The Goldman Sachs Group had its first quarterly loss since going public some nine years ago.

The figures are astounding. A net loss of $2.12 billion or $4.97 a share, just for this quarter.

The losses was not expected, but not the worst as some investors feared, some who predict it would go as high as $6 a share.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a global bank holding company that deals in investment banking/ management and securities trading with 32,569 staff worldwide.