Jim Cramer Bailing On Goldman Sachs; Says Brand Is Tarnished (GS)

Jim Cramer posted an article on RealMoney, which is a part of theStreet.com (NASDAQ: TSCM), this afternoon entitled "Goldman's Looking Tarnished." This seems important. First, Cramer has previously been a believer in the stock and is also a former employee of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). It was Goldman who gave Cramer his shot on Wall Street, and where he says he "learned the ropes" of the securities business. Now he is bailing on the firm.

In talking about the Abacus CDO deal, which led to fraud charges being leveled against GS by the SEC, Cramer writes, "I always expect Goldman Sachs to make a clean breast of things, and it didn't on the Abacus deal. That meant a lot to me as someone in the press who was trying to stay independent of his history of working there and covering the story."

He continues, "I also think the impression of the firm took a huge beating when it became widely believed - even if it isn't totally true - that the firm shoots against its clients." Cramer also talks about the fact that Goldman insiders have been selling the stock - not buying it - at current levels.

The Mad Money host concludes his post by writing "there are tons of reasons NOT to buy Goldman Sachs at this level, and very few to buy."