WEEK IN REVIEW

Seeing ex-Red sales in the sunrise

Goldman Sachs Group LP took time out from its IPO tango to persuade George Bush to cut the ribbon when it reopened its Moscow office. Two weeks ago, the firm helped the czars’ successors raise $1.25 billion in Eurobonds priced at 650 basis points above comparable T-notes, so it must see a bright future in a country that has to pay 55.34% to sell 1,183-day (that’s three years and 88 days, in case your calculator is down) paper. And the latest 30-year Eurobond sale raised $2.5 billion, but at a high 753 basis points above the U.S. 20-year bond.

Goldman closed its Russian office four years ago during the global bond slump but noticed that competitors are zooming back in like bees to a honey pot, even though the Moscow stock market is down 60% this year.

Still, others don’t see such a rosy future for the ex-Reds. Said Martin Taylor, investment director of Baring Asset Management in London, “If they are playing around between Eurobonds and GKOs (as governement bills are called), it’s like playing musical chairs on the Titanic.”

Schwab gets serious over research online

Charles Schwab Corp. has decided to give its discount customers more for their money: online stock research. Company co-chief executive David Pottruck, 49, said the company wants to be “a new model of a full-service brokerage, providing better service at a lower price.”

Hmmmm. San Francisco’s $400 billion behemoth has been taking a beating lately from lower-priced discounters and wants to boost its online trading to cut costs. Schwab was able to bump its electronic trading from 33% of the total to 48% over the past 12 months.

The company had promised Wall Street research earlier this year, but then changed its corporate mind. Mr. Pottruck says this time he means it and he’ll announce who will be doing the research — “not necessarily from one source” — before summer is out.

Sell global, buy local

April’s trade deficit was reported to be the worst ever, $14.46 billion. Imports fell almost 1% and exports, with the bottom falling out of the commercial aircraft and industrial hardware markets, dropped 2.6%. The Asian economy continues to catch the blame.

Profits up, up, up

Morgan Stanley, the country’s No. 2 securities company, reported earnings for its second quarter were up 45% to $854 million. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., No. 4, said in the same period its pretax earnings doubled, to $324 million. Goldman Sachs Group LP modestly revealed a 70% gain, to a $1.04 billion.

Takeovers and securities sales drove the profits.

It’s easy to see why Morgan dropped Discovery from its name. The credit card unit’s profit was up only 29%, to $167 million. That’s not pulling its weight.

Yes, Virginia. . .

As initial public offerings head for a summer slump, the Securities and Exchange Commission is stepping up pressure on companies that give execs low-priced options just before an IPO. That, of course, is better than Santa Claus if you’re one of the chosen, and now the SEC wants companies to tell investors what’s going on.

Game’s the same

Deutsche Terminbörse changed its name to Eurex Deutschland as it prepares to merge with Soffex, the Swiss options and futures exchange. . .Contrarian food industry analyst Steven Galbraith, 35, is leaving Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York to run a hedge fund for $1 billion Pzena Investment Management LLC. Founder Richard Pzena also came from Bernstein. . .Saudi stocks fell as oil prices hit a 12-year low. The Al Shall stock index is down 15.7% for the year. Bahrain bucked the trend, as its market surged almost 10%, reflecting a move away from oil and into banking and insurance.

Bloomberg News contributed to this report