Goldman Sachs has its first quarter in the red since 2008, reporting Tuesday a loss of $428 million in the third quarter. Only the second quarterly loss ever since the company went public in 1999, Goldman’s unprofitable quarter was the result of steep declines in the value of investment securities and customer trading assets. Meanwhile, Bank of America, which recently announced it would be adding a $5 debit card fee, reported third-quarter profits of $6.2 billion. However, the gains were mainly due to the benefits from the sale of China Construction Bank and two accounting gains. The bank also reported a 15 percent drop in loan income for the third quarter. This drop caused the bank to lose its status as the largest bank by assets, slipping behind J.P. Morgan Chase.
