Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) executives have been busy behind the scenes influencing key members of the media. Are they making any progress? It seems as though they are. They were caught off guard by the announcement of the charges and were playing catch-up immediately as a flood of media was unleashed. But they got their word out via the New York Times website and other outlets, and now we are seeing articles that seem to be tilting in its favor.

CNBC offers the headline: "Major Issue in Goldman Sachs Case: Was There Really Any Fraud?" It notes, "Sticky and complicated as the case already sounds, legal analysts say the task for the SEC (SEC news) could be even harder." There are many that agree.

The degree to which Goldman Sachs was actually required by law to disclose the exact role of Paulson & Co. is anything but clear. And there are some indications that an employee of each Paulson & Co. and Goldman Sachs told ACA that Paulson wanted to short the CDO (CDO news) in question. At the same time, I really think that the SEC is very confident or else it would not have proceeded in this fashion. I also think that a courtroom victory for Goldman Sachs would be Pyrrhic, especially for Blankfein. And I continue to believe that the best result for both sides would be a settlement. 

For more:
- here's the CNBC article

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