Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Thursday it earned $4.79 billion in the fourth quarter as the bank's trading business again outdistanced the rest of the financial industry. The company rewarded its employees with $16.2 billion in salaries and bonuses for 2009, up 47 percent from the previous year. Goldman said Wednesday it earned $8.20 a share in the last three months of the year as fixed income, commodities and currency trading buoyed its profits for the third straight quarter The bank's stock rose $1.01, or 0.6 percent, to $168.80 in pre-opening trading. Goldman, which has outperformed other financial companies for years, has been the strongest bank throughout the financial crisis. It had less exposure to toxic mortgage-backed securities than other companies and also has been more aggressive in its trading. For the full year, Goldman earned $13.4 billion, almost as much as $15 billion earned by the five other big national banks combined. 2009 was a difficult year for the banking industry, as companies with big lending operations lost money in those businesses. JPMorgan Chase and Co., earned $11.73 billion for the year and Wells Fargo and Co. turned a $7.99 billion profit. But Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. lost a combined $3.81 billion.
