Common Sense on Goldman Sachs

Warren Buffett has provided a throated common sense defense of Goldman Sachs behavior in the Abacus deal. According to the NYTimes, Buffett commented:

“I don’t have a problem with the Abacus transaction at all, and I think I understand it better than most...”

His comments echoed the strong view he had offered just the day before: “For the life of me, I don’t see whether it makes any difference whether it was John Paulson on the other side of the deal, or whether it was Goldman Sachs on the other side of the deal, or whether it was Berkshire Hathaway on the other side of the deal,” Mr. Buffett said.

Buffett argues that the quality of an investment depends on the facts involved, not the identity of who is on the other side:

“I don’t care if John Paulson is shorting these bonds. I’m going to have no worries that he has superior knowledge,” he said, adding: “It’s our job to assess the credit.” The assets are the assets. The math either works or it doesn’t.

I guess it is not surprising that the world's most successful investor would not want to support the view that if an investment proves successful it must be illegal. Since market trades must reflect a divergence of views somebody is going to end up losing on a deal.

Paulson and Goldman

Brad DeLong has a great post (by an anonymous commentator) about why Goldman might really be innocent.

Consider the view from Goldman Sachs. Paulson shows up, says he thinks the subprime market is going to crash and is going to crash hard and is going to crash soon and wants to start laying big bets to that effect. GS goes out, runs the numbers, tests the market, and decides that yes, they can create a great deal of AAA securities plus an equity tranche out of the long side.

The AAA securities will really be AAA securities: minimal risk. Thus they can be sold off at a healthy price to those who want AAA securities. This will burnish the reputation of the firm--look! we made some more AAA securities for you!--in a market that really likes AAA securities and is short of them. And the buyers will be happy because they will get Treasury+5 or Treasury+10 basis points on their cash without risk.

The equity tranche--well, there is a healthy carry trade associated with it in the short run. The short-term earnings from that carry trade will mount up over time, and will more than offset the losses even if the subprime market crashes. Only if the market crashes and not only crashes but crashes hard and crashes soon and moreover crashes freakishly hard and freakishly soon will the equity tranche be a loser.

The overwhelming probability, GS thought, is that Paulson will be the loser--but because his expectations are irrational he's willing to take the short side. So the important thing is to keep this big fish who promises to give us lots of money on the hook. Let him pick the underlying securities--it really doesn't matter, and it gives him the illusion of an edge. Don't bother telling Paulson's role to IBX and company--it really doesn't matter, and it might spook them off and then we might lose the real pigeon while we hunt for more counterparties to take the long side.

Clearly at the time most thought Paulson was out of his elements. This is quite clear in Zuckerman's The Greatest Trade Ever. Maybe Goldman thought that Paulson was the sucker. Somebody has to be wrong in these bets.