7. In the summer of 2009, Goldman Sachs reported an unusual kind of theft, and the FBI arrested the alleged thief, Sergey Aleynikov, at Newark Liberty Airport. The stolen item? Computer code used in "high-frequency trading," rapid-fire trading models that in a matter of milliseconds can use complex computer-driven algorithms to execute or modify trading strategies. The dominant players in this once-obscure corner of Wall Street are Dan Tierney and Stephen Schuler, former futures and options traders in Chicago who co-founded Getco as an electronic-trading firm. On some days, Getco can account for 10 percent to 20 percent of market volume in some stocks and is generally rated the most active market maker (standing ready to make a price for any security at any time). Will Tierney and Schuler be able to keep Getco ahead of the game technologically? Will regulators succeed in crimping their style? Stay tuned to this channel next year.

8. With all the fuss about whether Sallie Krawcheck or Zoe Cruz would become the first woman to run an investment bank, it may be that the title will go to a stealth candidate. Over at JPMorganChase, Mary Erdoes just stepped into the shoes of Jes Staley (himself promoted to run the firm's investment bank) to run the massive asset-management division. She's also joined the bank's operating committee. Given the ever-growing importance of asset management to bank earnings, and Staley's own career path, Erdoes may be the woman to watch for those trying to spot the first female Wall Street CEO.

9. Everyone is trying to create the next-generation investment bank. This year, Eric Gleacher, a veteran M&A banker (he founded the M&A department at Lehman Brothers and later advised Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts on its legendary buyout of RJR Nabisco) took a step in that direction. Rather than just clinging to the boutique model, Gleacher opted to sell his firm, Gleacher Partners, to Broadpoint Securities Group in a deal valued at about $68 million. Bankers at other boutiques say this points the way toward a new model—something that could be larger and more diversified than the traditional boutique and potentially a bigger threat to the behemoths. Time will tell, and StreetWise will be watching.

10. David Rosenberg was one of the first economists to warn publicly that the U.S. housing market was about to implode, taking the economy and financial markets down with it. "Rosie" made the move to Bank of America along with many of his other Merrill Lynch colleagues, but within a few months decamped to Canada. Suddenly, research from the Toronto-based wealth-management firm of Gluskin Sheff—where Rosenberg is now chief economist and strategist—has become a must-read for those across the continent who are still fretting that a second shoe may drop. If he's right about the outlook for the economy and financial markets, Gluskin Sheff is probably a safer perch than Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "This recession is really a depression," he warned as the year drew to a close.

11. Easily one of the smartest ideas in the whole pesky debate over Wall Street compensation plans is one that originated more than a thousand miles away from Wall Street itself, with two University of Minnesota law professors, Claire Hill and Richard Painter. In an upcoming paper, the two propose a variety of ways to address the fact that the public has had to pay the price for rampant risk taking on Wall Street, while government regulation hasn't worked well. The duo proposes restoring the spirit of the old partnership model by reintroducing "some form of limited liability for bankers." A great reminder that thinking out of the box is sometimes the best approach to take when dealing with intractable problems and vested interests.

12. It's not what Philippe Jabre did recently but what the hedge fund manager did in 2006 after getting smacked with the largest fine Britain's FSA had ever levied on an individual for violating its principles (750,000 British pounds for trading on confidential information) that gets him on StreetWise's list. He upped sticks and moved to Geneva to escape the prying eyes of regulators, where he promptly raised $4 billion in assets for his new hedge fund. Now Jabre's relocation is generating a buzz in the city and on Wall Street, as populist outrage against Wall Street mounts and European governments prepare to levy special taxes on bonuses. Could we see the beginning of a Wall Street-among-the-Alps? The views from the office windows might be great, but let's face it, even Marc Rich found enforced exile boring after a few years.

13. On a more somber note, 2009 was the year in which Wall Street bid farewell to many bankers. (Adieu, Ken Lewis.) The saddest of those departures was certainly that of Bruce Wasserstein, a force of nature on Wall Street and a banker who put together well over a thousand deals, large and small, for his own private equity firms and for his clients. Wasserstein, admitted to the hospital with an irregular heartbeat, died on October 14, 2009. On a prosaic level, Wasserstein's passing raised questions about the future of Lazard as a premier Wall Street advisory firm. But the unanswerable question was who could possibly fill his shoes as a Wall Street superstar. "It just can't be done," says one former colleague.