Keeping up with the Goldmans

Goldman Sachs has morphed from old-school investment bank to modern investment and trading house with huge earnings growth and, despite heavy criticism for opaqueness, where it goes, others are bound to follow. Geraldine Lambe reports.Good results are not always good news. At least, they do not always generate good news. Goldman Sachs’ Q1 results blew away every prediction. Earnings were up 62% on the same quarter in 2005; there was massive growth in just about every area of its business, but it was in the triple digits for fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC, 102%), debt underwriting (129%) and equities trading (167%).