Many of you have probably already seen the video that I'm linking here. I finally got to it this morning.
Why did it take me so long? I'll give you three simple reasons (and then let you follow whatever your personal "thought trend" leads you to fill in the numbers from #4 to #100)...
1. I'm not particularly, um, a fan, of "Lady Gaga" (some catchy songs I suppose, but I'm not a fan of "schtick" performers)
2. I'm not a fan of American Idol. (That said, I've NEVER watched it, EVER, not even 5 minutes). I don't have to, I know I'd be bored out of my mind in less than half that time.
3. 6th graders don't move me in any particular way either (or, at least the 99.9% of them who spend 99.9% of their waking hours gossiping, twittering, & texting messages back and forth between one another discussing #'s 1 & 2 above...
But I finally broke down and watched it. I'm going to skip right through the fact that it was a FANTASTIC rendition (most who have seen it already know that)...
So why am I bothering to use it to open up discussion on a blog which discusses Capital Markets? Answer: Because "markets" ARE emotion. RP, I believe, calls it "Socioeconomics"...
CV found himself watching the "faces" of the other 6th graders in the audience as the performance began. Remember, these were raw emotions. This was not some TV director doing "cutaways". There were no lights, no fog, no sequined outfits. Just a bunch of bored 6th graders in an auditorium, probably wishing they were somewhere else, but perhaps slightly happy because they got to skip their "Earth Science" class...
Now what I just said isn't apparent to EVERY naked eye. Some of you will just see a bunch of faces (and they all will look the same). But I can see the ones, who, were unexpectedly taken aback by this performance. The blonde girl up top for instance - you can see it in her eyes - her eyes start moving a mile a minute SEARCHING, looking to catch the eyes of someone else in the room and basically say, SILENTLY, "Wow - Are you hearing what I'm hearing"?. (There are others who clearly react in the same way - go ahead and pick them out on your own).
They are not ALL afficianados. There's a girl in the middle with black hair. During the middle of the performance she's twirling her hair with her finger. Body Language experts tell you that when a girl twirls her hair she's "flirting". This was not flirting, this was. "I don't get it, & I'm bored".
Anyway, the reason I bring this all up is that both in markets (and in the blogosphere), some people GET IT, and some people DON'T. CV has known this from watching the faces of people (in a live setting) for over 25 years teaching group fitness. You're pouring your guts out day after day trying to be unique, challenging, and motivating - with hardly any regard of your own needs. You're just trying to CREATE SOMETHING, an EXPERIENCE for people to enjoy (and let everyone be themselves in the process).
So that's my metaphor for the day. It's probably the reason the markets have been so frustrating for a long time now. Why, because there IS NO FREEDOM, there IS NO EXPRESSION when governments and banksters all try to control the outcome.
It would be as if the principal of the school (before the kid's performance) instructed everyone that they had to paint a smile on their face and stare straight ahead because this was all being filmed for broadcast. Worse - If there had been an attempt to manufacture the outcome in a manner like that, most of the audience would have likely been to distracted with their "duty" to actually enjoy the performance the way they did. It's further likely that then entire thing would have NEVER become a sensation. And of course, SURELY all of America would have been forced to watch the "other" kid play the kazoo while juggling coconuts as an attachment because, well, it's NOT FAIR to have people FAIL in society now is it?
Instead, we live in a world of teleprompter Presidents who get elected because they say what they think people want to hear. They think that people want to AVOID FAILURE at all costs. They will do everything legal in their powers to avoid that outcome, and if the laws themselves aren't helping out, well they'll change those.
The truth is, that "failure" or any notions of "avoiding failure" are not scripted into the Declaration of Independence. Instead, the DOI refers to the "pursuit of happiness".
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Moreover, these unalienable rights are NOT endowed by their President, Congress, King, or Czar. They are endowed by their Creator.
So the moral of this story is to get yourselves off your "screens". Get off your i-Pods, your crackberries, your AI, and your market tickers. Just glance up for a minute and look into peoples faces. See what that is telling you. Mostly what CV sees are people who are saying. "Just let me make my own decision and stop trying to make it for me"...
I'm wondering if the President, while riding through Buffalo, NY yesterday in his limousine took time enough to glance up and see THESE faces on a billboard ad put together from some of the locals.
For you, spoonman (or anyone else)
SPX
DXY
VIX
GOLD
EURUSD
JNK
GS
