"Most people who work on Wall Street, we're just doing our jobs"

Further down the financial totem pole, young analysts and traders at big-name firms are wisely keeping a lower profile amid the public anger.

“There was a period where you could put on the Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs sweatshirt and wear it to the beach,” said Brad Hintz, a bank analyst who was previously the chief financial officer at Lehman Bros.

Now the corporate pride is disappearing along with the jobs.

“There are a lot of people whose careers will be foreshortened,” Hintz said. “Although Wall Street is very well paid, it is also facing the pains — just not the same pains as the auto worker.”