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Goldman Sachs Has Started Giving Away Its Most Valuable Software

The bank’s new gambit: deploy its technology to win more business from clients

Michael Dubno, seen here in his workshop in New York City, is an inventor. During his time at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., he was part of a team that created Securities DataBase, a system which remains the bank’s prime tool for measuring risk and analyzing the prices of securities. ENLARGE
Michael Dubno, seen here in his workshop in New York City, is an inventor. During his time at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., he was part of a team that created Securities DataBase, a system which remains the bank’s prime tool for measuring risk and analyzing the prices of securities. Photo: Jesse Winter for The Wall Street Journal

From the kitchen table in his Upper West Side brownstone, Michael Dubno recently scratched out from memory the blueprint for the modern Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS 0.09 %

The sketches, dashed out on a yellow legal pad, more or less match what Mr. Dubno drew on a white board 25 years ago, in a dusty corner office on the fifth floor of Goldman’s old downtown headquarters: a schematic for a software database that would help the investment bank make billions of dollars in well-timed trades, and sidestep billions more in losses.

Called Securities DataBase, or SecDB, the system remains Goldman’s prime tool for measuring risk and analyzing the prices of securities, and it calculates 23 billion prices across 2.8 million positions daily. It has played a crucial role in many of the seminal moments of the firm’s recent history, including its controversial trading just ahead of the financial crisis.

Goldman had guarded it closely, resisting offers from rivals such as Deutsche Bank AG DB -2.95 % to license the database. One former partner recalls huddling with Gary Cohn, one of Goldman’s top executives, a decade ago to ponder what a licensing deal would be worth. Mr. Cohn told his colleagues he wouldn’t do it for $1 billion. For $5 billion? Maybe, he said, according to the former partner.

“It was such a competitive advantage,” Mr. Cohn, who was promoted to president in 2006, said recently.

There is perhaps no better sign of the changes that have engulfed Wall Street than this: Goldman has recently started giving clients the tools that made it a trading powerhouse, for free.

The firm’s motives aren’t altruistic; rather, many of the edges that once made Goldman’s traders feared and admired have been blunted. New rules have limited banks’ trading risks, and made it costly to hold large inventories of stocks and bonds on their books. And electronic trading has squeezed margins, dimming the clamor of trading floors across Wall Street.

“Regulation has dulled that advantage,” said Peter Carr, a former Morgan Stanley MS -0.44 % executive who teaches at New York University.

Traders and executives tap into SecDB to inform how to price securities, and how the value of those assets may change with a twist on the dial on any one of thousands of potential variables. That information can be used to analyze potential trades—and then to monitor the risks posed by those positions.

What made it the envy of Wall Street, though, was its ability to scale up to include new classes of securities, new trading desks, even whole businesses. And the data it harnessed was all in one place. Megamergers left rivals with a hodgepodge of different systems and different factions of employees loyal to each of them. Goldman avoided big acquisitions, evading issues that would slow its ability to track risks.

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Thus, Goldman’s new gambit: Deploy its technology to win more business from clients. Many of those tools are being offered in the form of web-based applications that customers can customize and operate on their own.

“It’s the content, tools and analytics we’ve been working on for decades, and we’re putting it in the hands of clients,” said R. Martin Chavez, Goldman’s chief information officer.

Some investors and clients harbor doubts that Goldman can pivot so sharply.

“I’m not sure their core competency is being a tech company,” said Jason Brady, chief executive of Thornburg Investment Management, which manages $55 billion and trades with Goldman. “So it’s a shift, and I’m not sure I want that to be their role.”

The trick for Goldman will be to win over clients like Jeffrey Young, who co-heads an investing unit within Ramius COWN -2.75 % LLC, a New York money manager.

A Goldman saleswoman introduced Mr. Young to a Marquee app during a choppy period in the markets, when he needed regular updates on the bespoke derivatives he had bought from Goldman.

“They’re trying to be more proactive—instead of just saying ‘we need to satisfy what the client wants,’ they’re saying ‘let’s make sure they’re as happy as possible,’” he said. “They’re more open with a lot of their intellectual property.”

Goldman is seeking its niche in a crowded field. BlackRock Inc. BLK -0.60 % offers its own risk-management system, called Aladdin, and Bloomberg LP’s terminals remain a ubiquitous presence on trading floors.

Mr. Chavez is an alumnus of J. Aron, the commodities trading arm where many of Goldman’s leaders, including Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein and his top deputy, Mr. Cohn, got their start.

Inside Goldman, J. Aron was a backwater. While the firm’s stock traders were doted on by waiters with trays of cocktail shrimp, J. Aron’s offices featured ragged furniture and spittoons.

SecDB’s run within Goldman began when Marc Spilker, a currency-options trader, sought a pricing database with the flexibility to add new derivatives. He turned to Armen Avanessians, a former Bell Labs engineer Mr. Blankfein had hired and the man one Goldman alum referred to, somewhat affectionately, as the “Darth Vader” of the strategists, or strats—a team of engineers J. Aron had begun to assemble to work on computer models.

The task fell to Mr. Dubno, a college dropout and former videogame developer who had come to Goldman to work for famed economist Fischer Black. Two other engineers, Glenn Gribble and Kevin Lundeen, soon followed. Mr. Avanessians hired Mr. Chavez in 1993 to extend SecDB to J. Aron’s commodities desk.

Even by J. Aron’s standards, Messrs. Dubno, Gribble and Lundeen stood out. They destroyed nearly all of their office’s ceiling tiles tossing a volleyball around the room, and blasted rock music. When their next-door neighbor complained, the firm fitted the office with soundproofing insulation, Mr. Dubno said.

The SecDB system received an early test in 1998, when hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management nearly collapsed. Goldman used the database to help analyze its exposure, an episode that helped raise SecDB’s profile within the firm, according to people familiar with the matter.

Over time, SecDB spread to other parts of J. Aron and, ultimately, the entire firm. As Mr. Blankfein rose up the ranks, he insisted that SecDB and the strategists join him.

By the time the housing market boomed, SecDB had reached Goldman’s firmwide risk and finance departments. “Thank goodness we did that when we did,” recalled Robert Berry, who heads Goldman’s market-risk team.

As the prices on securities tied to subprime mortgages began to decline in late 2006, Mr. Berry and other executives plotted out how the firm’s positions performed against its models. They could soon tell something wasn’t right.

Goldman made some profitable bets against the housing market and, in some instances, began reducing exposure to other counterparties, even as many of their peers and clients remained bullish (later, the firm’s moves were roundly criticized as evidence it put its own interests above its customers’).

Goldman marked down the value of its mortgage bonds, a step that led to a bitter fight over collateral with insurer American International Group Inc., AIG -0.68 % Mr. Cohn said. The dispute helped trigger AIG’s massive bailout by the U.S. government.

Mr. Chavez left Goldman in the late 1990s, eventually founding a Silicon Valley startup he sold in 2004. While running that company, Mr. Chavez filed an application for a patent on a system some Goldman partners found similar to SecDB. They were incensed that Mr. Chavez had failed to credit Goldman, and brought it to Mr. Cohn’s attention, people familiar with the matter said.

Goldman sent Mr. Chavez “a nasty letter,” one person said. Mr. Cohn, though, declined to authorize a lawsuit. When Mr. Chavez sold his startup, Mr. Cohn persuaded him to rejoin Goldman.

Goldman elevated Mr. Chavez to CIO in 2013. The flagship in his strategy is Marquee, a series of applications that allows clients to tap into SecDB and other systems.

One app called Simon offers a platform for independent brokers to customize and buy structured notes. Another, Athena, allows Goldman’s corporate clients to execute their stock-buyback programs.

The firm’s engineers are also building a data warehouse that will store all of the information produced internally in one location, a so-called “data lake” that is Goldman’s answer to the “customer analytics” movements that have revolutionized industries ranging from advertising to retailing.

“Goldman still has a strategy, and the next wave of competitive challenges,” said Mr. Dubno, who left the firm in 2005. “And Marty has made a few moves on the chessboard.”

Write to Justin Baer at justin.baer@wsj.com

There are 76 comments.
632 people watching.
Mark Sullivan

 

Manuel Lazerov
subscriber

They are not leveling the playing field per se. They are insulating themselves from liability, presumably by giving everyone the same opportunity as they. One has to believe that they have already gamed this move. 

There's an old saying: "For nothing, you get nothing."

MICHAEL BARRETT
subscriber

Goldman Sachs  doesn't give anything away that doesn't have "New Scheme attached"..........Cosa Nostra of Finance World .......Silly people 

Thomas Gordon
subscriber

See, giving it away even though it's incredibly valuable. As a long time software person who remembers people paying $500 for a copy of WordPerfect I find this incredibly demotivating.

Tom Byrnes
subscriber

This is the second time you've run this ad disguised as an article. How much is Goldman paying you for it?

Lee Zehrer
subscriber

I have a saying that goes like this, “The only place there are more criminals than Wall Street is Washington, DC”. But in Goldman and Lloyd Blankfein’s case I’ll make an exception.

Chin Wu
subscriber

Okay, Goldman gives away a tool for the customers to make bets, so now Goldman can makes bets against them with a proprietary program, knowing exactly what the customers will do? Did I get that right?

George Hanna
user

@Chin Wu That's exactly correct. Now they can mine more accurate data. They should have licensed their software long ago, they should have done what Amazon and Google and Microsoft have been doing for a long time.

Robert Melendez
subscriber

If you believe Blankfein is giving away anything of value, I'll give you a bridge in New York City. The software is probably 20 years old. In computer software anything more than five years old belongs in a disposal hydrolic yard. So what is the real motive behind the charity gift of used hardware.

Maybe the disposal cost of this old computer is cost prohibitive. Maybe Goldman can take a small tax write off by giving old hardware away. Whatever the motive is, there is something about this thing that doesn't smell right.

James Chen
subscriber

I'd pay more for Super Mario Brothers for IOS than I would for Goldman Sach's software. What a load of BS from a Den of Thieves.


Albert Connelly
subscriber

This suggests that trading is no longer so profitable. Us individual investors have noticed this.

Michael Wood
subscriber

Would this be the same software that forecast that CDOs based on mortgage loans to folks without the ability to repay were good investments?


It's no wonder they're giving it away now.


“They’re trying to be more proactive—instead of just saying ‘we need to satisfy what the client wants,’ they’re saying ‘let’s make sure they’re as happy as possible,’” he said. “They’re more open with a lot of their intellectual property.”


Corporate-speak.

Richard Cohen
subscriber

Fun story...and history. much tougher challenge for GS however, to figure out how to monetize all of the software they are giving clients. If anyone can do it however, it will be GS.

Jack Williams
subscriber

And.... let's see if the WSJ reports this one:


GS spins a policy that bans execs from contributing to Trump-Pence but not Clinton-Kaine.  Crony Capitalism right in our faces....  When is enough enough?


http://fortune.com/2016/09/06/goldman-elite-trump-pence/



Clint Tarkoe
subscriber

@Jack Williams saw that - shows that HRC is the wall street candidate - the same wall street she's been villifying

DEAN L OESTREICH
user

@Jack Williams


Wow! After Goldman Sacs payed the Clintons $2.2 million in "speaking fees", they now have the stones to say to their employees: don't donate to Trump because it looks bad?

David Bronstein
subscriber

J. Aron and Company, ACLI International and the great commodity houses of the past.  It figures the former employees of J. Aron would eventually take over Goldman.  The great commodities houses always had people ahead of the curve.  Unfrotunately the business model and times changed for the houses and they are just a memory of a former time.

Sanoran Triamesh
user

So, if their software is so great, why do they need their mole Hank Paulson (Treasury Secretary) to arrange bailout cash for them via the Fed? Or, why are they already bribing Hilary Clinton via silly speaking fees, so that they can get future bailout cash? 


hmm.... no wonder they are giving this 'incredible' software away. 

TOM PAINTER
subscriber

"New rules have limited banks’ trading risks, and made it costly to hold large inventories of stocks and bonds on their books"

That is a large half truth and leaves out the major reason the regulatory impact on Goldman became greater - in 2008 it went from being a "mere" investment bank to a complete bank holding company, placing it under rules that had not formerly applied to a mere investment bank.

With repeal of Glass-Steagall Goldman could return to its roots.

James Schaad
subscriber

don't know what it means but i would like to think it is connected to soul searching, their roots.

i was there for a long time, watched its growth, watched the billions come in the door

.........................but along the way,.................they got lost

their image, their reputation, their culture.................there only mission was to make money,lots of money.........................just maybe they miss their roots

...........................................or some of the new guys heard of them and think they missed something

...................its   a matter of substance


they have always been the leader of wall street, like most firms wanted to be like goldman

.............................now let them recreate themselves ,and let the rest of the street follow


let them be part of a larger vision of recreating the country

............................with new leadership let 2017, lets get  back to basics

.........................it is our time

OMAR A JADAN
subscriber

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this move was forced by the Volcker Rule. I don't think GS would just give away its own equivalent of the Coca Cola formula out of the goodness of its own heart.

spero margaris
subscriber

Cohn's decision a decade ago, not to sell, was wrong.  because today the system is for free.  not so smart after all. 

Michael Widner
subscriber

Goldman's highest priority client is itself.


My guess:

1) Goldman has already made improvements to its internal models which it's keeping for itself

2) It's fostering an environment where it knows client models will produce slightly different valuations than its own

3) It will capitalize on the difference


Ex-Goldman CEO Jon Corzine publicly supports Elizabeth Warren as Hillary's running mate.  The only thing to say about investment banks and politicians is that if you can't spot the sucker in the room, the sucker is you.

holt jurie
subscriber

it's not about software ....


it's about information .... at the race track; and on the trading floor.


chumps gamble; champs have guarantees.

TOM PAINTER
subscriber

@holt jurie It is not just the information, it is also the amount of weight given to each/any/all the information as well as how many ways the information is categorized.  That is an analytical decision process built into software that helps look at the information. 

JOHN HAWKINS
subscriber

WOW...decision making based on data.....and it gave them an edge.....sort of tells you where the rest of the industry was all those years.

Kim Jady
subscriber

Another example of how brokerage firms are losing control over once proprietary information. Time for these unnecessary dinosaurs to step aside.

Donald Ross
subscriber

If their software is so great, why don't their mutual funds perform in the top decile? Or even top 50 percentile?

JOHN HAWKINS
subscriber

@Donald Ross


Seems to have worked out pretty well for those needing liquidity for their massive positions in large blocks of securities...... created a nice new demand to those positions when necessary for their profitable clients.

Stephen Berry
subscriber

Sat across from Goldman Sachs in negotiations.  Like dangling one's feet in piranhas.  Arrogant.  Deceitful.  Kept our money far away and then fended off their attacks and phone calls trying to discredit us.  Do not touch anything with their brand, it is snake bit.

John Yungton
subscriber

A treasure map to an empty mine, if they are giving it away, they've moved on.

michael obrien
subscriber

In a related story, Goldman stated in no way, does this effect the policy to rip the face off customers.  This has been a long standing tradition and we see no reason to change that.

james kow
subscriber

since when did the very closed goldmansachs become a financial open-source financial bank? i like mr. blanksfein's hutzpah, but is this "the work of god that goldman is doing?

Stan Feldman
subscriber

If GS is giving its proprietary software away to clients it means that it has no value and that GS believes that its clients do not have the brain power to figure this out. To say GS has chutzpah is an understatement.  The GS shield is remarkable. It never ceases to amaze me how often presumably savvy people simply conclude that if it is good enough for GS it is good enough for them.  The reality is that GS and other banker firms have learned that they can fool virtually everybody all the time by making financial strategies appear complicated to the point that one can only take advantage of the opportunity if one does it through GS or with GS's help. The reality is that Wall Street's magic is making the simple appear complicated so people conclude that to take advantage of the opportunity GS presents they need to TRUST GS.  The list of professionals that GS has sold on this model includes CFOs, officials  and of course wealth managers. The list goes on and on.

Igor Liokumovich
subscriber

@Stan Feldman "The list of professionals that GS has sold on this model includes CFOs, officials  and of course wealth managers. The list goes on and on."

It is just too bad these fools don't read the comment section of WSJ where Stan Feldman gives his priceless insights away.

Stan Feldman
subscriber

@Igor Liokumovich @Stan Feldman


Igor,


Must have hit a sensitive nerve! Perhaps you might share more with the WSJ readership.

Igor Liokumovich
subscriber

@Stan Feldman @Igor Liokumovich No, nothing personal here. I just find it amazing that you are comfortable with the idea that all those highly successful people (GS's clients) don't have the ability to see what you, Stan Feldman, see. Talk about chutzpah. And by the way, all nerves are sensitive.

Stan Feldman
subscriber

@Igor Liokumovich @Stan Feldman


Igor,


You should check with the European Banks that purchased CMOs and CDOs from Goldman.  There was a time when Goldman was the standard but that was before it went public. But this time is long gone.  Igor, I am not sure if you are a client of Goldman, but I am sure you can find many institutional clients that have been had by Goldman. My point again is that if  Goldman is giving software away what must Goldman be thinking. If it is worth something, then why would Goldman give it away.  Think about this Igor. Why? Do you really think Goldman wants to give away its magic sauce? Really? Well if you believe this then, well, I have the proverbial bridge to sell you.  

Igor Liokumovich
subscriber

@Stan Feldman @Igor Liokumovich
1. GS remains the leader in the markets / segments it operates, including equity underwriting. So it either all those clients never realized that they have been had by GS, or what you are saying is a claptrap. Your mentioning of those Europeans banks clearly indicates that you have a poor idea what those transactions entailed and the role each party played.


2. You don't need to ask why, why, why GS gives away its valuable software. The article clearly explains that -- to keep their clients happy and to retain their business. What's so insidious about that?

John Reilly
subscriber

What gets me is not the possibility of Goldman's giving away a Trojan Horse; but the journalist's seemingly oblivion to this possibility. 

Matt Moyers
subscriber

The Vampire Squid dressed in the 0s & 1s of software altruism, but still "wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." 

Phil F
subscriber

These are just quant pricing models for complex derivatives, all the banks have it. I do not understand what all the fuss is about.

CHAO ZHANG
subscriber

"...Mr. Dubno, a college dropout and former videogame developer..."


Man, I knew the key to success is to drop out of college! My parents just didn't listen to me!! I should've been rich by now!


Stephen Carroll
subscriber

Now that everyone will have the software the edge Goldman investors had is gone.  We are back to the predicament that because everyone has the same knowledge you can't beat the market consistently.  


By the way predicting the 2006 house crash was not rocket science.   The part that was amazing is the number of people that were blindsided.  I guess none of he people at AIG owned a house that had doubled in price in 3 years.  

Brian Knapp
user

Not one GS guy is in jail for their role in the world financial collapse of 2008. Blankfein and Co. should be swinging from the rafters. 

CHRIS MARTENSON
subscriber

Let me guess...the old technology doesn't provide an edge anymore and so GS is giving it away and the PR spin is that this is somehow good for clients and the WSJ just prints that media PR claim for GS for free.

Meanwhile GS has some other technology that it preserves for itself that still mugs the muppets and actually still works.

Of course, front running the Fed, with the Fed's approval and insider tips naturally, still remain the bread-and-butter of each quarter's earnings.

Did I miss anything?



Christopher Messina
subscriber

@CHRIS MARTENSON Pretty much everything, I'd say. Which particular "muppets" do you see as getting "mugged?"  


No one ever prevented any other firm from making similar technical investments - you and other sidelines snipers like you make nasty comments after the fact from the cheap seats. How about turning your comments around to excoriate every single other Wall Street firm AND "for the people" money managers like Fidelity for not making the exact same kinds of investments on behalf of "the muppets" for whom you have so much respect?


Sheesh. People like you bore me to tears. Go take a real risk with your capital in a world full of uncertainty and hard-to-value information - once you have actually done so, you would be unable to write the kind of nonsense you offered us here.

John Geder
subscriber

@CHRIS MARTENSON

You did not miss anything, but could have simplified a bit:


"When you believe you've found the keys to the markets, they change the locks.", is an old saying.


Everyone with a new-found software package should ponder that, before they "jump in the water".

Dan Barnes
subscriber

If the software is free it is not the firm's most valuable software.

Christopher Messina
subscriber

@Dan Barnes Really? Tell that to Google inre: Android. 

Michael Scheer
subscriber

"Megamergers left rivals with a hodgepodge of different systems and different factions of employees loyal to each of them. Goldman avoided big acquisitions, evading issues that would slow its ability to track risks."

That may be the real story.

Christopher Messina
subscriber

@Michael Scheer Meaning what? That other people should learn from Goldman's discipline in developing their own resources internally versus trying to "buy" success and growth elsewhere in the market. Sure - it's a good story, but it's well-trodden old news to anyone who bothered to go to business school. 

Show More Comments
    • John Geder
      @CHRIS MARTENSON You did not miss anything, but could have s
    • Manuel Lazerov
      They are not leveling the playing field per se. They are ins
    • MICHAEL BARRETT
      Goldman Sachs  doesn't give anything away that doesn't have
    • JOHN ERICKSON
      Database schema is what they ment to say.
    • Kumaran Damodaran
      I'm pretty sure this isn't Goldman's "most" valuable softwar
    • George Hanna
      @Chin Wu That's exactly correct. Now they can mine more accu
    • Thomas Gordon
      See, giving it away even though it's incredibly valuable. As
    • Tom Byrnes
      This is the second time you've run this ad disguised as an a
    • Peter Murray
      Citi basically did this years ago by offering Yieldbook to c
    • Lee Zehrer
      I have a saying that goes like this, “The only place there a
    • Chin Wu
      Okay, Goldman gives away a tool for the customers to make be
    • Robert Melendez
      If you believe Blankfein is giving away anything of value, I
    • Dan Barnes
      @Christopher Messina Ugh.
    • James Chen
      I'd pay more for Super Mario Brothers for IOS than I would f
    • Christopher Messina
      @PATRICK MROWCZYNSKI @Christopher Messina @Dan Barnes Whatev
    • PATRICK MROWCZYNSKI
      @Christopher Messina @Dan Barnes Android is free?  All of it
    • Igor Liokumovich
      @Stan Feldman @Igor Liokumovich 1. GS remains the leader in
    • Stan Feldman
      @Igor Liokumovich @Stan Feldman Igor,You should check with t
    • Brian Knapp
      @David Frank @Brian Knapp I'm not disagreeing with you, they
    • Christopher Messina
      @Michael Scheer Meaning what? That other people should learn
    • Christopher Messina
      @Dan Barnes Really? Tell that to Google inre: Android. 
    • Christopher Messina
      @CHRIS MARTENSON Pretty much everything, I'd say. Which part
    • Albert Connelly
      This suggests that trading is no longer so profitable. Us in
    • Igor Liokumovich
      @Stan Feldman @Igor Liokumovich No, nothing personal here. I
    • Michael Wood
      Would this be the same software that forecast that CDOs base
    • RONALD TONEY
      Does a leopard change it's spots?
    • Richard Cohen
      Fun story...and history. much tougher challenge for GS howev
    • Jack Williams
      @Cyrus Afzali @Jack Williams Noted. Thanks.  Regardless, it'
    • Cyrus Afzali
      @Jack Williams For starters, the policy only affects partner
    • DEAN L OESTREICH
      @Jack Williams Wow! After paying the Clintons $2.2 million i
    • Ernest Montague
      @Clint Tarkoe @Jack Williams Or that Wall street simply real
    • Mark Sullivan
      @Clint Tarkoe @Jack Williams Yea, I find the irony pretty ri
    • Stan Feldman
      @Igor Liokumovich @Stan Feldman Igor,Must have hit a sensiti
    • Clint Tarkoe
      @Jack Williams saw that - shows that HRC is the wall street
    • Igor Liokumovich
      @Stan Feldman "The list of professionals that GS has sold on
    • Jack Williams
      And.... let's see if the WSJ reports this one:GS spins a pol
    • Igor Liokumovich
      @Stephen Berry LOL
    • David Bronstein
      J. Aron and Company, ACLI International and the great commo
    • john gury
      "a schematic for a software database " Using precise tech jo
    • Sanoran Triamesh
      So, if their software is so great, why do they need their mo
    • TOM PAINTER
      @holt jurie It is not just the information, it is also the a
    • TOM PAINTER
      "New rules have limited banks’ trading risks, and made it co
    • James Schaad
      don't know what it means but i would lie to think it is conn
    • OMAR A JADAN
      Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this move was forced by
    • spero margaris
      Cohn's decision a decade ago, not to sell, was wrong.  becau
    • Michael Widner
      Goldman's highest priority client is itself.My guess:1) Gold
    • holt jurie
      it's not about software ....it's about information .... at t
    • JOHN HAWKINS
      @Donald Ross Seems to have worked out pretty well for those
    • JOHN HAWKINS
      WOW...decision making based on data.....and it gave them an
    • Kim Jady
      Another example of how brokerage firms are losing control ov
    • Donald Ross
      If their software is so great, why don't their mutual funds
    • Stephen Berry
      Sat across from Goldman Sachs in negotiations.  Like danglin
    • John Yungton
      A treasure map to an empty mine, if they are giving it away
    • michael obrien
      In a related story, Goldman stated in no way, does this effe
    • james kow
      since when did the very closed goldmansachs become a financi
    • Stan Feldman
      If GS is giving its proprietary software away to clients it
    • John Reilly
      What gets me is not the possibility of Goldman's giving away
    • fadel gheit
      GS doesn't give away anything of any use to anyone.
    • Seamus de Mora
      @Brian Knapp Please sober up before posting here. 
    • David Frank
      @Brian Knapp And what about the Federal Government's role in
    • Matt Moyers
      The Vampire Squid dressed in the 0s & 1s of software altruis
    • Phil F
      These are just quant pricing models for complex derivatives,
    • CHAO ZHANG
      "...Mr. Dubno, a college dropout and former videogame develo
    • Stephen Carroll
      Now that everyone will have the software the edge Goldman in
    • Brian Knapp
      Not one GS guy is in jail for their role in the world financ
    65
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