Goldman Sachs’ shares skidded
3.8% Monday after it reported a
steep slide in first-quarter profit
because of a slowdown in trading.
David Solomon, Goldman’s
chairman and chief executive
officer, described the quarter as a
“muted start to the year.”
The Wall Street bank’s profits
were primarily hurt by its trading desks. Once a place of
record profitability for the bank, Goldman’s traders have
struggled under lighter volume
combined with periods of extreme
volatility that are hard to navigate.
Goldman has been working to
diversify in recent years into new
forms of banking and financial
services, including its consumer
banking franchise known as
Marcus. It also recently jumped
into the credit card business, becoming the issuing
bank for Apple’s new credit card.