Guess which investment bank has done the best under the patronage of Team Obama? Hint: It’s the same bank whose former CEO wrote the rules of the $700 billion TARP. The same bank that has had the good fortune of seeing two of its former employees fill the role of the past and current head of the New York Fed.

The backdoor funnels of taxpayers’ money used to bolster banks’ share prices allowed Goldman Sachs to issue $5 billion in equity last month at what a cynic might call “artificially high valuations.” You have to hand it to Government Sachs (a moniker we believe fits like a glove given the almost seamless blending of the bank and the feds). This double-teaming is a great way to run up a stock.

We have had our suspicions about the current stock rally ever since it kicked off by ‘leaked’ memos by Citigroup, BoA and JPMorgan Chase announcing a return to profitability.

Contrary to the prevailing analysis, we believe that the Obama and Bush administration insistence on protecting banks at the expense of the taxpayer is the result of a Machiavellian effort by Goldman Sachs and other major banks to influence U.S. economic policy by infiltrating the corridors of power.

Goldman Sachs thinks you can make 40% on Ford. I think that figure should be a lot closer to 400%. China has finally, truly and wholeheartedly embraced “21st century American-style capitalism.” God help them.

Wall St slides on bank jitters, earnings outlook caution… US dollar rallies broadly as equities worldwide tumble… Government debt shines on banking worries flare up… Oil drops over 8 pct on economic outlook, dollar rise

Mr. Timothy Geithner was the man who was on watch when the ship ran aground. His job, as head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was to keep an eye on Wall Street. Now, he’s come forward with a new $1 trillion plan to get the boat back on the water.

Russia’s continuing weakness could cost the country its membership in one of the most identifiable and esteemed investor acronyms – the BRIC nations.

Time magazine has again demonstrated its irrelevance in the Internet age with a fatuous feature called “25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis.”

I know we’re only three and a half weeks into the new administration.  But I think it’s already time that informed lay people can start guessing how long Tim Geithner will last as Treasury Secretary.