“Flash Boys” Fallout: The Various Shades of Red Michael Lewis’ list of enemies — many inspired by his new book, “Flash Boys” — just got longer. That’s because of the stock market fallout in the wake of Lewis’ book, out last week, which peeled back the curtain on how high frequency trading (“HFT”) really works,...Read More
Plugging “Flash Boys” on 60 Minutes, Etc. [Editor’s Note: see also this later post, “Michael Lewis’ Growing List of Enemies“] How good is Michael Lewis’ new book, “Flash Boys?” I don’t know — I haven’t read it (it’s due to be released later this week). But, I give his marketing campaign for the new book...Read More
“Occupy Wall Street” Conundrum: What to Occupy One of my favorite political cartoons — from the 1970’s no less — shows a self-satisfied oil executive sitting behind a big desk, his feet up, smoking a cigar (I said it was from the ’70’s). “You want oil?,” he practically cackles (to no one in particular). “We own the wells.”...Read More
Tomorrow’s “Onion” Headlines . . Today! I can just see The Onion’s retort to today’s lead headline in The Wall Street Journal (“Germans in Talks to Buy Big Board”) — maybe something like this: “Chinese Negotiating for Large Pipe.” Of course, the “Big Board” in question is The New York Stock Exchange, as it is otherwise...Read More
Price Taker or Price Maker (& Fixer, Stealer, etc.)? The devil theory of Goldman Sachs, at bottom, rests on the premise that Goldman knows the future better than its customers or the rest of us. –Holman Jenkins, “‘Defining the Facebook Deal“; The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 15-16, 2011) THAT’S “the devil theory of Goldman Sachs??” Really?...Read More
“Glister,” Rupert? Really, “Glister?!?” You knew that Sarah Palin was running (kind of) for President, but did you also know that she apparently is now publishing The Wall Street Journal? How else do you explain: –Headlines like this one, from Friday’s paper: ‘Behind Gold’s New Glister: Miner’s Big Bet on a Fund.“ –A front page...Read More
