Title: Wall St. Bonuses: So Much Money, Too Few Ferraris
Source: NY Times
Date: December 25, 2006

From the article:

In recent weeks, immense riches have been rained upon the top bankers and traders. After a year of record profits, investment houses like Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley are awarding bonuses as high as $60 million. And a select group of hedge fund managers and private equity executives may be taking home even more.

That is serious money. And the serious luxury goods markets are feeling the impact.

Miller Motorcars, in Greenwich, Conn., is fielding more requests for the $250,000 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano than it can possibly fill. One real estate broker laments a dearth of listings for two clients trying to spend $20 million on Manhattan properties. Financiers already comfortably settled in multimillion-dollar apartments and town houses are buying $5 million apartments for their children. Vacation homes, usually bought and sold in the spring, are now hot this winter, including ones in private resorts like the Yellowstone Club in Montana near Yellowstone National Park.

$16 BIL SACHS OF LOOT

Title: $16 BIL SACHS OF LOOT
Source: New York Post
Date: December 16, 2006

From the article:

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is set to throw gigantic bags of money at its bankers, traders and stockbrokers this year - lavishing them with more than $16.5 billion in bonus loot, the most ever doled out by a Wall Street firm.

Where did the $16 billion come from? In one way or another, it came from you and me. We paid more for products and services than we needed to. With approximtely 100 million households in America, it means we each gave $160 to a select few people at Goldman-Sachs.

That's how the concentration of wealth works.