You know you have it made when a $550 million settlement with the SEC boosts your stock by $3 billion. Goldman Sachs’ penalty for selling a fancy investment it secretly bet against was about half what was expected, amounting to just 14 days of earnings. You might say they got away with it.

Businessweek:

While the SEC touted the $550 million settlement as the largest it ever levied against a Wall Street firm, it fell short of some analysts’ estimates for a $1 billion fine. Hintz, who estimated the agreement will shave 93 cents from the firm’s earnings, said he had predicted it would cost $1.05 per share.

For Goldman Sachs, the cost represents approximately 14 days’ worth of earnings, based on first-quarter profit. [CEO Lloyd] Blankfein, who was awarded a record-setting $67.9 million bonus for 2007, has stock in the firm that’s worth almost $490 million, based on the firm’s last proxy statement.

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