The Goldman Sachs partnership is the most exclusive club on Wall Street. Until now, little was known about the partnership, an elite group of the bank’s senior executives that has cashed in on billions since the it was formed in 1999. The New York Times reveals the secret life of Wall Street’s highest-paid employees — and how these executives are set to benefit from stock options they received during the bleakest days of the banking crisis.

The treasury department announced yesterday that it will start sending the majority of its 136 million benefit checks through a system of direct deposits, eliminating the use of paper checks and postage. The move will likely save the U.S. government approximately $303 million during the first five years after the switch, and about $49 million dollars in postage.

New York Times reporter Eric Dash normally covers the fast-paced world of Wall Street, banking and finance.  But he recently discovered that Wall Street isn't only interested in cut-throat trading and rising markets. Wall Street has been captivated by Olympic curling.

Main Street may be fed up with Wall Street's apparent gluttony, but banks are once again awarding huge bonuses. The nation's biggest banks, including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, are expected to pay some employees year-end bonuses reaching into eight-digit sums.  These staggering amounts may irritate the American public, which is still feeling the effects of the recession... but does the public's ire matter? We speak with Eric Dash, who reported on this for The New York Times, and Dan Ariely, professor of behavioral economics at Duke University and author of “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.”

• Afghanistan Takeout:  At least 8 Americans are dead after a suicide bombing at a remote base in Afghanistan. Details are still emerging, but reports say most of the dead are CIA employees, which could make this one of the most deadly events in the intelligence agency's history. Anand Gopal, from the Wall Street Journal, joins us from Kabul.
• Sports Takeout: After allegations of player abuse, Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach was fired yesterday - Ibrahim Abdul-Matin explains why.
• Astronomy Taketout: Jack Horkheimer is the writer and host of PBS' "StarGazer," as well as the director emeritus of the Miami Planetarium; he joins us to talk about the rare event of seeing a 'blue' moon on New Year's Eve.

The economy received some positive news on Sunday from President Obama's top economic adviser, Larry Summers, who said that the recession is over on 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos.'  But even if you agree with Summers, it's still hard for many to forgive and forget the role Wall Street played in creating the current economic mess. Even President Obama recently said, "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of ... fat cat bankers on Wall Street." On the heels of those harsh words, Obama will be hosting the heads of those same banks at the White House Monday.  Peter Morici, an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, says this is just another publicity stunt. We're also joined by Eric Dash, a banking reporter for The New York Times, who has also been covering this story.

This morning, JP Morgan Chase posted a quarterly profit of $2.7 billion. That's a 36 percent jump from a year ago. It comes just two days after Goldman Sachs announced a quarterly profit of over $3 billion. As the two banks weather a harsh economic climate, they have managed to pay back the huge government loans they took last year and proceed to earn record profits. Joining us to discuss Chase's earnings is Eric Dash, banking reporter for The New York Times.

Report cards on the nation's 19 biggest banks will be released later today, but not all of the banks will be getting gold stars. While the results of the government-ordered stress tests are still to be released, early news of the results have been trickling out for days. The early leaks suggest that Bank of America will need $33.9 billion in additional capital. In fact, many of the banks tested need more money. But, this doesn't mean another multi-billion dollar bailout is looming. So if the additional funds don't come from the government, where will they come from? Eric Dash is following this story for our partners the New York Times and he joins The Takeaway with a report.

For more, read Eric Dash's and Louise Story's article, As Stress Tests Are Revealed, Markets Sense a Turning Point, in the New York Times.

Which banks will need more money? See our report card

Want to keep an eye on your stocks? Watch the market here.

Want to watch how the big 19 are doing in the market?
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Citigroup Inc.
Bank of America Corporation
Wells Fargo & Co.
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Morgan Stanley
Metlife, Inc.
PNC Financial Services
U.S. Bancorp
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
SunTrust Banks, Inc.
State Street Corporation
Capital One Financial Corp.
BB&T Corp.
Regions Financial Corp.
American Express Co.
Fifth Third Bancorp
Keycorp
GMAC LLC
Still want more? Here is related coverage from The Takeaway.
And here is Pro Publica's investigation into the stress tests.

The day of reckoning is at hand for banks required to undergo government "stress tests." Today federal regulators will meet with the leaders of the nation's biggest banks to tell them how they did. Banks have until early next week to dispute the results, which will be released to the public on May 4. Eric Dash, who writes about banking for the New York Times, joins The Takeaway with a look at what the tests are likely to reveal and what the results will mean for the recovery of the economy.

For more, read Eric Dash's article, U.S. to Tell Big Banks the Results of Stress Test, in today's New York Times.