Share-Take in Brokerage

Share-take in brokerage. I see it happening. There's a bunch of brokers that are in retreat -- Merrill Lynch (MER - commentary - Cramer's Take), Lehman Brothers (LEH - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take).

There's another broker, JPMorgan (JPM - commentary - Cramer's Take), where there is still a sort-out of Bear. There's Morgan Stanley (MS - commentary - Cramer's Take), which I think is doing better than expected but is still not getting its due.

And then there is Goldman Sachs (GS - commentary - Cramer's Take), which is turning out to be the single most important bank when it comes to the biggest makeover of all: the U.S. banking sector. It is true that Goldman has lost a key banker to Treasury, but I have to tell you that you actually can see how that's going to help Goldman's banking division in the same way that Goldman's going to have its hands in the refinancing of Wachovia (WB - commentary - Cramer's Take), I believe, where ex-Goldman man Bob Steel is now running the joint.

Plus, it is clear that the hedge fund business, despite many reports of its demise, is stronger than ever, and the only firm that isn't being rumored -- and no one would buy the rumors anyway -- is Goldman Sachs. You layer on the prime brokerage share-take and you have a hugely possible business.

Let's add one more: The asset gathering's going to pick up because the big drag, Alpha, has turned around. With 10% of the shares retired in the last five years, including a remarkable turn-on of buying this year, and with 50% of the business overseas, you can see how GS isn't going to quit in this major financial rally.

I own too much, some bought much lower just a few weeks ago, and am itching to trade around. But I am not losing more core position.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Goldman Sachs.

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