Goldman Sachs
"People are wondering why Goldman is making such bumper profits... What they don't realize is how little competition there is left in certain areas...
Lots of banks just want to get rid of 'funny' assets at whatever price to please their freaked-out shareholders. Goldman operates under no such constraint, and there's no end to golden opportunities to make money."
Morgan Stanley doesn't still exist? All those Bear people at JPMC and all those Lehman people at BarCap aren't worth the money they're paid?
(We'll ignore Merrill Lynch, since they were acquired by the second most dysfunctional bank in the United States.)
There are still lots of market players (too many in my view), but Goldman was just the creme-de-la-creme before and after the crisis. Just a smart company. Before 07 they were short on sub-prime, now they are long on commodities. They know their game and they stick to what they know.
Ken - no disagreement here, Goldman is not the only game left in town, but it's probably the best example for the point the post is making (and for various reasons, I think a better example than some of the ones you mention)