Goldman Sachs is staging an auction, but guess what? It's doubtful anyone will show up. The competition for Washington Mutual has so far failed to attract any bidders, which is not really a surprise. Goldman had been hoping that Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase or Wells Fargo would show some interest. TPG has waived its rights to be paid for any dilution, but that does not seem to be helping. The big issue, of course, is Washington Mutual's portfolio of troubled mortgages. Fred Cannon, of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, tells the Financial Times that WaMu's franchise and retail branch network on the West Coast would be attractive, but any buyer might have take hit up to $37 billion. So what are the options? If the bank could offload the bad debts--the RTC-like entity may come just in time--it would likely find a buyer for the good assets.  

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