blunt financial analysis.

Yesterday they placed a 'sell' on Credit Suisse and removed the British giant HSBC from its 'conviction to buy' list. A day earlier, Goldman analyst William Tanona sent shares in Citigroup, the world's largest bank, tumbling with a 'sell' rating after warning Citi would be forced to write off $4bn in addition to the $11bn in subprime losses already announced last month. Then, as if for good measure, Goldman estimated subprime losses could hit $400bn (not $50-100bn as first thought) and would trigger a negative $2tr effect on the broader US economy as a result of tighter credit.

So what's Goldman's secret? Partly, it's the firm's institutional aversion to herd thinking; partly, its super- aggressive, play-to-win approach. Nowadays the bank is rarely just an advisor; it takes positions in client's businesses, sometimes causing

Goldman executives should thank CFO David Viniar for avoiding exposure to subprime mortgages

conflicts. "They're playing a good hand as aggressively as you can play it,'' explains John Gutfreund, former CEO of Salomon Brothers and an original 1980s Wall St fat cat.

But Goldman executives should also thank David Viniar, CFO, who called a 'mortgage risk' meeting in his office at 35 Broad St in Manhattan this time last year.

He told colleagues he was worried and directed them to reduce their exposure to mortgages and related securities - and to insure against mortage-related losses. By the time the credit markets crashed in August, Goldman had rid itself of the latent poison that's crippled rivals.

Last week Blankfein said he wanted to focus Goldman on making fewer mistakes - not on capitalising on rival's weaknesses. One day Goldman, too, would err. Everybody," he said, "gets their turn."