RE: RE: Goldman telling their muppets to sell thei I don't think research at the banks works the way you think it does. The people who are publishing these reports really do believe what they are saying. But while you are correct that they are contrary indicators, it is not because they are diabolical henchmen; it's because they tend to be a step or two behind the market on macro issues. Why? Because if they were a step ahead, they would be managing money.
It actually works the other way as well. Managing money imposes a discipline that publishing does not.
And research views are explicitly *not* what the bank is going to do with its own positions. Traders will want to know what research thinks and why, but how they actually position their books is, broadly speaking, not positively correlated. Even if research is right in the end, it is extremely difficult to put on and maintain a position that is long-term-right but short-term-wrong. (E.g., read "The Big Short" to see how hard it was to put on the short mortgages position.)
That said, I too disagree with their position and am adding to my positions in both sisters. :)