Conditions At Goldman Sachs-plus its current strategy

Considered by many to be the profit and influence king among investment banks in modern times,Goldman Sachs was nonetheless subject to the same economic forces as everyone else in Q4 2011.The firm beat earnings estimates,but missed on revenue,or sales.Goldman's clientele is being cautious about investing and mergers and acquisitions in this difficult climate.
Trading and investment banking is down.It's not a good time to be an investment banker or trader,according to William D. Cohan,author of the well-regarded book "Money and Power:How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World."With the new rules,it's gonna be very tough to do business on Wall Street.
You're gonna get 5-8 years in the limelight at Goldman Sachs;then you're gonna be moved out for younger people.That's a good thing.
I think Goldman Sachs wants to be below the radar screen,not the whackamole.They want to get beyond being the poster child for bad behavior on Wall Street,Mr.Cohan observed.
With regard to the company's current perspective on equities,Dave Costin,Chief Equity Strategist at Goldman,says U.S. companies with the most exposure to the U.S. ought to outperform.It's one of our fundamental strategies for 2012.Consumer staples are what we prefer.Labor slack means little wage growth,hence poor discretionary spending.
Long term,two-thirds of corporate cash is reinvested in growth.In this environment,we're looking at 11% growth of dividends,Mr.Costin noted.
In other words,companies are plowing a lot of cash into dividends today to attract the skittish investors of these volatile times.It's why so many investment advisors are recommending the good dividend payers such as Procter&Gamble and PepsiCo to their clients.
Goldman Sachs(GS),Procter&Gamble(PG),PepsiCo(PEP)

Procter&Gamble Relies On Cutting Edge

Procter&Gamble has reported earnings of 1.02 a share,versus an estimate of 1.00;and revenue of 20.1 billion dollars,versus an estimate of 20.24.Free cash flow was 1.9 billion dollars.The company repurchased 3 billion dollars of its shares to support the stock.
Organic sales were up 4%,while volume rose 8%.Fiscal year 2011 organic sales are projected to rise 4-11%.
Jan Moeller,Chief Financial Officer of the company,says the U.S. economy is choppy,but as long as they continue to innovate,they'll be able to price appropriately.They build their business plans to achieve organically.Acquisitions are on top of that.
A Sunday newspaper circular highlighted a number of new Procter&Gamble products.CNBC's Jim Cramer recently praised the firm and its CEO,Bob MacDonald.
Procter&Gamble(PG)

Procter&Gamble Explains Misses

Procter and Gamble's earnings report missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines.Earnings per share were 0.71 cents,versus an estimate of 0.73,while revenue was at 18.93 billion dollars,versus an estimate 0f 19.102 billion.Chief Financial Officer Joe Moeller said this was because the company chooses to invest more behind significant innovation and strategic initiatives.Procter&Gamble is building market share in every one of its regions.In the developed world,things are relatively slow.There is good growth in the developing world,but it is 25% below standard.
Procter&Gamble is seeing the re-acceleration of branded sales.The Pro-Glide razor is doing well.Pampers Dry-Max is doing extremely well.There's a very exciting year ahead of Procter&Gamble.There will be a Crest 3D White,a new laundry brand in India and a reformulation of Tide for the first time in 10 years.The company has a very sufficient pipeline for innovation,Mr.Moeller believes.
Procter&Gamble is headquartered in Cincinatti,Ohio.
Procter&Gamble(PG)