In addition, according to Louise Story at the New York Times, Goldman Sachs had hedged the exposure to the CDO it could not unload by buying insurance and, in the end, offset the losses it claims to have suffered.
Some end-of-the-month buying interest was offset by better investor risk appetite in the market place drawing away some interest in the safe-haven precious metals.
Alcoa CE, Klaus Kleinfeld acknowledged that substantial headwinds, like rising energy costs and volatile currency markets, had an impact, but were offset by higher prices driven by strength in end markets.