While you're waiting for me to put together today's post, here's the second news clipping I had.

Congressman Frank Oliver: Is it not a fact that the collapse in the prices and disappointment of the people is teh main reason why they are blaming everything on the stock exchange?

NYSE President Whitney: Very likely, but that is a mere conjecture of my part.

 

Congressman Frank Oliver: But the stock exchange has no agency and does not purport to have any to evaluate stocks.

NYSE President Whitney: None whatsoever.

Congressman Frank Oliver: When [stocks] collapsed from the high to the low, the public started to blame "the shorts" for that. Is that not a fact?

NYSE President Whitney: I think from a hindsight point of view, they blamed the shorts.

Congressman Frank Oliver: They blamed the shorts, whereas, as a matter of fact, if the prices were inflated, they should have blamed the "longs" for having inflated them?

NYSE President Whitney: And themselves.

Congressman Frank Oliver: But instead of being logical about it, and blaming those who inflated prices, they blamed those who might have deflated them had they the power at that time – that is, the "shorts"?

NYSE President Whitney: Yes.

The date of this House Judiciary hearing? February 24, 1932. Markets change all the time. People never do. That's why technical analysis works.

Pretty much my only indulgences in life these days are (a) lattes from Fraiche, across the street; (b) reading the newspapers – – specifically, the New York Times, WSJ, and Barron's. I found a couple of good tidbits over the weekend.

The first is from Barron's, which is an interview with Nouriel Roubini, an economics professor from NYU. Barron's writes:

…the warnings of economist Nouriel Roubini fell on deaf ears. For the past two years..[he].. has cautioned about a huge housing bubble whose bursting would lead to a 20% drop in home prices; a collapse in subprime mortgages; a severe banking crisis and credit crunch; the near-failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and a U.S. recession of a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression. So far, this latter-day prophet of doom has been on the mark, though time will tell about the recession part.

So let me get this straight. This guy was one of the only people on the planet to predict a entire litany of outcomes that most would have considered unthinkable, and now that the first six of his seven predictions have come true, Barron's actually writes "...though time will tell about the recession part."

Sigh.

People seem reluctant to abandon denial. At this point, Professor Roubini could tell me that Jesus Christ was going to appear on tomorrow's edition of The View, and I'd fly out to make sure I got a good seat.

I'll do the second clipping later. This is enough for now.