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MarketWatch First Take
March 4, 2011, 11:25 a.m. EST
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) "” Scandals, fines, settlements, botched deals, miffed shareholders, public-relations black eyes, legal quagmires "” for many banks it might mean the end. For Goldman Sachs Group Inc., it's added up to the No. 1 spot on Fortune's list of the world's "most admired" megabanks.
Reuters Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs.
Goldman /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 161.00, -3.49, -2.12%) tops the list in its industry for the second consecutive year, beating out J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!jpm/quotes/nls/jpm (JPM 45.52, -0.56, -1.22%) and Credit Suisse Group /quotes/comstock/13*!cs/quotes/nls/cs (CS 44.14, -1.21, -2.67%) . Fortune surveyed analysts, executives and other business types to rank firms based on their ability to innovate, profit, produce quality products and show financial strength. See the Fortune list.
It wasn't just among its peers that Goldman shined. It ranks 25th overall ahead of such well-known and admired names such as PepsiCo /quotes/comstock/13*!pep/quotes/nls/pep (PEP 63.40, -0.35, -0.55%) , Caterpillar Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!cat/quotes/nls/cat (CAT 103.04, -1.21, -1.16%) , Cisco Systems Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!csco/quotes/nls/csco (CSCO 18.40, -0.13, -0.70%) and Intel Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!intc/quotes/nls/intc (INTC 21.56, -0.23, -1.06%)
Let's look at the criteria.
Financial strength: Goldman took $10 billion in bailout funds. It required a $5 billion investment from Warren Buffett.
Profitability: Goldman profits fell 37% in 2010 to $7.71 billion. J.P. Morgan profit rose 48% to $17.4 billion.
Innovation: Goldman created a special investment vehicle to raise money for Facebook. It ended up closing the fund to U.S. customers after regulators raised concerns.
And the list goes on "¦
Federal Reserve policy, not inflation, should be investors' top concern, says Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co. With the U.S. economy on the mend, the Fed should end its bond-buying program. Jonathan Burton reports.
So, what's behind the Goldman mystique? This wasn't a poll of Main Street people, many of whom agree with the characterization of Goldman as a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.
To many in corporate America, Goldman Sachs is still viewed as a firm that will go to any length for a client. Its investment bankers, the main contacts for its customers, are still the industry leaders. Accurately or not, executives believe those bankers help their companies and themselves make money.
In return, Goldman gets love.
"” David Weidner
Walking graciously away from the loss of a $30-billion Pentagon contract could be a winning long-term strategy.
3:02 p.m. March 4, 2011
"Money can't buy love? Goldman did http://bit.ly/gPLfY0" 6:20 p.m. EST, March 4, 2011 from MarketWatch
"#IPad rivals face uphill battle with investors http://bit.ly/i3E723" 5:57 p.m. EST, March 4, 2011 from MarketWatch
"Toyota stung by S&P downgrade $TM http://bit.ly/hzteyh" 5:24 p.m. EST, March 4, 2011 from MarketWatch
"U.S. stocks trim Friday declines late to lock in weekly advances http://on.mktw.net/fCG6tu" 4:04 p.m. EST, March 4, 2011 from MarketWatch
"#NFL, players agree to 7-day extension of talks http://bit.ly/g8npaE" 3:35 p.m. EST, March 4, 2011 from MarketWatch
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