The Poetry of A Down Day on the Markets

Posted by John Carney, May 10, 2007, 4:20pm

The Dow fell more than 130 points on this afternoon. Investors took profits from recent market gains, reacted negatively to mixed economic data and got around to reading recent Fed policy decisions.

Just kidding. You know we don’t believe in explaining why market indexes move up or down. Or, rather, we know the one and only real reason they move up or down—it’s the aggregate effect of buying and selling of the stocks listed on the index.

stock market poetry small.jpgWe're not interested in going further than that with the canned responses to market movements. We prefer first hand stories of what it feels like on the floor or at the trading desk when the market makes dramatic jumps up or down. This afternoon we asked our favorite poet turned trader to sum up what his day was like. He’s calling his poem “Worst Effing Day.”

market is down and i'm personally a huge bear
well our biggest shorts include ibm, mnst, crox, fslr, ma and de

ibm killing me
mnst ruining me
crox leading me to drinking and drugs
fslr working barely but in past week has made me destroy 3 monitors
and countless keyboards and mice
ma finally starting to work - cant really complain yet (give it time
tho, i'm sure it will rip into close)
and de - what can i say? they make farm equipment and the stock only
knows how to go up. oh woe is me.

0Recommend this! 14Comments
Posted in: Dow

Comments

Posted by BSD, May 10, 2007 4:29PM

Here's another one for you:

As I see the black box do
the robot upon
the still fresh graves
of fallen traders
I am disheartened
That Tim Sykes still breathes

Posted by anon anon, May 10, 2007 4:48PM

stay with the day job.

Posted by , May 10, 2007 4:50PM

BSD you should have your own column

Posted by anon anon, May 10, 2007 4:51PM

both of you. and no more copy cats.

Posted by Trader the Hun, May 10, 2007 4:53PM

This is great.

Save your hate

For Sykes

For posts about

guy.

Posted by hornets, May 10, 2007 5:04PM

No, you're wrong. Canned explanations are much more interesting than that.

Posted by BSD, May 10, 2007 5:05PM

Thanks, 4:50. It's always nice to have a fan. I do have a blog at http://arbitrageurs.blogspot.com/

Posted by anon, May 10, 2007 5:07PM

Haiku anyone?

The closing bell rings
Sweat and tears like cherry blossoms fall
I ate 31 large

Posted by Tim Carney, May 10, 2007 5:20PM

Your analysis of the market's movements today is incomplete, and it's easy to point to more specific factors than you did. Namely, the relative supply and demand of the stocks listed on the DJIA resulted in these stocks, on average, selling for less money at the end of the day than they did at the beginning of the day.

Posted by John Carney, May 10, 2007 5:23PM

Who let my brother on DealBreaker?

Posted by casual observer, May 10, 2007 5:32PM

I'm detecting a trend. Every time someone--the trader interviews, Sykes, this poet--let's DealBreaker quote them, that person gets attacked by the readers. Without further information I have to assume many of the readers lead sad, angry and lonely lives. They are probably nasty, brutish and short in person.

For the record, I thought this confession of getting wrecked today was fantastic. And doing it as poetry is truly inspired.

Posted by BSD, May 10, 2007 5:38PM

casual observer,

I don't think anyone was attacking this trader/poet (except maybe hornets) - if anything we've shown camaraderie by adding our own feelings on the day in verse. As for Tim Sykes, who doesn't hate him. Even Tim Sykes hates Tim Sykes. That's why he posts on DB and goes on CNBC knowing full well that he will be ridiculed.

Posted by c.o., May 10, 2007 5:41PM

Good point, BSD. I have removed you from the list of the most likely to be poor, short, nasty and brutish.

Posted by Farm Boy, May 10, 2007 5:51PM

Short DE? Do you not understand $4 corn? Not saying I love it as a long at this price, but you're spitting into the wind there.

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