United States | News & Politics

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief credit strategist Lotfi Karoui is leaving the Wall Street bank after 18 years, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg.

Karoui, who was also the head of credit, mortgages and structured products research, was named chief credit strategist in 2017 and was among 95 executives promoted to partnership in November.

His departure comes as Goldman Sachs’s chief US equity strategist, David Kostin, is set to retire from the bank at the end of the year, Bloomberg reported last month.

...

A representative for Goldman confirmed his departure but declined to comment further. Karoui didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Emphasis mine, and editorial below.

Ok, so, guy is with GS for 18 years, gets promoted to partner less than a year ago... and now he is suddenly leaving, with no comment from either himself or GS...

Millenials and older; does anyone remember what was going on with Goldman Sachs roughly 18 years ago?

Other investment banks?

Something about mortgage backed securities?

... How did that all turn out?

Hedge funds in the Cayman Islands held more Treasuries at end-2024 than US official data show, with their ownership likely to be $1.4 trillion higher than reported, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve.

The funds’ holdings had increased by $1 trillion since 2022 to reach $1.85 trillion by end-December, the researchers including Daniel Barth and Daniel Beltran wrote in an Oct. 15 note. A report from the Department of the Treasury put the funds’ ownership at $423 billion.

The Fed researchers said their figures showed the Cayman Islands is the largest foreign owner of US government securities, ranking ahead of China, Japan and the UK.

Emphasis mine.

Also my own editorializing: Those hedge funds are likely leveraged somewhere between 50:1 and 100:1.

So uh... all good, totally normal, lol.

Trump on Wednesday signed a new executive order effectively indefinitely extending the ongoing hiring freeze, albeit while creating new requirements for federal agencies to obtain exceptions as well as new opportunities to politicize the federal workforce.

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he commuted the prison term of George Santos, the disgraced New York Republican who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for a litany of crimes after he was expelled from the House over accusations that he stole money from campaign donors.

Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social on Friday, saying he had signed a commutation to release Santos from prison immediately.

"George Santos was somewhat of a 'rogue,' but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren't forced to serve seven years in prison," Trump wrote.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/37517296

Protesting the direction of the country under Donald Trump, people will gather Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “ No Kings ” demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.

This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and it is expected to be the largest.

It comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/53573841

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.bestiver.se/post/683082

Comments

Local law enforcement has already started cracking down on protestors, in a Blue state. Can't even begin to fathom what else they have planned.

I've been thinking about this amped up conservative rhetoric that liberals and leftists hate America. We all know that's BS. Right? Except it's not, and we should respond to it for what it is.

"I love an America I grew up in. I love an America I believe in, that I lived most of my life in. Now, the idea of America that you're fighting and "winning" for is killing that America I live in, that I love. So you're right. I hate what you imagine America to be... because it is trying to murder the America that I love. And I don't use the word "murder" lightly, and I apply it to you. And if that means to you that I hate America... then you're right! The America you believe in isn't lovable."

That's all.

theadvocates.org/american-ten-…

The concerns from the left are symptomatic of a movement that has grown understandably disillusioned with electoral politics. Some of the critics are likely worried that New Yorkers who turned out in droves to support Mamdani this summer have been hoodwinked by another Democrat voicing sympathy for the Palestinian cause when it’s politically convenient while trying at the same time to please his pro-Israel detractors.

Mamdani’s responses, though, have reinforced the frustrations of many pro-Palestine advocates on the left — that ceding ground on what constitutes acceptable speech on Palestine puts the entire campaign to end both Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and its genocide in Gaza at risk.

The question of whether a rising star like Mamdani can effectively stake out a pro-Palestine stance while succeeding in mainstream electoral politics is high on many Democrats’ minds. A growing part of the party’s base is refusing to support candidates who cave to pro-Israel pressure campaigns. And a growing number of Democrats, including recipients of money from the country’s leading pro-Israel lobby, are calling on the U.S. to stop sending offensive weapons to Israel.

A hacking group called "The Com" released personal information of hundreds of federal agents, including 680 DHS employees, 190 Justice Department officials, and 170 FBI employees[^1]. The hack revealed names, office locations, and home addresses of agents.

The incident occurs amid heightened tensions, with ICE claiming a dramatic rise in assaults against officers, though these statistics are disputed. Colorado Public Radio found only a 25% increase in assaults rather than the administration's claimed "1000% increase"[^9].

The Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Kristi Noem promised prosecutions against those who dox ICE agents in July 2025, but three months later no charges have been filed[^9]. This contrasts with California, where prosecutors have charged three activists for allegedly following and broadcasting an ICE agent's home address[^9].

The hack comes as the Trump administration has pushed tech companies to remove ICE-tracking apps, with both Meta and Apple recently complying with requests to take down such tools[^9].

[^1]: New Republic - Hackers Dox Hundreds of Trump's Masked ICE Agents

[^9]: OPB - ICE promised doxing cases against Portland 'anarchists.' Months later, no charges filed