Good News Alert! Goldman Raises $5 billion

" It’s been awhile since there was good news to report from the banking sector. Goldman offered a little today, raising $5 billion in a sale of new common stock. But don’t give GS too much credit. CEO Lloyd Blankfein made it clear that his goal is to repay TARP bailout funds so that his bank can dodge restrictions on pay that go along with it. Any dollars that flow back to Treasury from the banking sector mark good news for taxpayers. But until Goldman repays ALL bailout funds received, and this includes the $12.9 billion it got from taxpayers via the AIG bailout (see last post), pay should be restricted."