Goldman is axing 1,000 jobs and cutting $1.2bn in costs by the middle of the year in an attempt to shield profits, which are expected to have bounced back to just under $850m in the final quarter of 2011 from the $428m loss the bank recorded in the preceding three months. However, the result would still be down from the $2.39bn of profits Goldman made in the final three months of 2010.