Heard the one about Goldman Sachs and the volcano?

[Joanne98]

AMSTERDAM/BOSTON, April 23 (Reuters) - Did you hear that Goldman Sachs (GS.N) made the Iceland volcano erupt? It did pretty well shorting airlines.

It's a joke, of course -- Goldman isn't quite that powerful -- and there are plenty of others like it as comedians, traders and the man on the street take potshots at Wall Street's biggest investment bank.

The gag about the volcano, which caused massive global travel disruptions and whacked airline stocks, has been making the rounds on Asian trading desks in recent days.

Ever since U.S. regulators filed fraud charges against the firm on April 16, Goldman has been the butt of just such a series of jokes.

Cartoonists in particular have found a rich vein of comedy with Goldman. One Washington Post panel shows a cop walking up to a couple of fat-cat bankers standing under a Goldman sign. One banker whispers to the other "Tell him we're innocent. And we'll hedge that by betting against our acquittal."

Another cartoon shows a Goldman executive being hauled off in handcuffs: "They say we created a fund that was designed to fail ... and it was indeed a successful failure ... but now we're being punished for our success ... this government's anti-business!"

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2316243020100423