I gave Goldman Puts and the stock is down $3 and Baidu (long) is up $9 on news of a video deal. A nice birthday market open.
SINA, SOHU, SNDA and FMCN are other China stocks flying.
In the end, Goldman Sachs will be the big winner in China so it pays to keep it all in perspective.
Disclosure – Long Baidu, Long Goldman PUTS
Happy Birthday dude!
Happy 55th birthday, Howard.
You’ve earned it.
Happy B-day!
Here is a snippet from another Barron’s article just published today. The guy answering is Bove, a managing director of investment boutique Punk, Ziegel & Co.
Q: Why do you have a Sell rating on Goldman Sachs?
A: I think that Goldman Sachs (GS) is going to have to mark down the value of their assets. Whenever a company is forced to sell anything in the marketplace, they wind up in a position where they have to mark the stuff down dramatically. The second factor is that they have locked up their balance sheet with a whole bunch of term loans. So the balance sheet isn’t as fluid or liquid as it once was, and their core businesses, which are mergers and acquisitions and bringing companies to market, are going to be weak for an extended period. On the positive side I think their trading business is fabulous. But the point is, I don’t know how good or bad [Goldman’s] businesses are doing — I’m just speculating. I am not willing to put my money up until I have a clearer feeling as to what is actually happening.