Gridlock News

Many news agencies around the United States received letters from a group calling themself(ves) A.Q.U.S.A.  Some websites are speculating that this might stand for Al Qaeda USA.  The letters went all over the country, but were delivered from The Bronx.

Goldman Sachs was reportedly told that the letters were not serious according to Reuters. (US bank Goldman says threats not thought credible | Bonds News | Reuters.com )

The letter threatened that hundreds would die and that they had people on the 'inside'. 

Can Goldman Sachs be Trusted to Report a Threat Credibly?

The thing is that Goldman Sachs has a conflict of interest in a situation like this. (Although it is rather morbid.)  If the threat is credible and they report it, then investors will face more risk investing with Goldman Sachs or in their products.  That is likely to get priced into the market.

If they gamble on nothing happening and say every thing is just fine, then they may not loose money.  Now, I'd like to believe that Goldman Sachs puts their people and the safety of their people above financial considerations, but the reality is that they are in the business of putting financial considerations before all else.  After all, they are not a socially responsible financial investment company. 

According to one defense against terrorism school of thought, Goldman Sachs would actually be doing the right thing if the down played the threat and 'went about their business as if everything were normal' because they 'didn't want the terrorists to win.'  This is one of the reasons why its important to have an independent news media to help cut through the spin and report the facts without the bias thrown into the mix.