i thought what mary said was that david vinier was the best of the best. who was harvey schwartz? hum? >> this doesn't change the uncertainties hanging over goldman though. if you look at where goldman has gone in the last six weeks, this is a stock that is priced in a fair amount of good news. a wall street legend who is retiring is not going to be appla applauded. the stock gets pressure but not a disaster. tim has it right. going into this. we have everything and i bet you have somebody who is an expert on that area of the law. >> it is an interesting exit point. this has not been a non violent ride. back to 120 does the guy want to deal with his all over again? probably not. 12 years of being the cfo the only finance chief as a publicly traded company because it is too much of a headache to deal with the regulations that are coming down the pike. >> i would have a huge headache. >> i don't know this seems like smooth sailing compared to the other times not too far back. if i had to guess, it would be that he is thinking i'm never going to get the top job. so he may be open to

david vinier a 32 year veteran at goldman will join the board.rently co head of the securities division. >> thank you very much. coming up next a warning. if obama is granted a second term. there is a regular term. [ male announcer ] when a major hospital wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] president obama: i'm barack obama and i approve... this message. anncr: he keeps saying it... mitt romney: this president cannot tell us that you're... better off today than when he took office. anncr: well... here's where we were in 2008... tv anncr: the worst financial collapse... since the great depression... tv anncr: american workers were laid off in numbers not seen... in over three decades. anncr: and here's where we are today... thirty months of private sector job growth. creating 4.6 million new jobs. we'r

announcing that chief financial officer david vinier is stepping down. >> that announcement coming afterrday's close. the timing a bit of a surprise, though his retirement not completely unexpected. howard schwartz, a 15-year veteran of the firm has been named new cfo. the new scene is a traditional passing of the baton and not a sign that anything is amiss at goldman. the longest serving ceo of any big wall street firm, he will retire at the end of january, then becomes a nonindependent director at goldman where he's worked since 1980. on a conference call, replacement schwartz said he set the standard for cfos, while viniar said it was a good time for him to leave. >> everything about the firm is in very, very good financial shape. i think we are performing as well as we could given the operating environment. i mean, we always want to do better, but i think we're performing well. >> a graduate from rutgers, the 48-year-old schwartz is described by a person familiar with both men as a bull to viniar's antelope. saying he's up to the intellectual challenge of the job, which includes coov