = Not for profit
Small local banks = for profit

Who do you think that profit comes from?

[SDHornet]

Credit unions kick ass. I switch to one after WaMu went under and Chase took over. Of course that take over came with fees that I had no intentions on paying so I made the move. Best move ever.

[Baldy]

Damn Goldman-Sachs.

If I was Obama I would return that million dollars they contributed to his campaign.

Better yet, since Goldman and the Obama administration have this strange incestuous relationship going on, I wonder how many people in the West Wing will walk away from this "deal" with several 0's added to the balances in their bank accounts.

[kalm]

Damn Goldman-Sachs.

If I was Obama I would return that million dollars they contributed to his campaign.

Better yet, since Goldman and every administration have this strange incestuous relationship going on, I wonder how many people in the West Wing will walk away from this "deal" with several 0's added to the balances in their bank accounts.

Fify

[Baldy]

Better yet, since Goldman and every administration have this strange incestuous relationship going on, I wonder how many people in the West Wing will walk away from this "deal" with several 0's added to the balances in their bank accounts.

Fify

Right on queue.

[D1B]

Damn Goldman-Sachs.

If I was Obama I would return that million dollars they contributed to his campaign.

Better yet, since Goldman and the Obama administration have this strange incestuous relationship going on, I wonder how many people in the West Wing will walk away from this "deal" with several 0's added to the balances in their bank accounts.

Goldman buys EVERYONE, Baldy. Massive fail.

[D1B]

Fify

Right on queue.

He's right. You're wrong or to be fair, partially correct.