Goldman Sachs

On an ordinary day over the last month of trading, GS has moved about 1.21%, making it a little calmer than most of the stocks Kinzan tracks (their median is 1.81%).

Measured against its own habit, today is a −1.4σ day: the kind it has roughly once a week.

It sits near the bottom of its 24-hour range of 875.8–892.35, measured on hourly closes.

The London block (07:00–13:00 UTC) did most of the work — roughly 62% of the movement over the last 24 hours.

Over the last 60 sessions of daily returns, it has moved most closely with DJI (+0.80, a very strong relationship), and most inversely to VIX (−0.56).

Its last close is at the 19th percentile of its own last 82 sessions, and its 20-day volatility at the 8th, near the bottom of its range for the period.

Market read: Goldman Sachs is struggling, pinned near the bottom of its range after London session selling.

What it is

Goldman Sachs is an investment bank first. Its global banking and markets division advises on mergers and acquisitions, raises equity and debt for companies, makes markets for hedge funds, asset managers and pension funds, and lends to those clients against their portfolios through prime brokerage. Its asset and wealth management arm runs money for institutions and wealthy individuals, including private equity and private credit funds. It became a bank holding company in 2008, but deposits matter far less to it than to the commercial banks, and a push into mass-market consumer lending was later scaled back.

What drives it

Capital-markets activity sets the direction. Advisory fees are booked when deals complete, so announced merger volume tends to lead revenue by several months, and a reopening of the market for new share listings is read as a direct boost. Trading revenue usually rises with volatility and client activity, though a disorderly market that causes clients to cut positions can work against it. Prime brokerage balances reflect how much leverage hedge funds are running, which ties results to risk appetite across the industry. Management has spent years growing steadier fee-based asset and wealth revenue in the hope of a higher valuation, and progress on that shift is a recurring debate. Marks on its own principal investments add swings unrelated to client business. Compensation is the largest cost, so the share of revenue paid out to staff is a closely watched ratio. Capital rules set how much it can return to shareholders.

How it trades through the day

It has a higher beta than the deposit-funded banks, falling further in sell-offs and tending to lead in strong markets. Results are released before the US open, in the mid-month bank reporting window. US regular hours are 13:30 to 20:00 UTC from March to early November and 14:30 to 21:00 UTC outside that period.

What it tends to move with

Morgan Stanley is its closest peer. Beyond that it tracks the level of the equity market and inversely the VIX, and moves with alternative asset managers such as Blackstone, KKR and Apollo. During the London block, European investment banks such as Deutsche Bank, UBS and Barclays offer an early read. It is a Dow Jones Industrial Average constituent and one of the heavier weights in that price-weighted index.