Golden Slacks (Goldman Sachs nickname)

Goldman Sachs is a leading financial firm, headquartered in lower Manhattan. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the company made so much money (and made its employees so wealthy) that it was nicknamed “Golden Slacks” by at least 2006, popularized by financial guru Jim Cramer. “Golden Slacks” was a nickname for the “GS” ticker symbol for Goldman Sachs.
 
Other Goldman Sachs nicknames include “Goldman Sucks/Goldman Sux” (first cited in 1996), “Goldmine Sacks/Goldmine Sachs” (first cited in 1997), “Golden Sacks” (first cited in 1998), “Goldie Mac” (first cited in 2009), “Government Sucks” (first cited in 2009), “Vampire Squid” (coined in 2009), and “Godman Shafts/Goldman Shafts” (first cited in 2010).
   
In the financial crisis of 2008, Goldman Sachs (“Golden Slacks” no longer) made an agreement with the federal government to become a bank and to suspend trading in risky financial securities.
 
Many Goldman Sachs “alumni”—such as former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.—became government employees, leading to the nicknames “Government Sachs” and “The United States of Goldman Sachs.”
 
   
Wikipedia: Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), is a bank holding company that engages in investment banking, securities services, and investment management. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869, and is headquartered in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City at 85 Broad Street but has its secondary office at 30 Hudson Street, Jersey City, New Jersey. Goldman Sachs has offices in all financial centers. The firm acts as a financial advisor and money manager for corporations, governments, and wealthy families around the world. Goldman offers its clients mergers & acquisitions advice, underwriting services, asset management, and engages in proprietary trading, and private equity deals. It is a primary dealer in the U.S. Treasury securities market. Goldman was the largest donor to both Barack Obama and John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and former Goldman Sachs employees such as Timothy Geithner and Hank Paulson are appointed to high offices in the federal government, regardless of which party is in power.
 
Google Books
Jim Cramer’s Mad Money
By Jim Cramer
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
2006
Pg. 187:
The brokers: I misname these guys all the time. (...) Goldman Sachs becomes Golden Slacks, for no real reason.
 
TheStreet.com
Cramer’s ‘Mad Money Lightning Round’
04/20/06 - 07:15 PM EDT
(...)
”Goldman Sachs is wearing golden slacks. This stock has 225 [in it]. ... I need you to back up the truck on any weakness.”
   
Cara Community
May 30, 2007
Cara’s Daily Commentary, Wed., May 30, 2007, 9:20 AM
Market Chat
(...)(COMMENTS—ed.)
I appreciate your discussion of “Golden Slacks” and their undue political influence, but this is the promise of Republican politics: Namely, government “by and for the corporations” to quote the crazy guy who shouts.
(...)
Posted by: shark_attack at May 30, 2007 9:32 AM
   
24/7 Wall St.
December 18, 2007
Goldman Sachs Looks Like Golden Slacks (GS)
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) has managed to post $7.01 EPS in its fourth quarter report.
       
UpDown.com
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC
There’s value in Golden Slacks
6/26/08
     
Left Lane News
Goldman Sachs downgrades GM stock, readjusts price targets
06/26/2008, 11:37 AM
(...)(COMMENTS—ed.)
06/26, 2:07 PM
posted by:driven
(...)
By the way this GM talk has been going on for weeks on Wall Street. Read the Journal or watch CNBC. Golden Slacks is just the first company to take action and downgrade.
 
BloggingStocks
Company nicknames:
Goldman Sachs—golden slacks never go out of style
Posted Aug 13th 2008 6:10AM by Jon Ogg
There are many corporate nicknames that are used to either make fun of, shorten, or parody certain company names. But the nickname of “Golden Slacks” for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is perhaps the most appropriately assigned nickname in all of corporate America.
 
With the exception of a few years, and with the exception of 2007/2008 woes, investment bankers and brokers and traders on Wall Street have done far better financially than most jobs on Main Street. Goldman Sachs bankers are thought of as being the highest paid on Wall Street.
 
There are bucket shops, small single-office brokerage firms, small regional firms, larger second-tier brokerage and investment banking firms, and the prized bulge-bracket firms. Goldman Sachs defines the bulge-bracket firm on an exponential basis, although in some ways it is almost like a club. You can’t just walk into an office with a few grand to open an account. Goldman may not have official minimums, but the thought has prevailed that if you don’t have at least $5 million at the firm then you shouldn’t expect your broker to call you.
 
Another issue making this “golden slacks” is that the investment banking operations tend to look for the more established and prestigious underwritings.
 
Seeking Alpha
The Last Days of Morgan Stanley
by: Felix Salmon
October 09, 2008
(...) (COMMENTS—ed.)
triznix Oct 09 01:03 PM
John Mack is so smart that he got MS into this mess in the first place! Being smart is great but if your arrogance overwhelms it then it’s useless. Merrill Lynch would have failed if it wasn’t bought out. That could happen to Morgan as well…. maybe they merge with Golden Slacks?
   
24/7 Wall St.
December 16, 2008
Goldman Sachs Sighs, Amputation Trumps Guillotine (GS)
Imagine a wide loss being considered a win.  That is partly the case at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) This morning.  The former “Golden Slacks” posted a loss of $4.97 EPS for the quarter and its revenue came in negative at -$1.58 billion now that the broker (or bank holding company) took many marks that it had not previously taken.