So how worried should Wall Street executives be that the Occupy Wall Street protests will spiral out of control? 

The imagery has been arresting to say the least. And there have been hints of escalation, such as the the hacking against Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Reuters note the view of "one Wall Street banker" who described the protesters as "a bunch of whiny people who are lazy or incompetent and have nothing to do with their time...Who's to say they won't storm NYSE or throw something at the window of Goldman Sachs that in turn inspires them to grab an investment banker and throttle him?"

At this point, the protesters have not shown any sort of violent tendencies, even after the unfortunate pepper spray incident. Still, it's fair to say that top Wall Street firms are taking note. The New York City Police Department has "kept banks in the loop about protester activity by sending out email blasts to its Lower Manhattan Security Initiative and Midtown Manhattan Security Initiative," Reuters reports.

"The emails tell landlords and occupants in those areas, including large banks like Goldman, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp, where protesters are headed and whether there are any unusual risks."

It remains to be seen how long the movement will persist. There are many who thought it would die out by now. But the media has jumped on the bandwagon, providing the sort of mainstream coverage that the protestors could not have even dreamed of.

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