GOLDMAN CAN’T BEAR BEING OUT

As Bear Stearns careened toward its eventual collapse, Wall Street golden child Goldman Sachs swooped in several times to offer aid — but was dismissed out of fear the investment bank had an ulterior motive.

That’s the picture author and Wall Street Journal reporter Kate Kelly paints in “Street Fighters,” a book that comes out today from Penguin Group and chronicles the 72 hours leading up to the Federal Reserve-induced shotgun marriage of Bear and JPMorgan Chase in March 2008.

“When Goldman calls and offers their assistance, it’s usually a moneymaking opportunity for them,” Bear Chief Financial Officer Sam Molinaro is quoted as saying in the book.

According to the book, Goldman tried repeatedly to get in to review Bear’s books under the guise of perhaps swooping in as a savior for the ailing firm. However, Bear execs, including then-CEO Alan Schwartz, were described as suspicious almost from the start, fearing Goldman might use what they learned about Bear to bet against the firm.

At one point shortly before Bear’s demise, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein is described as screaming at top deal-makers involved in negotiations to save Bear, because his execs were being denied entry into Bear’s Midtown headquarters to review its mortgage portfolio and make a bid for the firm.

Goldman workers eventually wormed their way into Bear’s offices, but refused to sign confidentiality agreements that would have restricted them from disclosing confidential info or poaching Bear’s staff.

Said a Goldman spokeswoman yesterday: “We went out of our way to be helpful to Bear Stearns and any suggestion to the contrary is either misinformed, intentionally malicious or both.”