Not so long ago, on a day like any other, the trading gods sat in a parallel universe known as Minyanville and awaited the opening tick from Wall Street. This would happen every day the markets had something to say, and the MV stock ticker served as their window to the whacky world of financial fluctuations. You see, the stock ticker was created so the critters could keep a close eye on what was being bought and what was being sold. No one knew what made it start and stop at the opening and close of each trading day. It just did. It was a ritual. And it only happened in Minyanville.

It was while sipping their favorite vintage brew and reading the Wall Street stats that something unusual occurred--something that had never happened before. The stock ticker stopped ticking! The God's of Trading sat stunned and speechless. What had silenced their beloved ticker? Why had it stopped ticking?!? The flickering ticks were their lifeline and, without it, Minyanville was like a heart without a beat.


As the merry minyans grew anxious and concern quickly spread, the God's quickly rallied in an effort to calm the manic masses. Without faith, they opined, there is no clarity, and without clarity, rational and lucid decisions cannot be made. What made the market tick, they thought? What made the ticker talk and what, prey tell, was responsible for those minxy market movements that consumed them daily? They realized there was no one answer, just as there is no one market. The God's could see that times had changed and markets and mindsets had become more diversified. They agreed that a committee needed to be formed, one that would focus on how the ticker ticked and, more importantly, why. A town meeting was called and, after much ado, five lovable critters were chosen to form the inaugural class of the Minyanville menagerie. Their task was to find the tick in the ticker and, after that, to keep the tick in the talk. Together, an anal-retentive yet optimistic bull, a crafty anti-establishment bear, a foxy cow with a voice of reason, a patient, wise snake and a hipster of a turtle (who totally dug rallies) brought faces to and attempted to assign a method to the madness that is Wall Street. To this day, nobody knows exactly how the fab five did it, but they eventually kicked the ticker, the tape once again began to roll and Minyanville sprung back to life.

Throughout history, people have always tried to figure out what makes the tape tick and what drives the market. Some say it's the fundamentals, others insist that it's the technical backdrop and, still others, claim that psychology drives the price action of stocks. Somewhere out there, in the wilds beyond Wall Street, five friends named Hoofy the bull, Boo the bear, Daisy the cow, Sammy the snake and Snapper the turtle spend their every waking moment in a quest for the ultimate truth.

And so it was, Minyanville was born and the rest, as they say, is history...