>>> WELCOME BACK TO "THE HALFTIME REPORT. JOINING ME IS CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF GOLDMAN SACHS, DAVID SOLOMON, OUR HOST HERE AT THE COMMUNACOPIA AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE THANKS FOR HAVING US AND THANKS FOR BEING WITH US. >> THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, THANKS FOR HAVING YOUR TEAM HERE I'M HAPPY TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU. >> WE'LL GET TO ALL THINGS COMMUNACOPIA IN A MINUTE THE BANKS HAVE BEEN THE STORY, FINANCIALS ARE DOWN TODAY, THE WORST SECTOR OUT OF THE S&P. YOU TALKED ABOUT TRADING REVENUE DOWN 10% WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU SEEING RIGHT NOW? >> SO THE ENVIRONMENT IS ACTUALLY OKAY. THERE ARE PLACES IT'S BEEN ACCELERATING SOME MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENT IN EQUITY CAPITAL MARKETS AND M&A ACTIVITY, IN EQUITY TRADING, PRETTY GOOD. ALSO WITH THE AUGUST HOLIDAY, BUT ONE OF OUR JOBS IN THE SHORT T TERM, OPPORTUNITIES TO SPEAK PUBLICLY, IF YOU STEP BACK A LITTLE BIT, BANK STOCKS HAVE DONE INCREDIBLY WELL SINCE WE SAT HERE AT THIS CONFERENCE, THE STOCK IS UP. THE STOCK IS ABOUT A VERY BIG MOVE THE FORWARD EXPECTATION IS A LITTLE BIT SOFTER BASED ON THE COMMENTARY YOU SAW AT THE BARCLAYS CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK. >> SURE. I WOULDN'T CALL IT AN A-PLUS ENVIRONMENT. WE'RE SEEING AN ACCELERATION OF ACTIVITY WHICH IS QUITE ENCOURAGING. >> DO YOU SEE THAT PERSISTING? >> I WAS SPEAKING WHEN I SPOKE AT BARCLAYS. YOU'RE TAKING A SOUND BITE OUT OF MY COMMENT AT BARCLAYS, I SAID A MORE CHALLENGING MACRO IN AUGUST >> HAS THAT FULLY PASSED OR DO YOU EXPECT MORE VOLATILITY >> LOOK, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN THE WORLD, ELECTION THAT IS ALSO HAVE IMPACTS ON POLICY GOING FORWARD. BUT, NO, THAT WAS AN EVENT AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME. THE ECONOMY IS STILL IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE A COUPLE OF INTEREST RATE CUTS WIDELY TELEGRAPHED AT THIS POINT IN TIME. I CAN POINT TO THINGS THAT ARE SLOWING A LITTLE, SPOTS YOU HEARD THROUGH EARNINGS, ET CETERA, A LITTLE BIT OF SOFTNESS AND MY BASE CASE WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO CHUG ALONG THROUGH THE FALL WITH A LOT OF ATTENTION TO THE NEWS WHETHER POLITICAL, GEOPOLITICAL OR OTHERWISE. >> ARE YOU STILL IN THE SOFT LANDING CAMP >> I'M STILL IN THE SOFT LANDING CAMP I THINK THAT ISCENARIO SCENARIO I CAN'T TELL YOU THERE WON'T BE A DISRUPTION BUT THE LIKELY SCENARIO IS WE NAVIGATE WITH A SOFT LANDING CERTAINLY HAVE TO CONTINUE TO WATCH CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, CONTINUE TO WATCH INFLATIO