Lansdowne Partners, Europe's biggest hedge fund, has sold its entire $850 million position in Goldman Sachs, according to The Telegraph. It's unclear just how much the hedge fund lost on the liquidation, but the move clearly does not represent a vote of confidence in the bank, which appears to be at a cross roads of sorts after its dismal second quarter earnings release.

The bank's shares have not fared well this year. They are down about 20 percent and hovering near a two-year low. For CEO Lloyd Blankfein, this is yet more bad news. The media has been near-obsessed with CEO succession at the once-gilded bank, and that has contributed to a sense that a transition may be at hand. We've suggested that he cannot leave until the regulatory clouds definitively clear up. He does not want to leave the impression that he was forced in any way.

It's now becoming clear that the stock price represent another threat to his legacy, one that he may not have time to correct. The Washington Post provides a telling graphic that shows that under former CEO Henry Paulson, Goldman Sachs's stock almost tripled. However, since Blankfein became CEO in 2006, the stock has fallen 8 percent. Obviously, a whole lot has conspired to bring down the price, and when times were good across the industry, Goldman Sachs' stock was the envy of many. Still, those days seem like a distant memory now. Shareholders will always ask: What have you done for me lately?

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