Reuters reports that more than a dozen Goldman Sachs government bond and derivatives traders have resigned recently to join other companies, as Goldman Sachs seem to be prizing the sales staff over the traders.

Brian Mooney, an interest-rate derivatives trader who spent 22 years at Goldman Sachs, was among those who have left. He has apparently taken a position at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It's unclear whether the recent defections constitute an outright "exodus." But whenever more than a dozen traders leave in a relatively short time, it does raise brows. As the implications of the Volcker Rule continue roll through Wall Street and on the heels of the bank's weak second quarter earnings, there's a lot discuss.

Reuters says this: "The changes reflect Goldman's shift toward client trading and away from making money by betting for its own account, those sources said. Weak trading in general has compounded Goldman's difficulties as it struggles to earn profits from clients without the help of its market bets." That contrasts a bit with the conventional wisdom that the poor performance in trading in the second quarter was a temporary event. In this view, the VAR declined manly because agency business dried up.

To be sure, there is less proprietary trading but the change in the quarter may not have been notable. Many assumed that as volatility and client activity kicked up, the bank would commit to more risk as a market maker. That's the business. If Goldman Sachs is moving to take risk off the table more permanently, that is, become a less aggressive market maker, that would be something. In some ways, it would amount to an end-of-career reversal for CEO Lloyd Blankfein.

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