Goldman Shares Poised To Fall After Rising on False SEC Settlement Rumor

Since the SEC's probe, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) shares have dropped more than 20%, but reversed course on Friday rising as much as 5.4%. (See Chart)

Reuters reported market sources confirmed that the jump in Goldman shares was based on rumors, first reported by Zero Hedge, that the bank might be close to a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and because the stock is oversold.

The SEC has charged Goldman of creating and marketing a debt product linked to subprime mortgages crisis without telling investors that a prominent hedge fund helped choose the underlying securities and was betting against them.

While it is nice to learn that Mr. Blankfein told India’s Economic Times that he regrets participating in transactions that "brought too much leverage into the world," the posturing does not change the fact that his firm breached its fiduciary duty to investors, and knowingly unloaded the subprime crisis from Goldman's balance sheet onto the markets and taxpayers.

Meanwhile, for those basting in the euphoria of today's rebound in the financials, thus believing Goldman's shares are oversold, I'm happy to reiterate that the downward trend from the technical chart (see above) remains intact.