Vampire squished?

WHEN he was a child, Warren Buffett had an awe-inspiring encounter with Sidney Weinberg, Goldman Sachs's legendary leader, sparking a lifelong affection for the bank. These days the super-investor's admiration for Wall Street's most powerful firm, cemented by an investment during the recent crisis, puts him in a minority—and one that shrank further when, on April 16th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Goldman and one of its employees of fraudulently misrepresenting structured instruments tied to subprime mortgages. The civil charges have dented the firm's aura of invincibility, sent shivers across Wall Street and possibly (and perhaps not coincidentally) changed the calculus of regulatory reform.