Why not blame Goldman Sachs?

The issue of the moment is Goldman Sachs and what its London-based traders did, if anything, that might be construed as manipulation of Lehman Brothers' and Bear Stearns' stocks. That people are going to the media with this indicates a lot of anger. You can bet the regulators have gotten, or will soon get an earful from the likes of Alan Schwartz, former chief of Bear Stearns. Regulators have subpoenaed Goldman and others in their quest to find out if false rumors played a role in the recent implosion of Bear Stearns and near-implosion of Lehman Brothers. This could amount to a lot of chatter, maybe even some sour grapes given Goldman Sachs' recent performance. There tends to be a lot of conspiracy theories about Goldman Sachs. MarketWatch calls it Wall Street's favorite whipping boy. We'll see what the investigations turn up. But Goldman needs to defend itself in the PR wars. Right now it is behind.  

For more:
- here's the MarketWatch article

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