Barclays Capital analyst Roger Freeman and his team made news not too long ago for their report on Goldman Sachs, which suggested that the mighty bank may lose 35 cents a share in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. Previously, they expected the bank to earn $2.40 per share.

Other analysts have been busy marking down their estimates, but few have been so bearish. Nomura's bank analyst Glenn Schorr is getting close. He "has just taken the red pen to forecasts for the second time in a month," according to Alphaville, and he now thinks that the third quarter "has turned out to be tougher than we thought as asset prices continued to face pressure, the trading backdrop remained difficult, and expense flexibility is limited. Given this backdrop we are once again hitting estimates hard and now expect a breakeven quarter for GS."

For the record, he also thinks that Morgan Stanley will post a small loss in operating income. The environment is, of course, punishing for all banks right now. The global markets upheaval has widened credit spreads significantly, put deals on ice and really stuck it to the equity markets. The revenue losses will be only partially offset by a rise in revenues from more trading volume. Goldman Sachs will report on October 18, and the scrutiny will be intense. A loss would certainly be a momentous event, as the company has posted a loss on only one other occasion as a public company.

For more:
- here's the article

Related article:
Analyst: Goldman Sachs might report third quarter loss