The New York Post is reporting Goldman is going to settle:

It's almost a certainty that there will be a settlement," said a source.

As another person put it, the SEC has an "unlimited supply of ammunition" in the form of e-mails and records that it could release, and Goldman officials would like to avoid having those documents fired back at them the way they were on Tuesday.

A Goldman spokesman declined to comment.

The article claims Goldman Sachs' decision is due to the public flogging and outrage. It's just too much. I guess that must just be a shitty deal for Goldman eh?

The shame of this is even if Goldman settles and admits guilt, the fine will probably be less than your typical management fees earned. On that particular deal which the SEC found fraud, Goldman made $15 million.

Who woulda thunk it all of America would suddenly study up to understand a synthetic CDO, but study up we sure done did.