Did Goldman Sachs do some of the damage to Bear Stearns and Lehman?

The heads of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) say that Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) did them dirty. According to The Wall Street Journal, "the big securities firm has come under suspicion, at least from the chiefs of two rivals who have questioned in recent months whether Goldman, even indirectly, might have put pressure on their firms' stocks."

As would be expected, Goldman said "no way."

So far, no definitive evidence has surfaced that Goldman did anything wrong. More to the point is the issue of why it would bother. Both Bear Stearns and Lehman are substantially smaller than Goldman, the premier investment bank in the world. It would have very little to gain by damaging such small rivals.

But as it always true when large companies are charged with taking illegal actions against competition, the most important cause to suspect is stupidity. If anyone at Goldman took the risk of acting to harm the two smaller brokerages, it was simply because they did not have the sense that their creator gave them.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.