The Truth About the Goldman Sachs Case

As onlookers scramble to make sense of the landmark Goldman Sachs lawsuit, lawyer and market expert Barry Ritholtz has made it simple with a list of “10 Things You Don’t Know (or were misinformed) About the GS Case.” On his blog, Ritholtz debunks what he says is a mix of “really bad analysis, sloppy reporting, and just unsupported commentary” about the suit, which he calls the “tip of the iceberg” for likely litigation against the embattled firm. Some items on his list? No. 6, “The timing of this case was suspect,” and No. 9, “This case is political.” Citing an expert prosecutor for what he terms “a simple case of fraud/misinterpretation,” Ritholtz’s prognosis for the firm isn’t good. “If it were only this one case, and there was nothing else worrisome behind it, GS would have written a check and quietly settled this,” writes Ritholtz, adding that “parts of the case are a slam dunk.”