William J. Holstein

What Would Goldman Do To Win?
May 7--

In a word, Goldman Sachs would do anything to deflect the investigation by the Securities & Exchange Commission and efforts by Congress to rein in its free-wheeling ways.

Would it tank Greece to deflect attention? I just heard Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein on Bloomberg Radio acting very statesman-like and reassuring everybody that all the fear in financial markets about Greece is unreasonable.

But wouldn't it be a brilliant play? Goldman bets billions against Greek bonds and its currency, and maybe throws in some positions against Portugal, for good measure. All hell breaks loose in Europe and everybody's attention is diverted away from Goldman. Then the CEO goes out and starts exercising moral leadership.

I have absolutely no evidence of any of this. But Goldman is capable of that level of cynicism. Can anyone catch them?