Five Things You Need to Know: The Crisis of the Real
By
Kevin Depew
Jan 30, 2008 12:45 pm
In the philosophical and social sense, inflation confiscates something that will increasingly be valued above all other concepts or materials: Time.
Kevin Depew's daily Five Things You Need to Know to stay ahead of the pack on Wall Street:
1. The Crisis of the Real
While short-term cyclical signs point to at least a short-term respite for financial markets, the long-term secular forces of debt revulsion and deflation continue to build and are showing up in social mood with increasing frequency.
One social manifestation of debt revulsion and anti-consumption is a conscious attempt to revolt against the precession of the simulacra in fashion, art and culture. We are facing what might be called "The Crisis of the Real."
To understand what this crisis entails, it is useful to look at what this precession of the simulacra entails as it was outlined by Jean Baudrillard in his prescient work, Simulacra and Simulation, published in 1981.
Simulacrum, for Baudrillard, is a copy of an original that displaces the original as a sign and becomes real in its own right. In fashion, think of the way Ralph Lauren's "Double RL" label operates; largely these are reproductions of vintage wear, a commodity supplanting the original in terms of desire and authenticity. Presumably, consumers would prefer to purchase new reproductions of vintage clothing, paying a premium for the simulacra that displaces the original in authenticity, creating a new reality.
2. The Precession of the Simulacra
The precession of simulacra that Baudrillard outlined is as follows:
1) Era of the Original
2) Era of the Counterfeit
3) Era of the Produced, Mechanical Copy
4) Era of the Third Order of Simulacra, where the reproduction displaces the original
In September 2006 we looked at how this precession of simulacra applies to pricing structure in securities markets. At that time, more than 16 months ago, we argued for the view that we are seeing the culmination phase in securities markets where pricing structure breaks, literally: "From the standpoint of the final phase of the image (price), we now witness securities markets that have no relation whatsoever to anything - they are solely existent as a pure simulacrum from which higher and lower are relations to something without meaning; in other words a hyperreal market."
3. Successive Phases of the Image
We can see this progression in what Baudrillard formulated as the Successive Phases of the Image. After all, securities prices begin as nothing if not representations, images, signifiers of some "thing."
Successive Phases of the Image (with price relation in parentheses)
- the image is the reflection of a profound reality (price "means" something profound with respect to the security)
- the image masks and denatures a profound reality (price disguises a profound reality - the value investor's dream)
- it image masks the absence of a profound reality (2000 Dotcom Bubble. for example)
- it has no relation to any reality whatsoever; it is its own pure simulacrum, a copy without a model (the continuous supply of credit to market participants with no underlying attachment to any "thing" real, pure transaction that supercedes the act of exchange itself).
4. Examples in the "Real" World
Two social examples come immediately to mind in this view of pricing structure.
The first is the increasing frequency with which homeowners are walking away from their homes, choosing to default on loans and embracing foreclosure. This is the final displacement of the home as a signifier of stability and family. The precession from home as signifer of stability, family, ownership, the era of the original, to the era of the counterfeit, vinyl siding, simulations of the original wood structure, faux plaster and tudor-stylings for example, to the mass produced homes in the era of mechanical production, the rise of the homebuilders, and finally, to the third order where the home is no longer a home but simply the reproduction of wealth and status, or the detritus of failed transactions. Consequently, the social transition toward debt repudiation is also a revolt against the home and the hyperreality of forever rising prices. In the end, the pricing structure of homes bore no relationship to any reality whatsoever.
The second example can be found in the latest issue of Newsweek and an article about fashion,"The Rise of the Real." As Newsweek says, "The thin and beautiful have had their turn. The hippest models today look more like the rest of us."
"Fashion-industry folks say the trend of using real people to sell clothes attests to a fatigue with skinny, expressionless models in ads and on runways. As proof, they point to the negative publicity surrounding the painfully thin models at last spring's Fashion Week. "I definitely think there's some backlash amongst people who see fashion shows, then read stories about how the models have to smoke themselves to death and only drink lemon water for six weeks," says Simon Rogers, head of Ugly New York, a casting agency for "real"-looking models. "People would like to see somebody up there who reflects how people on the street really look.""
The article cites the television show Ugly Betty as another example of an attempt to portray the look of the "real" world on television; itself a copy of an original that displaces the original and has become its own reality.
5. The Structural Deflationary Paradox
The bottom line is this is all part of a readjustment that has profound consequences for society. What does a revolt against the displacement of the "real" entail? From a consumption standpoint it suggests a shift in focus, a change in patterns of accumulation and the valuation of material objects.
The proliferation of images, reproductions, the sheer volume and excess of signs, of choices, is itself deflationary, and this secular pattern is evident in everything from clothing and textiles to automobiles, home furnishings, technology and media. This is the structural deflationary paradox where the excess of signs and choices, an inflation of everything, literally, actually creates the conditions for imposing limitations and regulations upon the chaos of apparent freedom.
Deflation is simply the market's attempt to unwind and dismantle the confiscatory dominance of the inflationary regime. Inflation in the purest economic sense confiscates money, purchasing power, control. In the philosophical and social sense, however, inflation confiscates something else that will increasingly be valued above all other concepts or materials: Time.
No positions in stocks mentioned.
The information on this website solely reflects the analysis of or opinion about the performance of securities and financial markets by the writers whose articles appear on the site. The views expressed by the writers are not necessarily the views of Minyanville Media, Inc. or members of its management. Nothing contained on the website is intended to constitute a recommendation or advice addressed to an individual investor or category of investors to purchase, sell or hold any security, or to take any action with respect to the prospective movement of the securities markets or to solicit the purchase or sale of any security. Any investment decisions must be made by the reader either individually or in consultation with his or her investment professional. Minyanville writers and staff may trade or hold positions in securities that are discussed in articles appearing on the website. Writers of articles are required to disclose whether they have a position in any stock or fund discussed in an article, but are not permitted to disclose the size or direction of the position. Nothing on this website is intended to solicit business of any kind for a writer's business or fund. Minyanville management and staff as well as contributing writers will not respond to emails or other communications requesting investment advice.
Copyright 2009 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(41)
Reply
2008-01-30 13:23:48
deflation works in theory only
deflation and price flunctuations are two different things. flunctuations may be cyclical, but the long run secular tren is one of INFLATION
this is so obvious i find it surprising i should have to state it!
due the the relentless pressure homo sapiens are heaping on the environment, a finite supply of resources GUARANTEES rising prices
i suggest everyone put on their desktop a population clock courtesy of princeton university
also, a member of the faculty of this university is a key proponent of "peak oil"
OPEC is talking about reducing output. stash that one in your deflationary bag!
this is so obvious i find it surprising i should have to state it!
due the the relentless pressure homo sapiens are heaping on the environment, a finite supply of resources GUARANTEES rising prices
i suggest everyone put on their desktop a population clock courtesy of princeton university
also, a member of the faculty of this university is a key proponent of "peak oil"
OPEC is talking about reducing output. stash that one in your deflationary bag!
2008-01-30 13:41:35
deflation works in theory only
Inflation by definition begets deflation. Think about it. There is an adage that trees can't grow to the sky. This applies to prices as well. As prices rise, there comes an inevitable imbalance in profits which can be for lots of different reasons. However, once this occurs, it is a given that a response will follow, most commonly a recssionary reset button is hit. Periodically, the reset button leads to something more substantial, a deep recession which may or may not be a depression. When this happens, pricing power is lost and a chase for cash flow is triggered which is marked mostly by declining prices.
Are we on the precipous of such now. Can't tell you until it happens or doesn't. This will either be a run of the mill slowdown, or a bursting of the credit regime that has been used to redefined wealth for the last 25 or 30 years. If the former, we will have massive inflaiton in our future. If the later, deflation. Stay tuned.
On January 30th at 01:23 PM
Back Lash wrote:
deflation and price flunctuations are two different things. flunctuations may be cyclical, but the long run secular tren is one of INFLATION
this is so obvious i find it surprising i should have to state it!
due the the relentless pressure homo sapiens are heaping on the environment, a finite supply of resources GUARANTEES rising prices
i suggest everyone put on their desktop a population clock courtesy of princeton university
also, a member of the faculty of this university is a key proponent of "peak oil"
OPEC is talking about reducing output. stash that one in your deflationary bag!
2008-01-30 13:42:39
Crisis of the Real
Man Kevin that's some deep stuff for a mid week much less a Fed day. Where can I get some of your stuff that yields such existential musings??
2008-01-30 13:50:22
Existential meaning
Kevin always brings profundity to the discussion. Yesterday I noted his use of "signifier" and knew that we were heading into deep waters. But it's so refreshing to have our intellects engaged when talking finance.
Perhaps next we might turn to Derrida and further deconstruct this mayhem that is underway.
Cheers, Kevin!
Perhaps next we might turn to Derrida and further deconstruct this mayhem that is underway.
Cheers, Kevin!
2008-01-30 13:51:15
deflation works in theory only
On January 30th at 01:23 PM
Back Lash wrote:
OPEC is talking about reducing output. stash that one in your deflationary bag!
My reply:
Hum ... and if demand down dramatically? Guess what? $10 a barrel oil. How does demand go down? Global Recession (or worse).
Onward through the fog.
On the article:
Congrats on a great post today Kevin.
I will be mulling this one over for a while. I tend to agree with the overall mein of the piece but there were several brilliant aspects to it that must be considered at length.
2008-01-30 14:21:51
I had a third order experience the other day: listening to Elton John sing "Crocodile Rock" on the local oldies station. What was once a 70's tribute song is now a genuine oldie.
2008-01-30 14:23:37
Deep indeed.
For something not so deep but just as profound, read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Not an economist, mind you, but a marketing guru guy. Worth a few hours of your time.
Kevin, I read your stuff all the time. Can't you just give me a little graphy next time? Please. I get what you are saying though. Really we are going through a paradigm shift. Or actually, according to you, more than one paradigm shift at the same time.
News just in .50bp cut.
For something not so deep but just as profound, read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Not an economist, mind you, but a marketing guru guy. Worth a few hours of your time.
Kevin, I read your stuff all the time. Can't you just give me a little graphy next time? Please. I get what you are saying though. Really we are going through a paradigm shift. Or actually, according to you, more than one paradigm shift at the same time.
News just in .50bp cut.
2008-01-30 14:29:49
Excellent but rather wordy check on the reality of the situation
I think Mr. Dephews post here is right on. The real is the fact we have fewer products and commodities that back up and underwrite our markets as tangibles to fall back on. I suspect that while it is going to be very difficult for other nations to decouple from us (the U.S. economy) in the short term, this crisis, (long from over) will force a restructuring of the world financial structure.
Thank you Mr. Dephew for not jumping on the ridiculous band of financial spin doctors who want to convince us we could possibly be in recovery each time the stock market gains. Ask this question? Just what are the gains based on? Nothing more than hype on the value of finance markets which now the very solubility of the system is being questioned.
Jim
Thank you Mr. Dephew for not jumping on the ridiculous band of financial spin doctors who want to convince us we could possibly be in recovery each time the stock market gains. Ask this question? Just what are the gains based on? Nothing more than hype on the value of finance markets which now the very solubility of the system is being questioned.
Jim
2008-01-30 14:42:53
re: I've thought about your post
That's deflationary!
On January 30th at 02:38 PM
Thomas Neuhaus wrote:
...and my head just exploded.
On January 30th at 02:38 PM
Thomas Neuhaus wrote:
...and my head just exploded.
2008-01-30 14:56:53
Awareness of the imaginary
Imaginary gains like imaginary fears are easily confused with actuality it.
Deception is natural, like a bird with a simulated broken wing is real.
Protecting her nest is natural and paramount even if it is empty and in hock.
It is difficult to walk away effectively from an empty nest if one still thinks it has some value for which one is obligated to protect.
However, when one realizes there is no value there, one reconsiders there.
The global economy is reconsidering there and where there is no 'there' and where it is.
There is becoming more local and less global even as the world is become more in tune with doing business locally.
Value has finally become sensible which may be a poor man's definition of deflation.
Every time the market goes up these days I see a simulated broken winged bird.
Once the value of the nest is exposed the wizard is without a hiding place.
Economics is now becoming interesting, exciting, something sensible to talking about and not merely spun hype.
There's nothing deep here Kevin, it's just your natural bend towards sensibility and awareness of actuality
Deception is natural, like a bird with a simulated broken wing is real.
Protecting her nest is natural and paramount even if it is empty and in hock.
It is difficult to walk away effectively from an empty nest if one still thinks it has some value for which one is obligated to protect.
However, when one realizes there is no value there, one reconsiders there.
The global economy is reconsidering there and where there is no 'there' and where it is.
There is becoming more local and less global even as the world is become more in tune with doing business locally.
Value has finally become sensible which may be a poor man's definition of deflation.
Every time the market goes up these days I see a simulated broken winged bird.
Once the value of the nest is exposed the wizard is without a hiding place.
Economics is now becoming interesting, exciting, something sensible to talking about and not merely spun hype.
There's nothing deep here Kevin, it's just your natural bend towards sensibility and awareness of actuality
2008-01-30 16:07:51
Precessionary Displacement
Mr. Depew has detected the phenomenon Max Weber (Essays in Sociology) identified as, "...the socio-psychotic tendency of capitalist societies to displace reality through errant simulation." Mr. Depew does not, however, fully realize the perniciousness of this recurrent pandemic.
In his example "4," he cites the transmogrification of "home" from signifier of stability to wealth indicator. In fact, the term "home" supplanted "house" as post WWII attempt to do just the opposite; to turn a transitory corruptible structure (believe me, I own one) into a signifier of stability. Thus, it was the initial transmogrification of house-to-home that attempted to transform the corruptible into the incorruptible: Turnabout, fair play
In his example "4," he cites the transmogrification of "home" from signifier of stability to wealth indicator. In fact, the term "home" supplanted "house" as post WWII attempt to do just the opposite; to turn a transitory corruptible structure (believe me, I own one) into a signifier of stability. Thus, it was the initial transmogrification of house-to-home that attempted to transform the corruptible into the incorruptible: Turnabout, fair play
2008-01-30 16:10:12
Awareness of the imaginary
On January 30th at 02:56 PM
James Shafland wrote:
Imaginary gains like imaginary fears are easily confused with actuality it.
"Deception is natural, like a bird with a simulated broken wing is real.
Protecting her nest is natural and paramount even if it is empty and in hock. "
There is the value of the nest as a place to put more eggs and start over. Unfortunately, in the case of the markets, there is nothing left to eat for the bird to produce eggs.
"Economics is now becoming interesting, exciting, something sensible to talking about and not merely spun hype. "
I think you are believing in something that can't exist. Economics is nothing BUT hype. The success of economists is all in their ability to market their particular brand of hype, be it happy or depressing.
"There's nothing deep here Kevin, it's just your natural bend towards sensibility and awareness of actuality "
Oh, there's something deep here, alright. .....;-)
Just kidding, Kevin. A good article, but it could have been less obfuscated.
Just use McDonalds as an example: It was once different, became popular, but no matter how cheap they make it, it isn't real food. Real things are simple and local. That's why we live in a Representative Republic instead of a Democracy. We aren't supposed to vote for someone we don't know. We are supposed to vote for people we know so they can select people THEY know. It's not just supposed to be about the hair.
The market is supposed to be the representative aftereffect of people living, working, and interacting locally. It is supposed to be 'trickle-up' economics, not the delusion of 'trickle-down'. When the paradigm shifted to trickle-down, Reality went on vacation while the economists built clockworks to keep the doors locked so it couldn't come back in the house.
2008-01-30 16:28:25
re: Precessionary Displacement
Stuart, thank you for the note and comments on Weber. As well, thank you for suggesting that for once I might have "failed to recognize the perniciousness" of something. Typically, the feedback I get suggests I have failed to recognize anything BUT the perniciousness of whatever subject I am writing about!
2008-01-30 17:13:34
light bulbs
Kevin,
I wrote a messy, overly amibitious novel called <i>Tom Brown Saves the World</i> that in effect foreshadows the "crisis of the real." Without boring you with the somewhat salacious details of the plotline, I attempted to take on the three-headed hydra of consumerism, organized religion and tabloid celebrity culture, the common thread being the subjugation of the individual to these false idols, <i>or</i>, as seen through the lens of your post today, the glorification of the unreal.
There will be massive implications to the social and business worlds when people realize that the only real value in a brand name is that which they assign to it. What happens then to the companies that demand ridiculous multiples based entirely on such perceptions?
Eventually people will see through the subtle and not so subtle manipulations of religious leaders, politicians and central bankers. What becomes of the institutions they represent??
One day Sally Smith in Iowa realizes that not only does her idol Britney not love her back, but Brit's just like her *gasp* In fact, she's the <i>worst</i> of her! Then what becomes of Hollywood and trash journalism and celebrity endorsements??
It's no wonder the Wizard of Oz resonates so well decades later; time to pull back the curtain and get on with the real.
Thanks for the inspiration. It's always good to know I'm not alone in my wildly divergent thinking. Someone much wiser was thinking about all this stuff long before my noodle latched on! At least I'm in good company :)
I wrote a messy, overly amibitious novel called <i>Tom Brown Saves the World</i> that in effect foreshadows the "crisis of the real." Without boring you with the somewhat salacious details of the plotline, I attempted to take on the three-headed hydra of consumerism, organized religion and tabloid celebrity culture, the common thread being the subjugation of the individual to these false idols, <i>or</i>, as seen through the lens of your post today, the glorification of the unreal.
There will be massive implications to the social and business worlds when people realize that the only real value in a brand name is that which they assign to it. What happens then to the companies that demand ridiculous multiples based entirely on such perceptions?
Eventually people will see through the subtle and not so subtle manipulations of religious leaders, politicians and central bankers. What becomes of the institutions they represent??
One day Sally Smith in Iowa realizes that not only does her idol Britney not love her back, but Brit's just like her *gasp* In fact, she's the <i>worst</i> of her! Then what becomes of Hollywood and trash journalism and celebrity endorsements??
It's no wonder the Wizard of Oz resonates so well decades later; time to pull back the curtain and get on with the real.
Thanks for the inspiration. It's always good to know I'm not alone in my wildly divergent thinking. Someone much wiser was thinking about all this stuff long before my noodle latched on! At least I'm in good company :)
2008-01-30 17:53:27
what's real
Along the same lines couldn't we say that precious metals began as the real and were slowly replaced by what Kevin calls a simulacra, an image of the original, the fiat currency.
2008-01-30 18:36:05
Stage Four - I'm there
Man that dude Bauldrillard sure had some wild ideas. Does this mean I'll have to put my beer guzzlin' "Harley" ridin' Avatar on the shelf and get real. I'm not sure I can do that.
Great Post!
On another note I've been trying my best to understand all the complex financial instruments Wall Street has created and just like the number of antiperspirant/deodorant options at the local CVS it seems a bit out of control. Now I finanally get it.
Great Post!
On another note I've been trying my best to understand all the complex financial instruments Wall Street has created and just like the number of antiperspirant/deodorant options at the local CVS it seems a bit out of control. Now I finanally get it.
2008-01-30 18:57:35
Yes
This is a very interesting and challenging thread. It strikes a chord with my way of thinking, having studied (gasp!) Marx and Milliband (sic)...been a long time...I am not sure I get the relationship and idea of 'time'...perhaps you might substitute the word 'quality'? When the abstraction of the real becomes so commoditized...ultimately, the wise choice, the fundamentally sound, the value stock, so to speak, is quality, I think that is what is so lacking in the 'branding' and 'commoditizing' of America, which at it's greatest and unfortunate abstraction has become the place where one lives...it is no longer a neighborhood, it is a place to buy a house and hope to flip it for a profit...Clearly, not all of us - or even a majority of us - I don't think, ascribe to this dialectic - however, the fact that a significant portion of our consumerist society do, and many simply because they think they have to, to survive...I am thinking of the laborers here...no craftsman would willingly sell out, but there are mouths to feed, and larger forces at work - 'we all prostitute ourselves to some degree'....causes us to gravitate toward an economic model which at some point cannot sustain - because it has no quality...it will not last the test of time...I drive through Chicago streets and see row upon row of new townhouses, unoccupied, already stained with graffiti, and these wonderful 'investments' were built with TIFs and sophisticated tax shelters and good old boy incentives for the politically connected, and I know exactly what is rotten in the state of Denmark...exactly...it has happened in every corner of the country...ridiculous teardowns...stupidly supported sweetheart deals...major real estate speculation founded on the guarantees of the next 23 years of taxes (all the time to be robbing from the school district to fling mud once again in your taxpaying eye).
I ramble I know, but I think I understand. And it is not philosophical goobley gook...it is as clear as you can get...it is the only reality. So, economically, financially, at a macro level, what does it really mean? Eventually this society built on consumeristic values will implode of it's own lack of quality...is that an extrapolation? I think it is mine. And it concerns me.
The real question of our times is, what will replace it?
I ramble I know, but I think I understand. And it is not philosophical goobley gook...it is as clear as you can get...it is the only reality. So, economically, financially, at a macro level, what does it really mean? Eventually this society built on consumeristic values will implode of it's own lack of quality...is that an extrapolation? I think it is mine. And it concerns me.
The real question of our times is, what will replace it?
2008-01-30 19:16:04
Professor Depew, this is one of the best things I've read anywhere in a long time. Thank you.
As I was reading this I remembered my mother lamenting/questioning the advent of designer jeans...she's a tailor, and she was commenting "you know, jeans became popular because they were tough and they lasted a long time under rough conditions. Today, they take a perfectly fine pair of jeans and run them through a machine that deliberately wears them out, and then people pay 200$ for them. What is going on with this world?"
As an aside, thinking about the simulacrum gives the Matrix a whole new twist. What is real?
As I was reading this I remembered my mother lamenting/questioning the advent of designer jeans...she's a tailor, and she was commenting "you know, jeans became popular because they were tough and they lasted a long time under rough conditions. Today, they take a perfectly fine pair of jeans and run them through a machine that deliberately wears them out, and then people pay 200$ for them. What is going on with this world?"
As an aside, thinking about the simulacrum gives the Matrix a whole new twist. What is real?
2008-01-30 19:32:09
Yes
On January 30th at 06:57 PM
Steve Becker wrote:
....I am not sure I get the relationship and idea of 'time'...
My geolgy professor used to say
"Time flies like an arrow..."
Fruit Flies like a banana"
Got to keep a sense of humor in times like these.
2008-01-30 21:03:27
Kevin
They have taken a part of Americana (The Home) and they have pumped it now its in dump mode.The question that came to mind while delving in the latin similarity work of the Frog dude--The financials are in the reality trade.The rest of the market and I include oil here is still hanging on to the perception trade.To me the black gooo is one invention away from becoming simulacra.Take care and enjoyed the jolt of the grey or gray matter which ever you prefer.Minyan,JT P.S. all remarks are strictly layman's opinions.
2008-01-30 21:57:52
Kevin
Wow...I used to think I was smart...reading this article and the posts, I think I need to go back to school and not sleep through my classes....especially philosophy....
On the other hand, look at all the shorts for tomorrow!.....maybe I'll make some money instead.....
On the other hand, look at all the shorts for tomorrow!.....maybe I'll make some money instead.....
2008-01-30 22:44:13
Brian
Fwiw I sold Mo on the fed cut as it lifted into 77 and change.One thing that struck a chord during Altria's conf call was that Louis C stated that the stock buyback amount was generous but mentioned to the analysts statement about wanting a higher amount and Camelleri responded have you read the news on the financials? We need to hold back capital just to be prudent--i'm paraphrasing here as this was what i was picking up---even cash rich Altria's board is cognisant of the Banking squeeze.By the way I did have to check and see if I spelled cognisant right.Just a HS grad here.Trade and invest long side only here and goodluck,JT
2008-01-31 08:31:11
MBIA Plays its role...
...as they announce massive writedowns in the face of a downgrade. I think it will be revealed shortly what was 'REAL'-ly insured versus what was THOUGHT to be insured.
The MBIA/SBK factor alone has the ability to 'pull back the curtain' and expose the grubs underneath the grass.
My money is on BANK (Ben + Hank) to bail these guys out. I can't imagine that they will have played the game this far only to allow these monolines to fail. Just my two cents.
The MBIA/SBK factor alone has the ability to 'pull back the curtain' and expose the grubs underneath the grass.
My money is on BANK (Ben + Hank) to bail these guys out. I can't imagine that they will have played the game this far only to allow these monolines to fail. Just my two cents.
2008-01-31 08:38:04
re: what's real
Yes, absolutely.
On January 30th at 05:53 PM
Terry Oldham wrote:
Along the same lines couldn't we say that precious metals began as the real and were slowly replaced by what Kevin calls a simulacra, an image of the original, the fiat currency.
On January 30th at 05:53 PM
Terry Oldham wrote:
Along the same lines couldn't we say that precious metals began as the real and were slowly replaced by what Kevin calls a simulacra, an image of the original, the fiat currency.
2008-01-31 08:45:59
re: Yes
Right, this is the question. It's not about gloom and doom. It's simply a very bizarre transition we are living through. I think we will see over the next decade reactionary events, phases where people will violently oppose what they perceive to be the threat of something foreign, whether it's the displacement of reality by avatars, social networks conducted entirely online, alternate realities experienced through media. Much of that i think will be exacerbated by the demographics. There's the old joke about how every generation has a "those dang kids" moment. Interestingly, older Americans will in a decade be the largest social group in the U.S., and consequently their attitudes about consumption, savings, technology will go a long way toward shaping both cultural and governmental responses to this transition... for better or worse.
On January 30th at 06:57 PM
Steve Becker wrote:
The real question of our times is, what will replace it?
On January 30th at 06:57 PM
Steve Becker wrote:
The real question of our times is, what will replace it?
2008-01-31 08:47:48
MBIA Plays its role...
"BANK"! That's pretty funny.
On January 31st at 08:31 AM
James Fraasch wrote:
My money is on BANK (Ben + Hank) to bail these guys out.
On January 31st at 08:31 AM
James Fraasch wrote:
My money is on BANK (Ben + Hank) to bail these guys out.
2008-01-31 09:37:46
MBIA Plays its role...
How come i never get "bailed out" when i make a stupid decision usually based on greed?
And i have a stinking feeling that somehow i (or we, the poor and powerless) are somehow paying for this "bail out" of the rich and powerful. Who pays for this "bail out"?
If getting "bailed out" makes everybody happy and it's so easy to do, why don't "they (BANK)" just keep bailing everbody out? Don't tell me they don't do that because they "want to teach them a lesson" because it happens all the time.
On January 31st at 08:47 AM
Kevin Depew wrote:
"BANK"! That's pretty funny.
On January 31st at 08:31 AM
James Fraasch wrote:
My money is on BANK (Ben + Hank) to bail these guys out.
And i have a stinking feeling that somehow i (or we, the poor and powerless) are somehow paying for this "bail out" of the rich and powerful. Who pays for this "bail out"?
If getting "bailed out" makes everybody happy and it's so easy to do, why don't "they (BANK)" just keep bailing everbody out? Don't tell me they don't do that because they "want to teach them a lesson" because it happens all the time.
On January 31st at 08:47 AM
Kevin Depew wrote:
"BANK"! That's pretty funny.
On January 31st at 08:31 AM
James Fraasch wrote:
My money is on BANK (Ben + Hank) to bail these guys out.
2008-01-31 13:19:36
Kevin, I don't know if you are aware of this but...
check out 1:48 into this YouTube video--what is the title of the book? Yup, you guessed it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ravcpOVEDHo&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ravcpOVEDHo&feature=related
2008-01-31 14:49:19
MBIA Plays its role...
Bailouts happen all the time. That's the Bernake put, that's the PPT. Trying to 'guarantee' stock prices is a bail out. Lending billions upon billions to banks and taking risky collateral in return is a bailout. Cutting interest rates by .75 bp to stem a crash in the market caused by a ROGUE trader is a bailout.
At some point these bailouts will bankrupt us. At some point its put up or shut up time. We have to wind our way out of the financial mess and start to organically grow our economy. Anything short of that would not be 'real'.
At some point these bailouts will bankrupt us. At some point its put up or shut up time. We have to wind our way out of the financial mess and start to organically grow our economy. Anything short of that would not be 'real'.
2008-01-31 15:40:12
Kevin, I don't know if you are aware of this but...
That explains quite a bit. Thanks Lauren.
On January 31st at 01:19 PM
Lauren Johnson wrote:
check out 1:48 into this YouTube video--what is the title of the book? Yup, you guessed it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ravcpOVEDHo&feature=related
On January 31st at 01:19 PM
Lauren Johnson wrote:
check out 1:48 into this YouTube video--what is the title of the book? Yup, you guessed it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ravcpOVEDHo&feature=related
2008-02-01 10:59:15
Awareness of the imaginary
On January 30th at 04:10 PM
Dan Conine wrote:
.... we live in a Representative Republic instead of a Democracy. We aren't supposed to vote for someone we don't know. We are supposed to vote for people WE know so they can select people THEY know. It's not just supposed to be about the hair (PERCEIVED IMAGE).
JS: I AM NOT SHOUTING HERE BUT MERELY MAKING MY COMMENTS STANDOUT FROM DAN'S AND NOW I CAN'T REVERT TO LOWER CASE AND I HAVE TO RUN--SORRY.
The market is supposed to be the representative aftereffect of people living, working, and interacting locally.
BUT WE LOVE OR DESIRE THE UNKNOWN EVEN PREFERIRNG THAT WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW OVER THAT WHICH OUR SENSES CAN RESPOND.
It is supposed to be 'trickle-up' economics, not the delusion of 'trickle-down'. When the paradigm shifted to trickle-down, Reality went on vacation while the economists built clockworks to keep the doors locked so it couldn't come back in the house. THEY KEPT THE KIDS OUT BECAUSE THEY SAW TOO MUCH OR RATHER BELIEVED TOO LITTLE.
REALITY IS MERELY A WORD FOR SOMEONE'S SENSE OF TRUTH WHETHER OR NOT WE SENSIBLY CAN SHARE IT OTHER THAN BELIEVE THAT HE OR HER IS SPEAKING THE TRUTH. "REAL ESTATE CAN'T GO DOWN--THESE DAYS ARE DIFFERENT".
ACTUALITY IS WHAT TWO OR MORE SENSIBLE FOLK USING THEIR VARIED SENSES TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT WHAT IS SAID IS ACTUALLY THERE. THE KING'S CLOTHES WERE SENSIBLY OR ACTUALLY SEEN BY A KID AFTER ALL. CHILDREN ARE PRETTY BASIC AND LOCAL JUST LIKE OUR SENSES.
THUCYDIDES USES DIODOTUS TO SHOW HOW DIRECT DEMOCRACY MAY WORK FROM TIME TO TIME WHILE SHOWING THAT IF IT DOES IT IS BY PURE LUCK. ONCE A COMMITTEE SENSIBLY AGREES, IF THIS IS POSSIBLE, THEN, ONLY TO THE DEGREE THE PERSON (RULER) FORMING THE COMMITTEE TAKES ITS ADVISE AND PUTS IT INTO ACTION CAN IF BE CONSIDER EFFECTIVE.
BUT REPRESENTATIONAL DEMOCRACY DEVISES A SENSIBLE CONNECTION FROM THE LOCAL TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AND BACK AGAIN. THIS 'TRUTH' WE HAVE LOST.
WHAT OUR FOREFATHERS DID NOT IMAGINE WAS THE SENSELESS EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINARY OUTSIDE RELIGION AND PARTICULARLY IN BUSINESS. "GODS" OR KINGS DID NOT DISAPPEAR, THEY MERELY GOT DRESSED UP IN A NEW SET OF CLOTHES, BUSINESS SUITS, AND NOW WE SEE WE NEED NO SUITS WHEN DOING BUSINESS LOCALLY, BUT MOST BUSINESS NOW IS WELL SUITED FOR POLITICS AND OFTEN MERELY WORDS ONCE ONE LEAVES THE LOCAL. IN FACT, MONEY HAS BECOME POLITICS AND POLITICS MERELY A SIMULATION OF THE POLIS AND SO MUCH SO THAT THE LOCAL IS WALMART 'EMPLOYING" OUR FRIENDLY IMPOVERISH NEIGHBORS WORKING LONG HOURS SO WE CAN BUY, RATHER CONSUME, ON THE CHEAP AND TREAT OUR HOUSE AS NOT JUST A HOME, BUT AS AN INVESTMENT.
LIVING WITHIN ONE'S MEANS IS NOT A TRUTH, BUT A LOCALE. LIVING YOUR DREAM IS A MYTH AND A TRAGIC ONE AT THAT. THE RELIEF FROM TRAGEDY IS THE CATHARSIS ONE GETS IN BEING GLAD I WASN'T THAT POOR SUCKER. THE LAUGHTER AND PRUDENCE OF COMEDY IS OUR FINDING SOMETHING OF OUR SELVES IN EACH OF THE CHARACTERS REDICULED. THE AMERICAN PONZI ECONOMY OF UNNECESSARY CONSUMPTION IS ONLY TRAGIC IF YOU CAN'T SEE YOURSELF IN ALL OF ITS CHARACTERS.
A "PRINCE" WHO BUYS A PIG IN A POKE FOR HIS INVESTORS AND THEN GETS MILLIONS FROM ALL THOSE 'HAPPY' PEOPLE WHOM HE CHEATED IS SOMETHING FOR MOLIERE--WHAT FOOLS WE BE AND NO MORE THAN WHEN WE ARE CONTENT IN OUR WISDOM OR PHILOSOPHIES OR DARE I SAY INVESTMENTS.
SORRY I AM SO "WORDY" AS SOMEONE CALLED KEVIN'S ARTICLE, BUT I NEITHER DO I THINK "EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING AS ONE COMMENTATOR PUT IT. AND DAN, I DO NOT THINK THIS IS DEEP, RATHER IT IS MERELY SENSIBLE-- AS LUCRETIUS IMPLIED, THE TRUTH OF THINGS IS IN THEIR SURFACE AND IT IS FROM THOSE SURFACES WE ACTUALLY RESPOND. WORDS WITHOUT SURFACES ARE UNICORNS.
WHAT I AM SURPRISED BY IS HOW MANY THINK KEVIN IS OUT OF CHARACTER WRITING THIS ARTICLE, AND CONFUSED HIM WITH ACADEMIC NONSENSE LIKE DECONSTRUCTION.
2008-02-01 12:15:01
Yes
"..I am not sure I get the relationship and idea of 'time'...perhaps you might substitute the word 'quality'? When the abstraction of the real becomes so commoditized...ultimately, the wise choice, the fundamentally sound, the value stock, so to speak, is quality,"
I wrote a piece on Quality once.
I think it's still here: http://www.equipment-reliability.com/articles/art1.htm
Fine piece of work, if I do say so myself. I was a bit peeved at the time about product development....
I wrote a piece on Quality once.
I think it's still here: http://www.equipment-reliability.com/articles/art1.htm
Fine piece of work, if I do say so myself. I was a bit peeved at the time about product development....
2008-02-01 12:43:12
Awareness of the imaginary
Thanks for the reply, James.
You wrote:
REALITY IS MERELY A WORD FOR SOMEONE'S SENSE OF TRUTH WHETHER OR NOT WE SENSIBLY CAN SHARE IT OTHER THAN BELIEVE THAT HE OR HER IS SPEAKING THE TRUTH. "REAL ESTATE CAN'T GO DOWN--THESE DAYS ARE DIFFERENT".
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
There is a truth to your statement. I do, however, think that there is a reality which underlies everything and it is objective, as far as nature can be objective. That reality is Schroedinger's Purpose of Life as Anti-entropy ( http://www.dieoff.org/page150.htm ). When analyzed on a logical bent, we find that every purpose ever invented comes down to one purpose: to create a future usefulness that is greater than the resources we consume. I call it "Net Creativity". All the religions, politics, social rules, hierarchies, behaviors, species, planets, etc., exist because of what they have done or become that added to existence in the face of decay. When one person's vision breaks the glass of a social illusion, it isn't because they 'agree', but because that breakage is more useful than the illusion in the long run. If the illusion was more useful, then people who think reasonably and logically by scientific deduction would have gone extinct long ago. We evolved the desire to believe in things that aren't there because believing a tiger is in the weeds is better than denying it when it comes to surviving. Unfortunately, groups have found ways to exploit that primitive emotional dependency. The Blind Faith gene is in all of us, whether we apply it to Gods, gurus, or governments. It takes a special moral flexibility to be able to overcome it for the sake of our individual best interests. We want to BELIEVE that something good is over the market horizon because everyone is running that way. Throw in some herd instinct, some fear of the past (poverty in childhood, hard work, whatever), and the paradigm becomes a stampede to the future, regardless of whether that future is a grassy plain or a cliff. As long as the herd blocks our view, we can only judge by the status of the plain under our feet . This is not the way toward security. Better to just stop and let the herd pass if you aren't in front. If you are in front, you better make sure to look where the hell you're going, not back at the herd. The ones in front (corporations, trillionaires, governments, secret agencies) should not be looking to the herd for guidance on issues that they are going to run into, and they have to move fast enough so the herd doesn't run over them. The Democrats have been run over by the herd, and the Republicans are running in circles so fast they have buried themselves in dust, even if they were in front, we can't see evidence of leadership any more. I think they may have run so fast that they are now chasing the herd from behind without seeing what's in front of it. Or maybe that's just the Fed.
You wrote:
REALITY IS MERELY A WORD FOR SOMEONE'S SENSE OF TRUTH WHETHER OR NOT WE SENSIBLY CAN SHARE IT OTHER THAN BELIEVE THAT HE OR HER IS SPEAKING THE TRUTH. "REAL ESTATE CAN'T GO DOWN--THESE DAYS ARE DIFFERENT".
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
There is a truth to your statement. I do, however, think that there is a reality which underlies everything and it is objective, as far as nature can be objective. That reality is Schroedinger's Purpose of Life as Anti-entropy ( http://www.dieoff.org/page150.htm ). When analyzed on a logical bent, we find that every purpose ever invented comes down to one purpose: to create a future usefulness that is greater than the resources we consume. I call it "Net Creativity". All the religions, politics, social rules, hierarchies, behaviors, species, planets, etc., exist because of what they have done or become that added to existence in the face of decay. When one person's vision breaks the glass of a social illusion, it isn't because they 'agree', but because that breakage is more useful than the illusion in the long run. If the illusion was more useful, then people who think reasonably and logically by scientific deduction would have gone extinct long ago. We evolved the desire to believe in things that aren't there because believing a tiger is in the weeds is better than denying it when it comes to surviving. Unfortunately, groups have found ways to exploit that primitive emotional dependency. The Blind Faith gene is in all of us, whether we apply it to Gods, gurus, or governments. It takes a special moral flexibility to be able to overcome it for the sake of our individual best interests. We want to BELIEVE that something good is over the market horizon because everyone is running that way. Throw in some herd instinct, some fear of the past (poverty in childhood, hard work, whatever), and the paradigm becomes a stampede to the future, regardless of whether that future is a grassy plain or a cliff. As long as the herd blocks our view, we can only judge by the status of the plain under our feet . This is not the way toward security. Better to just stop and let the herd pass if you aren't in front. If you are in front, you better make sure to look where the hell you're going, not back at the herd. The ones in front (corporations, trillionaires, governments, secret agencies) should not be looking to the herd for guidance on issues that they are going to run into, and they have to move fast enough so the herd doesn't run over them. The Democrats have been run over by the herd, and the Republicans are running in circles so fast they have buried themselves in dust, even if they were in front, we can't see evidence of leadership any more. I think they may have run so fast that they are now chasing the herd from behind without seeing what's in front of it. Or maybe that's just the Fed.
2008-02-01 22:34:01
Chill
I agree Kevin! I sense a mood shift, the two earner family with no free time and just making the the bills is losing it's luster.
Twenty five years of stagnant wages have finally taken it's toll. The vanishing middle class maybe changing from 'keeping up' to enjoy what they have instead. Family fun and simple things could make a comeback, besides that we they no choice.
I'm not a pessimist, just think it's time to chill and get this Hamster off the wheel.
Twenty five years of stagnant wages have finally taken it's toll. The vanishing middle class maybe changing from 'keeping up' to enjoy what they have instead. Family fun and simple things could make a comeback, besides that we they no choice.
I'm not a pessimist, just think it's time to chill and get this Hamster off the wheel.
2008-02-02 14:02:00
"The Real"
People forget that our brains view reality in different ways. A house can be seen as
1. a word with many meanings
2. a number with different meanings
The words are created/processed in one part of our brain. The numbers in another part. They are never the same thing... and should never ever be thought of as the same thing.
What is scary about 2008 is that we have made the numbers of a house the 'real' value and have forgotten what the word might mean
a) investment
b) home
c) safe haven
d)retirement fund
e) bank account
The bankers failed to identify the numbers to the definition. Thus they made a kind of false reality. To too many people a house became a) thru e) but such a thing is impossible in the long run. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
banks need to get housing back to b only and thus then and only then will they maintain their value. problem is that we are so far from that...
1. a word with many meanings
2. a number with different meanings
The words are created/processed in one part of our brain. The numbers in another part. They are never the same thing... and should never ever be thought of as the same thing.
What is scary about 2008 is that we have made the numbers of a house the 'real' value and have forgotten what the word might mean
a) investment
b) home
c) safe haven
d)retirement fund
e) bank account
The bankers failed to identify the numbers to the definition. Thus they made a kind of false reality. To too many people a house became a) thru e) but such a thing is impossible in the long run. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
banks need to get housing back to b only and thus then and only then will they maintain their value. problem is that we are so far from that...
2008-02-03 10:12:47
Awareness of the imaginary
Dan, thanks for your local exchange or barter in sensible usage.
I read your article on quality of work and was impressed by your realization the quality is an art but not necessarily an useful one.
Something can be of low quality, useful, mass produced and profitable.
Furthermore quality does not need purpose. Obsessional folk who talk a long time and are precise and do effective quality work are not necessarily productive. Cutting through the objectively true, but nonetheless insignificant facts, can allow a conceptual dawning, without relating to the number of facts know, just as a home can be in a house worth little and an expensive house can never be a home.
That the similarity between our discussions here regardless of there verbosity, of lack of quality, none the less allow the possibility of local understanding or actual economics or as it means classically "home management. The usefulness of our discussions arises not in my intelligence, but in your unexpected responses. If reality were merely objectively true then you would be correct regarding an "underlying" (scientific) reality common to all. However, we all do no have an awareness of our own natural limitations or that we can not become anything more than we actually are within our natural limits and therein lies the simulacra.
Just as with the facts we have to sort our actual friends from those who merely appear friendly, and often we discover we had not like our actual friends and like far too well those who were merely pretending to be friendly. I guess one could say we mistook our local banker for Charles the Prince of bankers whose city bank works for any city in the world. Now that's an "economy for the universe" and one few of us we ever experience profitably.
Jim
I read your article on quality of work and was impressed by your realization the quality is an art but not necessarily an useful one.
Something can be of low quality, useful, mass produced and profitable.
Furthermore quality does not need purpose. Obsessional folk who talk a long time and are precise and do effective quality work are not necessarily productive. Cutting through the objectively true, but nonetheless insignificant facts, can allow a conceptual dawning, without relating to the number of facts know, just as a home can be in a house worth little and an expensive house can never be a home.
That the similarity between our discussions here regardless of there verbosity, of lack of quality, none the less allow the possibility of local understanding or actual economics or as it means classically "home management. The usefulness of our discussions arises not in my intelligence, but in your unexpected responses. If reality were merely objectively true then you would be correct regarding an "underlying" (scientific) reality common to all. However, we all do no have an awareness of our own natural limitations or that we can not become anything more than we actually are within our natural limits and therein lies the simulacra.
Just as with the facts we have to sort our actual friends from those who merely appear friendly, and often we discover we had not like our actual friends and like far too well those who were merely pretending to be friendly. I guess one could say we mistook our local banker for Charles the Prince of bankers whose city bank works for any city in the world. Now that's an "economy for the universe" and one few of us we ever experience profitably.
Jim
2008-02-03 11:36:14
Awareness of the imaginary
Dan,
I keep meaning to reply to this comment of yours early on.
"There is the value of the nest as a place to put more eggs and start over. Unfortunately, in the case of the markets, there is nothing left to eat for the bird to produce eggs.
Home or nest management presumes some things to eat the same as its occupants are alive. If there is no food and no life there is nothing to manage. It simply is false to claim that global stock markets = my local market where I shop. They MAY be connected or as now disconnected. You mean the loss of a lack of choice between more desirable foods and drinks than merely sufficient food and drink to stay alive but this choice does not = without food. It is the sense of having a choice in what we want, rather that the actual food necessary for living a healthy life that the simulacrum confuses with the actual. Deflation is a return to the local bread and butter of local management of household necessities and Americans will be visiting Good Will stores more that clothing stores very soon. That's actual economics.
The local economy IS the actual economy. You seem to consider the virtual economy in which we have lived and which now is losing credit or slack or slag as the puzzles makers call it is the 'real' economy. And indeed without some slag one can only take the puzzle apart but one can not put it back together. In a slag deficient economy virtual titans become actual paupers. These last 20 years we have had so much slag that pieces from other puzzles have confused the actual presumption or puzzle.
Now no one knows what they are trying to put together, all banks 'worth their salt' (where salt has lost it spice) are beyond the local or actual, and in light of such ignorance of the actual, the Fed is without effectiveness. It is useless no matter what quality or art it may bring to its activities, nothing can put clothes back on THAT king whether it be THAT man or THAT woman, of THAT origin or THIS.
I keep meaning to reply to this comment of yours early on.
"There is the value of the nest as a place to put more eggs and start over. Unfortunately, in the case of the markets, there is nothing left to eat for the bird to produce eggs.
Home or nest management presumes some things to eat the same as its occupants are alive. If there is no food and no life there is nothing to manage. It simply is false to claim that global stock markets = my local market where I shop. They MAY be connected or as now disconnected. You mean the loss of a lack of choice between more desirable foods and drinks than merely sufficient food and drink to stay alive but this choice does not = without food. It is the sense of having a choice in what we want, rather that the actual food necessary for living a healthy life that the simulacrum confuses with the actual. Deflation is a return to the local bread and butter of local management of household necessities and Americans will be visiting Good Will stores more that clothing stores very soon. That's actual economics.
The local economy IS the actual economy. You seem to consider the virtual economy in which we have lived and which now is losing credit or slack or slag as the puzzles makers call it is the 'real' economy. And indeed without some slag one can only take the puzzle apart but one can not put it back together. In a slag deficient economy virtual titans become actual paupers. These last 20 years we have had so much slag that pieces from other puzzles have confused the actual presumption or puzzle.
Now no one knows what they are trying to put together, all banks 'worth their salt' (where salt has lost it spice) are beyond the local or actual, and in light of such ignorance of the actual, the Fed is without effectiveness. It is useless no matter what quality or art it may bring to its activities, nothing can put clothes back on THAT king whether it be THAT man or THAT woman, of THAT origin or THIS.
2008-02-03 12:01:22
Awareness of the imaginary
I don't know where the disconnect lies in the discussion, but I think I more-or-less agree with you. I think that what I was trying to say is that the global economy should be dependent upon the sustainability of the local economy, not the other way around. I think that's what you said, in addition to it not being interchangeable. I think we have to think back to what a bank really is supposed to represent, and that is risk reduction (insurance/risk distribution) and currency convenience services (standardation, storage, quality control). True, that is antithetical to 'local', but it is also an additional variable to consider: locally, regionally, nationally, globally, and culturally.
I guess I'm just bringing this up from the standpoint of how we can rebuild after the Descent happens.
Thanks,
Dan
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
On February 3rd at 11:36 AM
James Shafland wrote:
Dan,
I keep meaning to reply to this comment of yours early on.
"There is the value of the nest as a place to put more eggs and start over. Unfortunately, in the case of the markets, there is nothing left to eat for the bird to produce eggs.
These last 20 years we have had so much slag that pieces from other puzzles have confused the actual presumption or puzzle.
Now no one knows what they are trying to put together, all banks 'worth their salt' (where salt has lost it spice) are beyond the local or actual, and in light of such ignorance of the actual, the Fed is without effectiveness. It is useless no matter what quality or art it may bring to its activities, nothing can put clothes back on THAT king whether it be THAT man or THAT woman, of THAT origin or THIS.
I guess I'm just bringing this up from the standpoint of how we can rebuild after the Descent happens.
Thanks,
Dan
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
On February 3rd at 11:36 AM
James Shafland wrote:
Dan,
I keep meaning to reply to this comment of yours early on.
"There is the value of the nest as a place to put more eggs and start over. Unfortunately, in the case of the markets, there is nothing left to eat for the bird to produce eggs.
These last 20 years we have had so much slag that pieces from other puzzles have confused the actual presumption or puzzle.
Now no one knows what they are trying to put together, all banks 'worth their salt' (where salt has lost it spice) are beyond the local or actual, and in light of such ignorance of the actual, the Fed is without effectiveness. It is useless no matter what quality or art it may bring to its activities, nothing can put clothes back on THAT king whether it be THAT man or THAT woman, of THAT origin or THIS.
Get real-time options trading ideas from Steve Smith, veteran options trader and newsletter author, plus let him show you the way to cut risk and boost your returns through the strategic use of options. Click here for a free 14 day trial to OptionSmith by Steve Smith.
Copyright 2009 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
