Goldman Sachs reported first quarter earnings, and not a mention of "trading."   Q1 net income was $2.74 billion, or $1.56 a share, off 21% from a year earlier.  The investment bank incurred a big one-time charge to pay back Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett.  Excluding that payment, the company posted a per-share profit of $4.38, with key businesses like investment banking and investment management experiencing a pickup.  Despite the drop, earnings still exceeded analysts' expectations. 

"We are pleased with our first-quarter results.  Generally improving market and economic conditions, coupled with our strong client franchise, produced solid results.  Looking ahead, we continue to see encouraging indications for economic activity globally."  -- CEO Lloyd Blankfein.

Putting the Berkshire Hathaway deal aside, Goldman’s results were mixed, with some businesses showing signs of improvement and others continued weakness.  During a call with investors, CFO  David Viniar said Goldman saw increased client activity in the quarter, despite continued economic concerns.  Still he noted that business volumes were “subdued.”

Net revenue for investment banking came in at $1.27 billion, 5% higher than in Q1 of 2010.  Much of that growth came from stock and debt underwriting, while financial advisory was down 23%.  Investment management, too, was a strong point. Overall revenue rose 16% to $1.3 billion.  Much of the firm’s weakness was centered on its largest division, institutional client services.  Revenue for the unit dropped 22%, which helped drag Goldman’s total net revenue down 7%.

Revenue in the largest segment of institutional client services, which trades bonds, currencies and commodities, fell to $4.33 billion - or 28% below results for Q1 of 2010 - which was a particularly strong period for Goldman.  The division is a big money center for the bank, accounting for roughly 36% of all revenue generated in the first quarter.  Nevertheless, analyst David Trone of JMP Securities LLC, said: “The trading was materially better than we expected and investment banking was a little bit better than we expected.  We think it’s a nice big upside surprise.”

For further details, go to:   [Bloomberg, 4/19]  and  [CNBC.com, 4/19]   

For further details about Goldman's "issues with 'Trading'," go to:   [CNBC's NetNet, 4/19, "Goldman’s Dirty Word: Trading"]