The Final Chapter in the Greg Smith Saga

The Final Chapter in the Greg Smith Saga
By: Todd M. Schoenberger, @TMSchoenberger

The golf clap you’re hearing this morning is for the valiant effort by Anderson Cooper and CBS’ 60 Minutes for trying to throw mud and spin a fictitious web of conspiracy over the inner workings of Wall Street and Goldman Sachs. Oh they tried, by interviewing the born-again Muppet aficionado and former Goldman VP, Greg Smith. But, it seems the story has extinguished faster than a pack of wet matches.

In the media world, producers know when they have something “good” and compelling for the viewer. You can always tell this by 1) how long a “hit” runs and 2) if advertisers are involved. For example, when you’re watching a segment on a financial news channel, if the duration of the interview runs three minutes or less, you know the producer isn’t happy because the guest and/or topic is a dud and not worthy enough to capture a viewer’s attention.

In the case of last night’s much-ballyhooed chat with Greg Smith, the clip ran 13:33. Yeah, I know pure semantics. However, CBS has historically offered segments of fourteen minutes-plus for trivial conversations with the likes of Meryl Streep and Adele. In other words, the genius who envisioned this story ballooning up to something Peabody-esque has probably been demoted to shining toilets in the CBS executive suite today.

In the close-knit, buttoned-up world of Wall Street, Greg Smith is a joke. He will never work for a bulge bracket firm again. The Street doesn’t forget. There are too many ghosts around to remind us of those who attempted to burn and impact the incomes of the men and women who make up Wall Street.

If anyone thought Occupy movements and lower trading volumes were making Wall Street irrelevant, think again. As annoying and hollow as the Greg Smith story is, it does reinforce the curiosity and willingness of Main Street to learn more. And, if anything good does come out of this discussion, it will be that investors—even those ill-informed pension plans as Smith has referenced—seek to be educated on how we process capital into working credit, thus stimulating hiring and growth.

Considering how emotional money is to people, it’s no surprise the Greg Smith story was embraced by so many in the media seeking salacious gossipy details and delusional topics about Goldman promoting a “wrong ethical course” within its ranks. Let’s hope this puts the matter to rest and reverse opinionated minds that Wall Street is doing “the right thing” and has the best interests in mind for investors. It’s healthy to challenge and ask questions; but it’s significantly damaging to craft false tales.