[GJM] Wall Street nonsense

[robert searle]

Maybe of interest.

R.Searle


--- AMI <ami at taconic.net> wrote:

> 
> Dear Friends of the American Monetary Institute,
> 
> Today's over 546 point drop in the Dow Jones
> Industrial Index caused 
> panic, but only represented a 4.3% drop. At the
> close it was down 416 
> points. And this is where some people want our
> social security to be 
> privatized into! (or do they really mean piratized?)
> 
> Imagine if it had fallen over 20% on Tuesday?
> 
> Well it did in one day in October 1987, and I
> participated from the 
> floor of the New York Futures Exchange. Attached is
> a short essay 
> written on that experience some years back. My
> experiences on that 
> exchange helped me shake off the mindset that too
> many Americans still 
> have, that trust markets to work things out for the
> benefit of humanity! 
> No way people! Without the knowledge gained through
> such experiences, I 
> could never have written The Lost Science of Money
> book. In that sense, 
> time spent on the exchange turned out not to be
> wasted.
> 
> Just this evening I watched the new Frontlines
> series on how Wall 
> Street's Quarterly growth requirements are
> destroying Newspaper 
> reporting in America. The focus was on the Los
> Angeles Times, and how 
> absentee owner Chicago Tribune Company shareholders
> were demanding more 
> than the 20% profit rate on sales (the L.A. Times is
> making $ 200 
> million per year on $2 billion in revenues)
> Watching David Brancaccio interview a wall street
> idiot who runs Ariel 
> Capital Management, a major Tribune shareholder tell
> him that the LA 
> times should be focusing on local news on
> lifestyles, and such issues, 
> and did not need a reporter in Iraq, because it
> would be enough if there 
> were three full time American reporters there (one
> from the Washington 
> Post, one from the NY Times and one from the Wall
> Street Journal - thats 
> all there are!). Well that really upset me.
> 
> So I decided to send you all this essay, to help you
> understand what 
> utter fools the investment people are, when it comes
> time to exercise 
> real judgement. I'm quite sure the mechanism in
> todays drop was similar: 
> all the "professionals" trying to do the same thing
> at the same time. 
> You must understand that the markets are not what
> they appear to be. 
> Read the essay and get back to me if you have
> questions or comments. It 
> may be just a bit technical for some readers, but
> persevere, there will 
> be sections of it you will fully grasp and enjoy.
> Please forward it to 
> your friends, especially those interested in market
> action. You can also 
> read it at:
> http://www.monetary.org/1987%20crash.html
> 
> Warm regards to all of you, and I hope to see you in
> Chicago. Send in 
> your reservations!
> Stephen Zarlenga
> Ami
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 



	
	
		
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