Goldman Sachs Rips Whistleblower (for 3/16/12)

Goldman Sachs employees responded to now former Executive Director Greg Smith's New York Times editorial by referring to him as an unhappy lower-paid employee dissatisfied with his bonus.  Goldman Sachs employees only look at those who make at least $750,000 annually as financial experts.  CNBC journalists joked that Smith and Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi, who frequently rips Goldman Sachs, would work together with Sesame Street characters to start a new media company. 

About three years ago at this time, CNBC's Jim Cramer got into a media tussle with The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who accused Cramer and the entire CNBC financial news network of poor reporting during the months prior to the September 2008 market crash.  When Cramer was guest on The Daily Show, Stewart grilled him about shady practices from his days as a hedge fund manager and promoting overleveraged investments that threaten the economic stability of the U.S.  He also criticized CNBC for seeing their main audience as being the Wall Street traders, not pension fund managers and the general public.  Three years later, it seems like Stewart should take a second shot at CNBC reporters.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/14/444514/financial-press-attacks-goldman-column/

Major Executive Leaves Goldman Sachs, Which Refers to Clients As Muppets (for 3/15/12)

Greg Smith, Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, announced that he is leaving the firm, which he now describes as "toxic and destructive."  He thinks its CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, has lost control of the company, which has been in existence for 143 years.  As a manager of more than a trillion dollars in assets, Smith always felt a need to look out for the clients' best interest, not just what was most profitable for Goldman Sachs.  He saw that managing directors there had "referred to it clients as 'muppets.'"  The firms' junior analysts only cared about how much money they made from clients of its derivatives.  He thinks the firm must weed out the corruption if it is going to make money for clients in the long term.  The firm should get rid of those people suspected of questionable conduct even if they are the firm's biggest moneymakers at the moment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html?_r=1

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/14/444173/goldman-sachs-resign-toxic-culture-column/