Goldman Sachs chief financial officer David Viniar was succinct about whether his bank was interested in owning Bear Stearns. "That has never been on our radar screen," he said firmly yesterday at the analyst briefing for the first quarter results.

Just as clear was what measures the bank might take if what he described coyly as the "current challenging environment" went on for a while: "The biggest lever in our costs is compensation," he said, noting that it made up two-thirds of all costs.