Wall Street and Washington at War

In the wake of the SEC’s recent charges against financial giant Goldman Sachs, president Obama and many congressional Democrats are set to step up efforts to pass new measures regulating Wall Street interactions. On Thursday, Obama will address Wall Street to make one last push before the Senate votes on several new regulatory proposals.

The reforms, which aim to increase financial stability in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, are mostly divided along party lines. Some polls indicate that public support for the reforms may be low, as many Americans are more concerned with preventing future bailouts than stabilizing banks.

However, in spite of ongoing market uncertainty, prominent banking giant Citigroup announced unexpectedly massive profits for the last term, upwards of $4 billion. Many analysts believe that this turn is a sign that financial vitality is returning to the larger firms on Wall Street, although optimism remains tempered at this point.