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On Jumping Sharks With Barry Ritholtz
Barry Ritholtz is once again in Zero Hedge-marketing mode, which is probably not too surprising: this marks only the second time in under a week in which Mr. Ritholtz has exhibited a fascination with Zero Hedge, previously demonstrating a borderline obsession by actually scouring through tweet mentions of our humble blog. And humble we are - we have paid Barry exactly zero for this ongoing free advertising fest. That said, we are confident Barry will be happy with us reposting his entire post for our readers because he does bring up some valid questions, to which we provide our own brief perspective.
To wit (and we do wonder just which blogger types out there actually relish their anonymity for the sake of retaining their jobs):
I was speaking with a few other trader/blogger types (they best remain nameless so as to keep their jobs) and this interesting observation was made: It has been exactly one year ago today when a (mostly) fawning NY Magazine article on Zero Hedge came out: The Dow Zero Insurgency.
Since that article, argued one of the hedgies in the group, Zero Hedge has seen their influence wax, then wane. The incisive, no hold bars critiques of Goldman Sachs, HFT, regulatory failures and corporate excess seems to have gotten lost in a sea of conspiracy theories, standard gold bug rhetoric, and lots of C grade commentary.
What made the blog great — a singular expert voice (with a few supporting characters) that wrote with passion and insiders knowledge. But that voice seems to have gotten lost in a sea of supporting characters; the original proportions have been inverted.
Its not that the good stuff isn’t there — it is, if you hunt for it. Its just that it is now surrounded by so much other stuff it becomes challenging to locate. (It doesn’t help that lots of writers seem to publish under the name Tyler Durden) This seems to be the same challenge that many of the multi-author sites have — from Street.com to HuffPo to Seeking Alpha to Minyanville to Business Insider — they must wrestle with this issue on a daily basis. Can you produce more content but still maintain the level of intensity and passion when its a team, and not a single voice?
Whenever a narrow focus and intensity is replaced with an broader emphasis on well, nearly everything, must something get lost in the expansion? I still read ZH — but much less than I used to, now that the inmates have taken over the asylum.
Crowd Query:
A what point does a blog jump the shark? Not just Zero Hedge, but The
Big Picture, or boingboing or your favorite blog ___ here?
We forgot to mention that the whole post was prefaced by a very informative quote by Paul Krugman: "Whom the Gods would destroy, they first put on the cover of Business Week." Yes, the same Krugman as seen below:
(at least Newsweek has been destroyed so far)
So, a few quick observations:
First, we would like to make a slight correction to Barry's second paragraph: you see, where the author of Bailout Nation (Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #221,485 in Books, full link for those who wish to purchase it - see we return free marketing favors) is wrong is that our critiques of "Goldman Sachs, HFT, regulatory failure" (oh and he forgot to mention prop trading, most definitely prop trading) were in fact considered "conspiracy theories" by pretty much everyone, including said author himself, until such time as they were proven to be in fact, well, fact.
Second.... well, here we were going to say something smart and worthy of at least a grade B in commentary, and provide a witty yet insightful observation of Barry's own travails as a "Wall Streeter who blogs", but you see the inmates took over, and are covering just about everything else, which just so happens to be, is far more important. Furthermore, we are confident that Barry will do a great job of providing first hand commentary vis-a-vis the aforementioned, on one of his daily appearances of CNBC's crack trading show, Fast Money, where he has recently become a staple, and which features such other prominent hedge funders (or is that fund of funders, we don't know: we just comment on Wall Street)-cum-Oscar-worthy Wall Street 2 stars, as SkyBridge Capital's (and Obama basketball nemesis) Anthony Scaramucci.
Oh, and third, and last, we would like to add one thing. A blog, we are often reminded, just like a waxing or waning company (even one trading at 100x forward multiples), is only as good as the quality of its products, or, as the case may be, content. In a world in which the next best blog is just a mouseclick away, quality of content tends to be a critical driver of that one most important thing: reader interest (especially of the sophisticated variety, because when it comes to discussing such issues as CDS, HFT, commodity contangos, VWAP, and so forth, especially in less than a 100 page slideshow format, we are confident that Barry would agree readers should at least pretend to be sophisticated) is just about the purest indication of not only whether the blog is right or wrong, waxing or waning, but also provides the best answer to Mr. Ritholtz on his rhetorical question of shark jumping.
So here is our humble 2 cent contribution to Barry's question.
This...
and this...
So as we muse what other C grade stuff to discuss next, here is our own crowd query:
How the hell are Tech Crunch and Mashable considered business blogs?
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bankers
I like equities. I like to short them and I like to be long more often then not as well. I just don't like them in this market...in either direction.
I think what Tyler has recognized and been bold enough to say is that this "thing" really can't be called a market anymore.
Don't broke what ain't fixed.
In my opinion, that's what ZeroHedge is all about...no discrimination when it comes to revealing the lack of fair play (or structure) in ANY market. ZH is a paradigm-challenging kick in the nuts to 'investors' and 'market commentators' who continue to believe that markets are fair and free of manipulative influence. Look at the themes:
HFT (LONG before the 'Flash Crash')
Dark Pools
Flash Orders
BLS, CPI, GDP, and other govt data
FASB/Mark to Market
QE 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...
Corporate directed MSM propaganda and regulatory capture
Derivatives run wild (RMBS, CMBS, CDS, COMEX (100-1 paper to silver))
etc...etc...etc...
What ZH reveals is that a push of the 'RESET' button is needed through the entire system...
You are just right. ZH took me where I was scared to go, but more to the point, where I could not go because I could not assemble all of these pieces on my own. When I first learned what HFT was and how it worked, and saw how difficult it would be to regulate, I got my mind blown right out the top of my skull. When I saw that one, the rot and corruption that can be in the system and therefore must and will be in the system, put me where I needed to be to see the real BIG PICTURE.
Where Is Barry Ritholtz Waldo Pictures
http://media.photobucket.com/image/where%20is%20barry%20Ritholtz%20waldo/bl82/WheresWaldo.jpg
The correct word here is "drivel", you moron.
Ritzo is a grade C idiot
I think I have one legitimate ZH critique. Your sentences are really, really, really long:
In a world in which the next best blog is just a mouseclick away, quality of content tends to be a critical driver of that one most important thing: reader interest (especially of the sophisticated variety, because when it comes to discussing such issues as CDS, HFT, commodity contangos, VWAP, and so forth, especially in less than a 100 page slideshow format, we are confident that Barry would agree readers should at least pretend to be sophisticated) is just about the purest indication of not only whether the blog is right or wrong, waxing or waning, but also provides the best answer to Mr. Ritholtz on his rhetorical question of shark jumping.
Jesus!!
LOL. you complain about long ZH sentences with a 113 word sentence?
We are make much out of nothing, but that is not my sentence, it is from the article above.
I do not care that much, it is the substance behind it that matters. Go ZH!!!
"lots of C grade commentary"
so, if ZH, primarily the only source to highlight the worst abuses and problems of our day, gets a "C," is there even a grade that exists for the rest of the clueless pack that either purposely ignores the issues or doesnt know they even exist?
E.G. what grade would he give cnbc? just curious. what grade would he give himself.
BR lost me when it went down on CNBC. And I was at a conf where he spoke, simpleton. Really, I know it is ad hominum, but he was so pedestrian.
I am an exclusive ZH and Stratfor user. Strat since '99 and here since early '07. Point on this is that I never go where there is hamburger, strictly USDA prime for me. So for those others, could care less.
Banzai! Get Barry! Sic 'em boy!
I could easily lower our average grade to a D here so I try to keep my fingers away from the keyboards. I can never do that math problem anyway.
Poor old Barry. All the cool kids want to join Fight Club - no more gathering around the Ritholtz rockingchair and listening to heart-warming tales of folk heroes like Uncle Warren Buffett, the working man's friend.
It's not like the good ol' days, hey Barry?
Tyler,
Thank You.
We may not always hear what we want or what we need, but we always here the truth, with 0 BS. I can't even imagine starting my trading day without ZeroHedge.
Sanity in an insane market. Relevance when there is no relevance and facts when those in power continue to lie and try to deceive.
ZeroHedge....Yes!
ZH certainly is good. However... Where is Marla? She's your ZH twilight zone Fonzie. Greener pastures, or did she get pissed off with stupid comments? I miss her.
Marla got outsourced
Tyler why pick on Robo when You have me?
Sell me Tyler, I understand You need to put readers / clicks up every day... and I get that the end is near and Gold works well for Your personal Bank account... but buy high to sell higher is the advice You are pushing now a dayz? really? seriously?
So Mr. 5 year Chart... how close are you to historic highs adjusted in 1980's dollars?
Hurry! Buy While You can! Prices will not always be high! Buy High, dont be a sucker and Buy Low and Sell High... thats kensIann! Voo Doo Economics!
Gold Bugs are idiots..
ZH rocks. Chalk up about 20 sessions (and subsequently 2 visitors due to browser cookies identifying visitors) a day to me at work and at home.
BR supported TARP and then denied it. Just like a lawyer to have imperfect recollection . . . Plus he was dumb enough to be an ardent Obama-lover.
S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX - an important chart:
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
Bring back the crazy animated clown face! (lends more credibility to your drive-by charting :)
Actually, I seem to recall that NY magazine article was not exactly "fawning" and E.S. informed me that Hagan did not like it when I called him a douche bag on the Monkey Business Blog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjrwgbiHYQU
1. You don't talk about fight club. 2. You don't talk about fight club. 3. When someone says stop, or goes limp, even if he's just faking it, the fight is over.
Until step 3 make it hurt. Anger is a gift until sun down.
The first new rule is that nobody is the center of the fight club except for the two men fighting. The second new rule is that the fight club will always be free.
Oh, for Pete's sakes.
Barry's site crashes your web browser thanks to badly programmed ads running amok.
Whereas ZH no longer has those great daily RobotTrader posts (and you know which ones I'm talking about).
"I" kind of created/inherited a financial website (http://www.traders-anonymous.com) and it wasn't one week before somebody else (http://traders-anonymous.blogspot.com) got pissed off for no obvious reason and started his own. This seems to just come as part and parcel of blogging.
People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, especially from the inside.
(and, never even heard of Tech Crunch and Mashable)
Those were the golden days of TBP. Bruce in TN, Leftback, Karen, DL, Mannwich, Steve Barry, call me ahab, Onlooker from Troy, I-Man, Mark E Hoffer, Andy Taboo, Mike in Nola, dead hobo, wunsacon, pmorrisonfl, Amen Ra, Marcus Aurelius, CNBCSucks, Transor Z, impermanence, etc. and John Borchers. Oh, John Borchers! Anyone who's been long and laughing, let me warn you that you don't get Borchered. TBP was good. Then Harry Wanger showed up. There were plenty of theories that BR was really Harry Wanger. I could believe that. There was the same rumor about franklin411. It all went to hell shortly thereafter. The Congress flap was a biggie, it was Barry's Waterloo:
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/09/fed-vs-congress-lesser-of-two-evils/
Interesting that it was a year and a day ago.
That was mightily impressive. I've never seen all those names in one place.
Barry Dil-Hole's Self Evaluation:
"... lots of C grade commentary."
I agree your work is "C" grade, Barry. You would make a hell of a foreclosure mill attorney for MERS...
Jumping the Shark
That is pretty good coming from a nasally, whinny little man with a giant fin strapped to his back...
Some might say because people don't want you at #1. Hard to prove.
Another reason might be that those who run the list don't run their operation as well as ZH. A clarity of spirit. A refusal to say just how deep the rabit hole goes.
The list is only as good as its definition of business website, and thus the people that set the definition. A wiser run and operated list like that would more clearly define the categories and change them as needed, as to keep them relevant.
That I believe is what ZH does so well. It concisely defines what is needed to convey the message. If the situation changes, they are quick to notice that change and roll with the proverbial punch. They don't stick by failed policies and hope everybody is stupid enough not to notice.
They don't just define something and forget about it and say this is stone in the face of newer data. IMO ZH is like a living document, that constantly evolves to stay prescient. Because it isn't about being finished, it's about being right (and actually doing work when you need to). In today's world with so much change (except in the areas that need it), it's best to be anti-entropic, rather than wither away. I believe ZH is all that and a bag of chips.
There is a clarity of spirit here, whereas even if a reader doesn't agree with it all, you know you're getting far more accurate data and thus viewpoins than any other mainstream media.
It's the quality of the content, stupid. You can smell trash a mile away, even on the internet. It's also not just about being 'right', it's about actually doing the job. There's saying you're going to do Fin Reg, and then there's actually doing it....and if all you need is a small staff to do this so well, what's the excuse of everybody else? Anyone can know it's possible if they read ZH.
The politicians pretend they are figuring stuff out. When you visit ZH, you see people who actually are. People tend to notice the difference. If a skeleton staff can, why not hundreds of congressman and regulators. Why not corporate heads? I guess it's a bit empowering, rather than having the power sucking vampires hell bent on stuffing you with the latest propaganda.
It's also about getting the info out and churned around by people, which if you want a true and fair assessment from all sides (and thus avoid groupthink because you have people from all backgrounds and ages sharing their vastly different experiences and viewpoints), you have to allow every potential legitimate side. Otherwise, it's rigged, and we see it. Because you never know where the missing piece will come, and you'll be less likely to receive it, if everybody is censoring themselves.
So no matter if you're a republican who is waking up. Or a democrat who is waking up. Or a tea party person who hopefully will wake up. Either way, you want the best info, because the facts aren't partisan. We'll all suffer from relying on craptastic info.
So for this Democrat, who thinks Obama is governing like a right wing fascist corporate whore, based on what he's actually pushed through, I say....
Impeach/Resign Obama
Glass/Steagall or Die
That will open up leeway for credit for job creation the right way, platforms. Integrated stepping stone like infrastructure. NAWAPA, Space Program, Fusion. But none of that will be possible without ending all the bs. Which is probably ZH best attribute. Sniffing out the official bullshit.
People want answers, plain and simple, because they aren't as stupid as TPTB think, and in the end, it's the people that make the rules based off the info you get. If you notice the sources of those currently holding elected office or high corporate positions, is it no surprise we receive horrible ideas?
Well no matter if you are left, right, center, or other, if you get better data and insights, you'll have the tools to make the best decision possible.
ZH is just grabbing the market that exists, while others still can't define what the internet machine does. (and takes advantages of it's pro's...like the fact it isn't static...it isn't a paper, or a 6:30 newscast).
I personally enjoy and recognize quality. There's no better down to the point blog like ZH. It ain't kiddie, It ain't for the weak heart. It's where the big boys/girls play and/or the arena for them. Plus it never hurts to see certain ideas transcend party and ideological lines between various other quality sources. It's confirmation baby.
There's plenty more I'm sure I left out, so this isn't all encompassing. So IMO, when I see good stuff here, good stuff say at larouchepac.com, and good stuff other places all in agreement despite obvously different backgrounds, and different takes, you tend to get a more complete viewpoint, and thus have a better shot at correctly or more correctly analyzing the situation and providing a tenable answer.
We all have our differences, but at least you know whatever ZH puts out goes beyond the normal sensory perception to convey what is honestly felt to be real. Differences or not, that's the key. Don't stand behind crap, and ZH doesn't. We bloggers play around on the edges, ZH figures it out and factualizes it, and keeps evolving. Let the facts guide you to the solution, rather than thinking of the solution and trying to fit the facts around it. *cough* CNBS, Gov't, and just about every corp, person, and political party.
Thanks ZH for being a pertient data (the best blog) source to help guide me on life's quest (we're all on one..whether we realize it or not) of living and hopefully trying to get a bit better and wiser for whatever it's worth.
To finish my 1 trillion cents worth or the amount which can be found between the federal reserves cushions, it's only when you get the best data that you can (only lazy sloth minded people can't skip over a couple of posts they don't like) understand the true dynamics of who has jumped the shark. It ain't ZH, it's pretty much all of the others. If the price of steak is the same as Ramen, who the hell wants Ramen? (Let the others eat CAKE...and go hungry because there is none)
Thanks ZH.
"awesome" would have sufficed.
+LMAO
I used to spend a lot of time at CBS.com and CNN.com, but you can only put up with Decepticratic/Socialist nonsense in support of Obamatron's policies for so long before you realize that you're just wasting your time educating those that don't even crack open a textbook once in a while. At least here, I don't have to refute why "there's not enough gold to support the Economy", etc. If the ignorant masses wish to be educated, show up, sit down and read -- then post something Intelligent (maybe for the first time in your life), otherwise feel free to stay on the Kiddy rides. Stupid people: Please stay away, because I for one, am tired of teaching pigs to sing!
My question is why would one blogger write such a thing about another? If your blog is so good, who gives a sh*t what others read. I have read Barry before, but now I would not believe a thing he says. He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones.
Putting out a dozen articles a day is going to result in a few duds, but ZH is batting well above average in that regard. By comparison, ZH is an All Star and BR is a bullpen catcher on a Double AA team in Des Moines. I can recall a few that plopped, but it takes some work (the bearer bond story, one about some Greek rumor I cannot remember). One might also say one or more of the Tyler's get overly dramatic when they suggest some war somewhere is imminent (unless I have erroneously attributed comments to authorship). And the regular publishing of Middle East articles only draws out the darkest parts of the human heart, and solves even less than the last sixty years of peace dialogues and agreements (despite numerous other underserved Nobel Peace Prizes). I guess they do draw eyeballs and that demographic driven by Megaphone, so maybe it's for fundraising purposes.
Finally, it is to be expected that daily fresh meat will draw in the scavengers and wild hyenas, plus the overly strident and their tendency to enforce a groupthink mentality, which seems to have led to much of the original readership going fallow. Blame for this, however, cannot be placed on the site's administrators any more than one can blame Whitney Houston for the actions of Osama bin Laden (she's his fantasy).
Bottom line: Barry, methinks you doth protest too much.
Des Moines? Doesn't Barry haveta work his way outta being a River Bandit down in Davenport first?
I got a 1964 Topp's Pumpsie Green that I just pulled off an old bicycle that says "trade me" for a Bob Tillman.
The bike comes with it's a deal
The Greek rumor was true.
I seem to remember one about a solitary, very small money management firm that was going to front-run the IMF and ECB and single-handedly save Greece from itself. Correct me if I'm wrong.
"The Greek rumor was true."
shit, that was quick...
Look Tyler, DON'T let shit go to your head and you'll be fine...occasionally erroneous but doing ok.....
I still think you're a globalist sellout who doesn't give a damn about america (it's just a place to, ideally, make money in, in a free market environment, isn't it?)...on the other hand, you do seem to have been born with the "Urge To Truth" gene, and you don't BAN people like Karl Queeg.
Where IS Marla by the way?
Mighty fine sauce for that goose.
Crowd Query - It looks like the fed's household sector way of keeping track....
ZH is proof that I am not insane.
I have been watching up become down, (nothing between 10am and 3:30 pm matter) and right become left (correlation become meaningless), for a year now and have not been able to make any sense of it at all without the facts about HFC, POMO and other crap about what the FED is doing presented here.
EDIT:
Left out my favorite. Look at the computer, "hey WTF! the volume line on my chart broke!", put on glasses, pull out magnifier, see ghosted green line at bottom of screen.
all i want is for ZH to be so successful that it causes Ms Burnett to invite "assfire" on her show and ask "what do you have to say assfire?" and you better say "you're the hottest chick on earth" and then you slobber all over her while at the same time "unleashing an assfire." and then we all will sing "men, men, men, men, men, men, men, men, men, men, men, men" and know just how awesome we all really are. yeahh. TRY THAT RITHOLTZ!
Maybe, to add even more class to "assfire"'s potential CNBC debut, he can borrow Howard Stern's "Fartman" outfit, and add some rectal gasoline, magnesium ribbon, and match? God knows they need the ratings boost.
Barry is the dumbest character around. When I first saw his site, I was wondering why would anyone want to revisit his site. No content, No analysis, No insight, No provocation.
ZH is diff though 99% of time have been wrong. Infact if ZH was running a fund, it would have been wiped out twice what with the overarching obsession with the relationship between unemployment and stock prices. Somehow ZH cant understand that markets are irrational. Then obsession with Gold cartel, the China Bubble and HFT and EURO. Am yet to read one analysis which talks of the slightest glimmer of bullishness. ZH had pronounced the death of EURO a few months back only to eat its own words as the auctions were surprisngly strong. Some how bond markets have not read ZH yet!!
But what the heck, ZH is provocative. And that brings back the crowd.
Stay down Barry, stay down.
Haven't been back to read Ritholtz's bling blog since we crapped himself with the decline to speak to Congress. Ritholtz is the very thing he pretended he wasn't. Fuck him. He's a notable bear? He will be just as worthless as every other fund manager when TSHTF over the next decade. But if anybody is interested in reading about Ritholtz's yacht shopping, do visit his little bling blog.
BH may be a victim of his own success. It was the one of the forst blogs I read when the scales started falling. And that was way before ZH was around.
Now it's 2+ years since the shit started to hit. People are smarter, especially intelligent lay people (not just fin. indus. types). We no longer need BH. But others do. I wish my mom would listen to me and do so.
Stated differently, go back to that 1st graph up top, and I see one thing only. And it's that ZH has picked up the torch. I would't have known what the fuck ZH was taliking about back in 2/09 if it hadn't been for blogs like BH's (and many others for sure) that came before.
Barry can be difficult or whatnot, but show a little fucking respect. Shortsightedness is a luxury we can't afford.
BH may be a victim of his own success. It was the one of the forst blogs I read when the scales started falling. And that was way before ZH was around.
Now it's 2+ years since the shit started to hit. People are smarter, especially intelligent lay people (not just fin. indus. types). We no longer need BH. But others do. I wish my mom would listen to me and do so.
Stated differently, go back to that 1st graph up top, and I see one thing only. And it's that ZH has picked up the torch. I would't have known what the fuck ZH was taliking about back in 2/09 if it hadn't been for blogs like BH's (and many others for sure) that came before.
Barry can be difficult or whatnot, but show a little fucking respect. Shortsightedness is a luxury we can't afford.
I used to read BH, but when I realized I enjoyed his weekly discussions on music as much as his investment commentary I knew the site had marginal value.
Like many, I saw Zero at Seeking Alpha. And I think Seeking Alpha still deserves a lot of credit for providing many with a voice and a structure to comment. I also like Naked Capitalism, Calculated Risk and Market Folly. BUT...I still read the New York Times, WSJ, LA Times, WaPo, Reuters, Bloomberg, Stratfor, The Economist, CSPAN and tons of Street reserch.
The point is anyone trying to understand the insanity of geo-politics, finance and media needs to scan multiple services constantly. The more we read the more we realize what's good and what's not. After a while if a site, service, newspaper or media outlet doesn't deliver value, we just stop reading it...or watching it.
ZH has remained true to its roots.
Interesting remark. I stopped reading WSJ when it started reporting the S&P 500 P/E quarterly ratio as reported by Binrini & Assocs. rather than by Standard and Poor's itself. I think this was just before FASB-157 got whacked, but whenever, the difference was huge. At that point I imagined WSJ a state-run publication.
So on the one hand, you're right about "the more you read" and knowing good stuff from shit, but on the other what do you get from WSJ?
Barry subscriber stat reads 145k? Thats got to be fake.
or he just added that "k" in a paint shop.
Barry "is bad but ZH is "badder" (thnx Ludacris) and a daily must read. I especially enjoy rationalizing my losing positions with the commentary herewith but that's my fault. I love that BW cover cause we all agree Krugman IS an Idiot and that's the point of this piece for those that "don't get it" *Big*
ps i'm still having trouble w/captcha when a negative # is included ; ))
While I understand the idea here is to bash Ritholtz relentlessly, I can't resist but observe that some of his comments are spot on.
Personally, I think of ZH as two things:
1. The single best source of deeply insightful investment information on the net, bar none.
2. The single biggest source of outright fucking bullshit on the net.
As Ritholtz says, the trick is sorting through it and picking out the priceless gems (HFT commentary, the AUDJPY-SPX convergence trade, Nanex' discoveries about the flash crash and HFT in general, Nic Lenoir's technical analysis, etc.) To find it you have to sort through utter nonsense... Gonzalo Lira flaunting his complete and total economic ignorance, Adrian Douglas and the rest of the charlatans at GATA using ZH as a mouthpiece to promulgate their utterly baseless propaganda, and all the rest. I think of it as a puzzle: If you can separate the ZH brilliance from the ZH bullshit, you win the prize and get a very real and tangible leg up on the market. But if you let your emotions take over, you can quickly fall into the trap of buying into all the conspiracy bullshit that punctuates some of the best investment insight on the net. It's a constant challenge.
To ZH's argument that "our critiques of ... were in fact considered "conspiracy theories" by pretty much everyone, including said author himself, until such time as they were proven to be in fact, well, fact.", in some cases that's true. But in other cases the utter bullshit posted on these pages has been proven to be, well, utter bullshit, and ZH's track record of owning up to its mistakes is less than perfect. For example, ZH gave GATA top billing for Adrian's absurd allegations that LBMA had "Gone Dark" and witheld clearing data from the public, but when several people on the net pointed out that all LBMA did was to redesign their website and move the data to a different URL (the data was ALWAYS there and was NEVER taken offline), ZH was silent. No retractions are to be found when ZH is proven wrong. Similarly when the whole "100:1 Leverage on the LBMA" bullshit argument was disproven, ZeroHedge was again silent. (The full article from FSN debunking GATA can be found here: http://www.financialsensearchive.com/editorials/townsend/2010/0419.html).
Similarly, when a character like Gonzalo Lira shows up with a sky-is-falling article about hyperinflation that completely ignores (and never addresses) the fact that the USD is still the world's reserve currency, and is backed by the world's most powerful military and has very substantial gold reserves, he gets top billing and nobody bothers to point out the utter lunacy of his arguments. Yes, Hyperinflation of the USD *is* possible, but for it to go down the way Lira describes is completely and totally IMpossible. But it was still a great read with a "world is coming to an end and the government is evil" feel to it, so it went viral instantly.
To those inclined to flame me or junk this post, why don't you instead post a polite reply explaining why GATA and ZH never came clean about their gross misrepresentation of the "LBMA goes dark" story or the completely nonsensical claims about 100:1 leverage on LBMA? While I agree with the statement that some of the alleged "conspiracy theories" on this site have actually been proven to be conspiracy truths, there are at least as many examples of stories that have been proven utterly false and where ZH has failed to retract or come clean about what the real deal actually was.
But at the end of the day, I still love the site. As your graph of page views proves, bullshit sells! If including the fiction that fills about half of these pages helps you guys generate the revenue you need to keep bringing us the good stuff, I say rock on, Tyler! Sorting through it and separating the brilliance from the bullshit isn't an unreasonable price to pay for the benefit of the brilliance that can be found here.
Best,
xPat
no junks....Good.
The older i get the sadder, to realize that there is no perfect comprehension in Man....and no paragon.
It's all and only Babel with occasional flashes of insight that never co-alesce into consensus....
Kettle, meet Pot! I believe you have spouted exactly the kind of bullshit that you are referring to?
Agree that when ZH is good, it is very, very good, and when it is not so good...well, hold your nose. And yes, some members of the ZH community have become more dogmatically reactionary than thoughtful.
However, when you make comments such as the following, "Similarly, when a character like Gonzalo Lira shows up with a sky-is-falling article about hyperinflation that completely ignores (and never addresses) the fact that the USD is still the world's reserve currency, and is backed by the world's most powerful military and has very substantial gold reserves, he gets top billing and nobody bothers to point out the utter lunacy of his arguments. Yes, Hyperinflation of the USD *is* possible, but for it to go down the way Lira describes is completely and totally IMpossible. But it was still a great read with a "world is coming to an end and the government is evil" feel to it, so it went viral instantly.", I have to scratch my head.
I truly believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinions. However, having read about the Argentinian debt crisis, and similar failures in other parts of S. America, being a long-term history buff, and watching the supports of the American empire being methodically kicked out from under it (from both internal and external actions, but largely self-inflicted, as I see many of the external actions, such as the active, ongoing search for an alternate global reserve currency by external entities largely due to internal entities' long-term stupidity), the Lira argument doesn't seem so far fetched. I would like to hope that it is far-fetched, but when I list a lot of what I perceive to be macro trends at work, and where other countries in the past with similar situations wound up, well, it isn't pretty. Unlike some on this site, if the denouement comes (and I hope it doesn't), once it starts, it will likely move with lightening speed. When it comes - well, that is the trillion $ question.
xPat +1000, spot on
I think there's a lot of people like us here that are not represented in the comments. When I see some of the junk economic analysis posted, I'm tempted to comment but usually conclude why bother. It drives traffic for the conspiracy theory crowd and pays for the great investment information posted here. Just background noise for the real world.
I would notice though that ZH's successes have come in market structure "conspiracy theories"; all the other conspiracy theories, not so much.
Tyler,
I absolutely love ZH. I've been with you from the beginning. I read it it relentlessly.
In my own business I often find improvements come from listening to critics even if my first reaction is more visceral.
RFGM
Some points (acquired from prior blog v blog and forum v forum flamewars I've witnessed in the past)
1. The most sophisticated blogs/forums have an Alexa.com ranking score of Null. Because anyone who would install the Alexa.com spyware/malware on their computer voluntarily IS NOT SOPHISTICATED. The farther from Null a website goes... the closer to being swamped by morons who use Alexa searchbar BHO/addon.
2. Technorati rankings have been flawed since the Sifry first opened the ranking code to voluntary web admin signups. Since 2002.
3. Website owners who use either as a valid metric and then publicly reveal this numbers... well those website owners are playing it up for the rubes
4. The only server side non-proprietary totally secure for enduser hitcount software that works on the scale of Zerohedge.com or CalculatedRiskBlog is http://awstats.sourceforge.net/
5. The most elite blogs/forums would not host 7 cookies/webbugs/trackers PER PAGE CLICK... such as ZeroHedge.com.
Personally, I used to visit Barry's blog almost everyday BEFORE he had the fancy makeover for the site. After that he wanted to make it a business instead of a parlor room commentary blog.
I've also become bored with the crazies running around ZH... I do not have time each day to sort and process the junk collection and mud being thrown against the wall here.
Tyler should pick a fight with Erik Erickson of Redstate.com though... that guy is a total asshat who would entertain the Tylers for weeks.
Nicely said Tyler!
I think this dbag is just pissed because no matter how he spins it, his blog will never be as popular as ZH.
Failed to articulate why his blog spot is not as spot on as ZH. You guys are homo for ZH. Oh yes, ya'll be edgey.
Its not perfect.
I could live without Mad Hedge Fund Trader (El Doucho de Doucheville), Leo regurgitates and Reggie loves himself too much (yeah yeah, you told us so, we know Reggie) but his stuff is pretty good.
The people who go on about guns, tins of beans and ammo get on my tits and there are a few people who could do with getting a passport and actually seeing something of the world beyond the USA instead of just fulminating about Commie ponzi economies when they haven't even made it as far as Canada.
But I still like it.
Yeah, all those tin foil hat conspiracy
theories, Barry. Like the one about the market mostly being
a casino for 99 stocks and EFTs batted around 900 times a day by half a
dozen PDs using POMO funds. That couldn't be
true, could it? LOL.
I used to read Barry....even signed up for Fusion or some such qualitative signal generator to see it...never canceled it but don't use it as it was not real helpful for me....I am going to find the subscription (I think it is on the wife's card) cancel it, and send the same dollars each month to zero hedge.....a community of resources and debate trumps what Barry is doing... I like Barry but his blog does not help me understand the world better...zero hedge does..thanks TD
I find myself reading this site more often than the others mentioned. I also like CR and Mich. On Sunday I had my 13 year old watch Mich’s Sunday Funnies Cartoon about the Firefighters in CA. I couldn't have explained it any better to her. Keep up the good work ZH. I have more people reading your site for very informative insight into all the financial chaos these days.
Where's Rodney King when we need him?
TradeWithDavedotCom
Road meet fork. The number of visitors is inversely correlated with the ratio of news and information to entertainment.
Part of the solution is providing a powerful database driven slice and dice, sort and select visitor experience.
Right now ZH visitor experience is a basic time of post, keyword driven interaction.
-profd
Without so much as a wave or a stick in my eye, Barry dropped me and I couldn't get up.
Got in the back door thru an anonymous Hide my identitty site just to piss him off, and then decided all I really need to know is right here and on Kim Kardashian's web site.
Nothing I ever wrote on his site was in the least worthy of such ill-bred treatment.
But, hey, it's his blog and he can move into irrelevancy at his own pace.
mashable is not a business blog when referencing the <meta> tag.
name="description" content="Social Media news blog covering cool new websites and social networks: Facebook, Google, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube. The latest web technology news, via RSS daily." /><meta
name="keywords" content="Social Networking, Social Media, News, Web, Technology, Web 2.0, Tech, Information, Blog, Facebook, YouTube, Google, Top" />
click counters are mostly bs
(Shrugging) Still monitor both Big Picture and Zero hedge, but Zero Hedge is the only one left in my feed reader....
ZH requires more work, but the content is usually more original and thought provoking. And ZH doesn't seem as trapped by the NYC echo chamber.
This is a big country, and not everyone sees Wall Street as "center of universe" (surprising as that may seem to many). Sense much more humility here than in BP...... So ZH often matters more.
Again, still monitor BP....just find it less relevant.
Does Mr. Ritholz also believe that a newspaper or magazine, with it's cocophany of characters, is also lost in a sea? Personally, I appreciate being able to come to this website and read a variety of articles and perspectives. Perhaps that's why I read this website several times a day -- and never touch Ritholz'!
So after everybody (including me) disses Barry, he posts a dead-on piece today:
The Left Right Paradigm is Over: Its You vs. Corporations
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/09/you-vs-corporations/
He's a little late to the "party" ;-)
And judging by the title...he has left out an important piece of the puzzle...it's corps and their enablers...Americans have always hated fascists.
He'll figure it out after it's already resolved.
ZH rocks. There are just three websites I visit multiple times a day: bloomberg.com, FT.com and ZH, which I actually visit multiple times an hour.
i love zerohedge policy cheap hosting