Goldman Sachs and the Short Sellers

In my column today in TheStreet.com, I describe how the positive aspects of short-selling have been overshadowed by the general sliminess of Goldman Sachs.

The problem is not that Goldman went short, for instance, but that it went short while peddling mortgage-backed ca-ca to its clients.

Anyway, Goldman has another opportunity to commit hari-kiri tomorrow, as its top executives are called to testify before a congressional committee. What can they do? They can't plead the fifth, obviously. So they'll lie.

The question is whether their lying will result in repercussions. Based on the SEC's stance toward other frauds, such as especially Overstock.com, it's not altogether certain that fibbing alone will be enough to get the feds to act.

© 2010 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.