"Financial Titans 'Tweaked' Business Models to Buoy Recession"

[WhiskeyGirl]

Despite having a reputation for being one of the savviest business dealers on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. had to adapt to certain "unorthodox" business models to stay afloat. The credit markets - through the company's credit default swap spreads -- and the equity markets -- through the stock price -- have voiced concerns about the viability of the firm's business model. In response, Goldman -- formerly the largest pure investment bank in terms of net income, balance sheet, and market capitalization -- opted to change itself into one of the largest bank holding companies. The high-risk, high-return days may be in the past for this firm, but a future of more moderate risk and above-average returns looks like a decent trade-off.

What if anything at Goldman changed?

How much US taxpayer money is at risk?  Why should Goldman have access to backing by US taxpayers when they have no retail outlets?  No consumer exposure?

more here - http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0597067.htm