This is going to be short and sweet because this issue is so simple that it is more like your drivers license exam than a MENSA test. There is a report in the NY Post (yes, I know) that GS is seriously considering settling their suit with the SEC.
This is the worst of all possible outcomes if it is done within the next month. If you want to know why I think so, come on over to my place and I'll lay it out in a couple of paragraphs.
The reason reported that Goldman has gone from "we have done nothing wrong" and "we will fight these frivolous charges till death" to "well, we may enter a settlement" is this. Goldman saw in stark reality what they look like when a tiny sliver of their octo-spindly-money vacuum tentacles were exposed. And they didn't like it. You see, it takes a certain attitude to screw people out of Billions to your benefit and that attitude leaves evidence. The evidence makes people mad.
The American public may not have time to really follow just how shameless these big corporations are. They are not dumb, it is just that they have 3 kids who have to go to soccer, piano, etc. and have dual low paying jobs, so they only have a few minutes to glance at their newspaper/screens to get the jist of the news. But a few minutes is all it takes to know when they are getting FU**ED.
The tapes of Enron employees stating "burn baby burn" when So. Cal. was a flame gave the public a peek into the attitude of big business and it sent shock waves through the public. Enron was history prior to that release, but the anger intensified and led to a period of serious suspicion.
Goldman is not history. But they just received a taste of the tip of the iceburge when the public heard about the shitty deals. And, OHHHH there is so much more in those email caches that would expose the cold, selfish, arrogant heart of Wall Street.
So, yes, it makes sense for Goldman to want to settle now. And probably for an amount that would seem huge to the public. But it would be cheap in terms of getting their asses out of the fire and exposing their REAL thoughts about their "stupid, naive" clients who could not possibly understand the "complicated" deals.
Yeah, we can understand, and they know it. The SEC needs to show just how bad the situation truly is, dig down and show the other 90% of the iceberg. Only then, will Goldman truly know the price of screwing America for their bonuses.
UPDATED: I was given an example of how Wall Street is rigged about a year and a half ago: A client of mine who was a former VP of a big Mutual Fund Co. called me and told me to buy as much CitiGroup as I could, it was selling for about a buck fifty a share: He said that the price was "artificially depleted" in order to take advantage of the public panic. It was sure to go up. Too big not to. I had almost no money at the time; If I had bought any, as of today I would have almost tripled my money in a little over a year. Its all who you know.