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Learning to Love the Carrot and the Stick of Personality Journalism
Dear Tyler:
I'm very concerned about our readership of late. In the wake of recent publicity I want to call your attention to a few figures that I believe might spell doom for Zero Hedge. Doom. Pure and simple.
I know what you are thinking, but I want you to forget for a minute that crap about the statistical illegitimacy of wielding a single commenter (or even an anecdotal few) against Zero Hedge as a measure of a population that numbers over 100,000 readers. That falls right into the "fact trap" as I call it. Facts trap us. They limit us to a particular demographic and make us slaves to topics we cannot control any more than we can control the facts. Our anemic growth since January is proof of that. What is important in today's media is anecdotal data. It is richer, deeper, (once we add our fluffy prose) and fits better in prime-time print with glossy pages. One well-told story about a fringe commenter is significantly more penetrating than a regression of our entire audience. Further, it commands the interest of a wider range of readers (particularly those uncomfortable with numbers or charts). We are losing the publicity battle in the mainstream press here. True, efforts to assail our content and long missives (often error plagued) targeting some of Zero Hedge's messengers have yielded little fruit, but this new approach, attacking our readers, is frightening and dangerous. You see, apparently "day traders" make up the majority of Zero Hedge's audience.
True, it is not completely clear what "day trader" means in this context (it is possible this refers to individuals who manage their own portfolios rather than dump their assets into long-only 401k funds like smart, patriotic investors are supposed to) but I have reason to believe that they are generally considered "losers" and otherwise unsuitable degenerates. This appears to be connected to the dot-com crash. I really have no solid data to back this up, but, you see, data makes no difference. This is the insidious nature of this attack and we must respond quickly. I have, therefore, undertaken an anecdotal analysis of our audience to pinpoint other weak points and pools that may contain high concentrations of short-sellers, precious metal devotees, former index fund investors, "retail investors" (I have used 5 definitions of this term to be expansive) gypsies, jews, homosexuals and former members of the band "Air Supply." Obviously, if word leaked out of these associations our readership would plummet and we may face regulatory sanction or even prison. This is not all. I have also discovered several other categories of undesirables infest the ranks of our readers, contributors, our tipsters, and those with whom we regularly correspond. These include:
- Buy-Side investors (for instance, major hedge funds). Zero Hedge regularly fields tips, hints, compliments, critiques and the like from dozens of brand-name buy-side firms weekly. The addition of our hot-line has only intensified the flow of these sorts of tainted communications. We must immediately replace this pool with an agreeable group of other "financial journalists" with whom we can meet late mornings and discuss reactions to our most recent stories about other financial publications and how to cover and spin those reactions among our journalistic mutual-admiration cult.
- Short-Sellers. Zero Hedge regularly communicates with the heads of two highly unpatriotic "short-bias" funds. The potential exists that we may be charged with high-treason if these communications came to light. I recommend we destroy all evidence of these communications and replace them with fabricated emails to and from Fox Business.
- Principals and those with actual P&L responsibility at high-profile hedge funds. Zero Hedge regularly communicates with the principals of over a dozen hedge funds which would be recognized as "famous" in financial circles and "highly dangerous" elsewhere. Even the most conservative count of these (that I have done back-of-napkin just now) would put their collective AUM between $75-$100 billion. Taking the firms of non-principal level individuals we regularly correspond with or talk to into account would easily triple this figure. Talking to those with the ability to actually direct funds is madness. We must instead shift our communications to so called "policy-makers" and the press-offices of various big-name firms along with their public relations personnel. This is where the most critical market news is to be found. We must join the race to get the first hint of the next press release to "scoop" our peers. This, in turn, will finally get our calls to the official appendages of large firms returned. In this way we can repeat in four ways the content of a lone press release in a single article, substantially decreasing our workload.
- Legislators. Zero Hedge regularly corresponds with the staff (senior and otherwise) of a number of Senators and twice as many U.S. Representatives. Our off-line comment to these individuals, by their own admission, often colors hearing questioning and other legislative testimony- sometimes nearly word for word. If we are not careful, we could actually be associated with these upstart "reformers." We must replace these discussions with pleadings to the White House's press secretary- the real source of appropriately toned news in the country.
- Bankers and Traders. What limited logs we keep of Zero Hedge's web traffic are filled to the brim with the "who is who" of financial firms including every large investment bank worth mentioning and at least 100 hedge funds. I am sorry to have to tell you this includes Goldman Sachs. We must immediately replace these hits with random surfing from the Texas Correctional system.
I don't need to tell you how damaging it would be if our other readers were to learn that they are in the company of hundreds if not thousands of people who manage hundreds of billions of dollars professionally- and probably a large number of investors who run their own portfolios for more than the allotted 10 hours required to pick this year's mutual funds. Some of these people will even claim that Zero Hedge is "mandatory" daily reading for them if pressed by the FDIC. (Also, I recommend we redirect all web traffic from the FDIC, SEC, Fed, Treasury, the White House and related institutions to www.disney.com so as to provide a more serene content set and to avoid alarming these institutions- though we should make sure to block any access to "The Black Hole". This only accounts for about 2-4% of our current traffic).
Given this dire threat to our existence, continuing to concentrate on our content is madness.
We cannot continue to be, simply put, the only forum where these degenerates can find raw, unvarnished discussion and analysis on financial markets. We cannot always get it right and this dooms us to allegations of "rants" or "paranoia" or "conspiracy." In addition, when we do manage to catch a story, and get the underlying issues spot-on, issues which had not theretofore seen the light, we fill the cups of our critics with material on which to report. Our work keeps them in play. If we were only to stop this practice they would be forced to return to covering the appearance of conflicts of interest by Ben Stein, or the importance of pornography in the economic recovery. You will notice that this "cup overflow" effect has been true for High Frequency Trading, Flash Orders, the recent AIG scam, documented evidence of past gold manipulation by the Federal Reserve, the Citi short squeeze, half a dozen insider trading cases and countless other nuances of finance no one else would otherwise bother to cover. Trusting our readers to sift the content that matters to them is clearly playing into the hands of our enemies. It also thins the ranks of important journalists and upstanding members of the financial community like Dennis Kneale. This sort of approach only results in quotes like this one from Daily Kos:
Note that I'm linking to Zero Hedge here, not because I endorse the editorial theme of the blog at all, but because they are the only place I could find that carries the original document in toto.
I know you will realize we cannot exist without the support of sites like Daily Kos. We need to stop publishing documents that cannot be found elsewhere.
I feel forced to add that readers (and our critics) have begun to detect something of a shrill, annoyed tone to our prose, even a dry cynicism. They clearly sense what can only be described as a collective disgust with the manner in which financial "markets" have descended into absurdity. It does not take a genius to perceive this. It marks us as malcontents and therefore makes our facts and figures irrelevant. Adopting a mild, pleasant tone and masking any negative angle is essential to our image at this point. To this end, and through my back-channel connections at CNBC, I have secured the cooperation of a doctor willing to prescribe us Thorazine™ suppositories in quantity.
You will also notice that recent coverage has attracted the anger of our readers and others. The allegation that this coverage is the same tired, personality-based "journalism" that is presently failing CNBC, produced by the same carrot and stick, flattery and threat investigative methods (I gather they teach these "how to handle a source" lessons in the first semester of Journalism school) that make a mockery of the fourth estate is likely to make mainstream outlets angry with us. We cannot allow this. You will recall that we ignored similar urgings of certain reporters recently. Allow me to refresh your memory: "Thanks for all the off-the-record help on that piece from before. By the way, to pay you back, I've decided to write about you now. Of course, it might not be so flattering without your help. How about you let me tell your side of the story? Give me an exclusive and you might be able to get your word out in my story maybe. It is not too late and you might as well since I'm doing the story anyhow. Our photographer wants to meet with you. A story about the larger team? The dozen or so senior staff and forty plus contributors? About your work and how you do it? Booooring. Look, it is up to you how you end up looking in print and the kind of story I write. Hello? Hello?"
I'm not sure we should have hung up so quickly on that one. We could have totally had our moment in the sun and inflated our egos if we hadn't blown that. I really wonder, at this point, if merely going back to work to educate a bunch of evil "day traders" is in the best interests of the site.
Yours in Readership Purity,
Marla Singer
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Such a magnificent string of words Marla. Thank you.
Kudos. I still want to know where the disclaimer was in the NY Mag article re the magazine's owners clear conflicts of interest since Wasserstein owns the Daily Deal and is CEO of Lazard? Come on Brucie how about getting your little attack puppy to add a little addendum:)
"gypsies, jews, homosexuals and former members of the band Air Supply."
- Priceless!!
Great job
I suspect there may be combined supersets of these categories residing here too.
probably more "tops" than "bottoms"
Oooh! I didn't know I was a member of a superset!!!
WOW!!!!
Oooh! I didn't know I was a member of a superset!!!
WOW!!!
i was kinda hoping ZH could be kept a secret, darn that. some additional backup locations ie. ZH replications, might be worth a thought. you know, in the event that the establishment shuts ZH down. so how can one disclose the backup locations, and filter the entrants. some vetting process needed. anony applies to the outside, but not the inside.
so here the new authors of the financial declaration of independence may reside.
patriotically yours,
Loeb, Baruch, Drucker, Livermore, Taleb, Masters, Cohen, Jones, and others i may have forgotten.
captcha 111
This looks like an outstanding piece. Can someone summarize it for me, and let me know if I should like it or dislike it? Thanks.
God bless you for understanding how the world works. Rule # 1 is never read past the first paragraph.
Too many words to read, let alone understand.
best... post... EVER!
:-)
Jeez Brucie, Zero Hedge has made friends on Capitol Hill and they didn't even have to buy them:
Presented by the Federal Election Commission
Individual Contributions Arranged By Type, Giver, Then RecipientNon-Federal Receipts "Exempt From Limits"
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
DNC NON-FEDERAL UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION ACCOUNT 08/24/1998 10000.00 98033642079NEW YORK, NY 10019
Total Soft Money: 10000.00
Contributions to Political Committees
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAMEAST HAMPTON, NY 11937
VIA HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON FOR US SENATE COMMITTEE INC 08/03/1999 1000.00 20020040939
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
SCHUMER, CHARLES ENEW YORK, NY
WASSERSTEIN & PARELLA
VIA SCHUMER '98 10/26/1998 1000.00 98020290303 SCHUMER, CHARLES E
VIA FRIENDS OF SCHUMER 12/03/1999 1000.00 20020051427 12/03/1999 1000.00 20020051427
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
BOWLES, ERSKINE BNEW YORK, NY 10012
LAZARD FRERES & CO LLC
VIA ERSKINE BOWLES FOR US SENATE 11/05/2002 500.00 22020921749
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
CORZINE, JON SNEW YORK, NY 10013
WASSERSTEIN & PERELLA CO
VIA CORZINE 2000 INC 02/23/2000 1000.00 20020130873
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAMNEW YORK, NY 10019
BANKING
VIA HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON FOR US SENATE COMMITTEE INC 03/29/2000 1000.00 20020140496
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
EMANUEL, RAHMNEW YORK, NY 10019
DRKW/INV BANKER
VIA FRIENDS OF RAHM EMANUEL 10/19/2001 1000.00 22990368222
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE 08/24/1998 15000.00 98033641290 06/26/2000 12500.00 20035760829NEW YORK, NY 10019
WASSERSTEIN PERELLA
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
REGULA, RALPHNEW YORK, NY 10019
WASSERSTEIN PERELLA GROUP
VIA REGULA FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE 11/20/1997 250.00 98032724941
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
GREEN, MARKNEW YORK, NY 10019
WASSERSTEIN, PERELLA
VIA GREEN FOR UNITED STATES SENATE 06/30/1997 1000.00 97020091912
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE 10/20/2004 5500.00 24021030783NEW YORK, NY 10020
LAZARD FRERES
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
EMANUEL, RAHMNEW YORK, NY 10020
LAZARD FRERES & CO. LLC/CHAIRMAN
VIA FRIENDS OF RAHM EMANUEL 09/17/2003 2000.00 23992091594 09/17/2003 2000.00 23992091594
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
BOWLES, ERSKINE BNEW YORK, NY 10021
LAZARD FRERES & CO LLC
VIA ERSKINE BOWLES FOR US SENATE 06/28/2004 1000.00 24020412375 06/28/2004 1000.00 24020412923
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
TENENBAUM, INEZ MOORENEW YORK, NY 10021
LAZARD FREVES
VIA INEZ TENENBAUM FOR US SENATE 02/23/2004 1000.00 24020631917
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
SCHUMER, CHARLES ENEW YORK, NY 10112
VIA FRIENDS OF SCHUMER 03/25/2003 -2000.00 23020181819
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAMNEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD
VIA FRIENDS OF HILLARY 08/28/2008 2300.00 28020571979
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE 03/16/2005 13350.00 25020182503NEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD FRERES
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
BOWLES, ERSKINE BNEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD FRERES & CO LLC
VIA ERSKINE BOWLES FOR US SENATE 02/23/2004 1000.00 24020280916 SCHUMER, CHARLES E
VIA FRIENDS OF SCHUMER 03/11/2003 2000.00 23020181624 03/11/2003 2000.00 23020181624
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
IMPACT 04/18/2003 2000.00 23990965744NEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD FRERES & CO. LLC/CHAIRMAN
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE 03/15/2005 13350.00 25990535412NEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD FRERES AND COMPANY/INVESTM
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE 08/18/2006 13350.00 26020680317 08/16/2007 14250.00 27020301345 09/26/2008 28500.00 28020612971NEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD FRERES/CHAIRMAN/CEO
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LAZARD/HEAD
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WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE MR.
GORE, ALNEW YORK, NY
INFO REQUESTED
VIA GORE/LIEBERMAN GENERAL ELECTION LEGAL AND ACCOUNTING COMPLIANCE FUND 10/07/1999 1000.00 20990027787
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE MR.
BAREND, SAMARANEW YORK, NY 10112
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WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE MR.
DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE 06/17/2004 25000.00 24961966549NEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD/PARTNER
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE MR.
DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE 09/30/2003 25000.00 23992205228NEW YORK, NY 10112
WASSERSTEIN PERELLA/PRESIDENT & C
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE MR.
GORE, ALNEW YORK, NY 99999
INFO REQUESTED
VIA GORE 2000 INC 09/30/1999 1000.00 99990071246
Total Contributions: 235150.00
Joint Fundraising Contributions
These are contributions to committees who are raising funds to be distributed to other committees. The breakdown of these contributions to their final recipients may appear below
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
NEW YORK SENATE 2000 09/29/2000 3000.00 20020322662NEW YORK, NY 10019
WASSERSTEIN PERELLA
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
FRANKEN RECOUNT FUND 11/20/2008 12300.00 28934585977NEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE MR.
OBAMA VICTORY FUND 10/21/2008 2300.00 29933712953NEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD/INVESTMENT BANKER
Total Joint Fundraising: 17600.00
Recipient of Joint Fundraiser Contributions
These are the Final Recipients of Joint Fundraising Contributions
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE 09/29/2000 3000.00 20020350172NEW YORK, NY 10019
WASSERSTEIN & PERELLA & CO INC
WASSERSTEIN, BRUCE
FRANKEN, ALNEW YORK, NY 10112
LAZARD
VIA AL FRANKEN FOR SENATE 11/20/2008 2300.00 29020053860 MINNESOTA DEMOCRATIC-FARMER-LABOR PARTY 11/20/2008 10000.00 29934492134
Recipient Total: 15300.00
TRY A: NEW QUERY
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Oh you'll love this: high-frequency trading with Irene Aldridge on JON STEWART!!!
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-september-30-2009/cash-cow---high-...
I saw this last night. Incredibly hillarious.
Marla, I'm running low on thorazine!!!
Marla: Don't forget the rubber glove!
Blogs like ZH are unsettling to the media. Many (I'd wager most) Zero Hedge readers are not loyal to any political party, not guided by glitter and hope, are socially liberal, fiscally conservative, give a rat's ass about their country and thus don't fit into one of the MSM pigeonholes.
The financial/news channel talking heads have much in common with the elected officials in Washington. They simply have no idea how the majority of American citizens live, work and think. And when it comes to the future, I liken them to a batter winking at the crowd while a 98 mph fastball is making a b line for his chin.
+100
+10K
Only as ZH ends up as a Barry Zito curve ball or a Zackkkk Greinke off speed and rubber legs 'em. Either way they go home unconscious or the fool.
God bless organic chemistry.
Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible
Well done Marla, FYI I posted this at Reuters:
If you looked inside those reads on a daily basis you would find a very good number of .GOV hits.
You think the folks at Treasury, Fed,FHFA,FHA Fannie, Freddie Ginnie, FDIC and Social Security are day trading? You are wrong. They are looking at ZH because they want to know what is being said about them.
I guest post for ZH. I know their reach and their audience because I get the responses from the D.C. crowd when I write about them.
When the President talks of the decline of the straight press and voices his concern about the rise of the blogs he is referring to ZH.
What troubles people about ZH is its success. A significant portion of the readers are mad. And they express themselves about their anger. There is a lot of that going around today.
If D.C.and the Press want to marginalize ZH they need only to step up and start telling the truth. The mush that is served up on a daily basis just expands the audience and demand for ZH.
Given that there is little hope for that, one can expect that ZH will continue to succeed. And that the straight press will continue to take cheap shots at them.
Excellent.
The quest of the anti-Gerbervore
The following quote in Joe Hagan's, NY Magazine article over the weekend stood out.
"Such is their power today that the Treasury and Federal Reserve both circulate “blog watch” e-mails, which are sent to the White House every day."
I think it supports your assertion about the President's recent comments. It would be interesting if you could analyze the reads to determine origin of the request with a subsequent disclosue on which Federal Agencies have an interest in ZH's content.
Smart, thought provoking piece... Just a word of old time advice: Never, ever lose sight of WHY you started Zero Hedge? WHAT Zero Hedge's purpose is? And, WHERE you want to continue to take Zero Hedge? If you stay focused and honest with yourselves on these principals, you'll continue to succeed. ZH is truly hiltting raw nerves of many in the mainstream media, politics, investment community, and public. Keep up the good work.
they started ZH to make some money, get some attention, and to thus ameliorate the anger that comes in your late 20's when you realize that good GPA in high school and college does not necessarily mean success in the financial world. You make it to be a "hedge fund analyst" -- sounds glamorous to your friends not in the industry, right? You have a certain swagger but you realize after a while that there is a pecking order and that you are quite low on it.
you try to trade some of your own hard-earned money, lose a lot of it, and perhaps even get in trouble for doing something you shouldn't.
It is HARD to be a trader. Most people shouldn't try it. Even if you are smart enough to spin stories about central bank policy, that makes you a...policy analyst, not a trader.
Trading feels unjust, and it is too too easy to castigate those who make money at it as somehow working from some unfair advantage. Sometimes that is actually true, but that is not the point of my comment.
The reality is that there is demand for reporting by industry professionals as opposed to career journalists. Furthermore, in my opinion, ZH has an agenda to expose shady activities and to mock what seems to be staged and packaged news.
According to SHU, MSM has already lost the trust of their audience. No real need to respond to them. What the folks in MSM need to do is earn back the trust. That involves risk and heroism.
Until then, many are indeed grateful for the folks that attempt to report truth and relevant information. I can easily overlook the typos.
"a doctor willing to prescribe us Thorazine™ suppositories in quantity."
I guffawed my coffee all over the keyboard at this point........
"probably a large number of investors...jews gypsys and homosexuals"...."degenerates" who run their own portfolios for more than the allotted 10 hours required to pick this year's mutual funds. Some of these people will even claim that Zero Hedge is "mandatory" daily reading for them if pressed by the FDIC."
damn ! outed again !
I am not a day trader...... WE are all TYLDER DURDEN. WE cannot allow the system to continue to fail us! We need to bring the truth to the forefront. We must get past the MSM and get the truth out to the average investor/ average worker....you know...the drones of our country. ZEROHEDGE must not fail!
OMG, what a bunch of pompous asses. Nobody gives a fuck about ZeroHedge, only in your little world do they. There are a million self-important blogs out there.
I know what you need
Sheila Bair will be more than happy to administer your Thorazine suppository. . . Sleep tight , don't let vampire squid bite!!
Charlie "Gas Bag" arino or Dennis "Bend Over And" Kneale, is that you?
CD, even after a weekend of drinking someone else's blue label or an afternoon side lighting as a maitre d gassbag still could better, maybe. Beeker, well, we know the deal there. Still, this has to be the work of an insider. An intern would still possess the capacity to respond with some humor.
The VOID is LARGE and needs to be filled.
A PRO-BUSINESS, FREE-MARKET, NON-ELITIST
Total Financial News Site.
Add a real-time Dow,Nasdaq,S&P quote including charts. Become a one-stop shop. I am sick of having to go to MarketWatch to see what stupid 1-line headlines there ivory tower liberals have come up with and the small brain liberals over there trying to re-write history.
Nothing from that site really captures what is going on in the markets. They always have to intertwine their politics otherwise they cant possible fathom an angle for a story that doesn't include how people need to support Democrats.
So, be the inside source you always have about MARKETS. What is moving them. The charts. The inside insights. And add a ticker and charts.
One stop shop.
G-d I love this website so much I can even take barbs at Air Supply. Don't fuck with Air Supply, it is the only thing remaining from my youth.
So Goldies are here too???
$5,000 by next month, man. No, $10,000.
:>)))
Thorazine, hmm. I dunno. The Bush Administration ran on Xanax, morning noon and night. REALLY HAPPY DRUG.
The current goon squid,er, squad...doesn't seem like there's a Thorazine or Xanax tint to their mood. I wonder....what 'starts their engines' these days....
Great job, keep it up.
Yes, you have fine conduits of information. Just make sure the Golden Schmucks insiders are in this to topple GS/JPM/Fed/D.C. cabal, please.
Just want to say, I'm not a day trader or metal head...just a regular old financial planner, who started to feel very uneasy in 2007.
Zero is outstanding and one of the only places I feel I can get facts and truth (and here's the key) sans political agenda, unlike say NC, which was the main reason I subsequently reduced reading to an occasional glance.
I am confused by the Daily Kos reference. I'm sorry, why would Zero want or need to be associated with those fools (IMHO)?? In fact, I'd ask them to remove the link, but perhaps that's the point, maybe you're trying to bring folks in of all stripes to show us all the light? Alas, that's what makes Zero so important!! Even though I think the Daily Kos is garbage and the reference is disturbing, I'm still not compelled to bust out my partisan hack hat and throw Zero down the chute because I still get the sense that what I'm reading here is unbiased. But based on the fact that we are all slaves to partisan hackishness OR we are libertarian (ie above it all), you shouldn't desire to be endorsed by anyone....stand alone!!!
I have done what I can and encouraged more informed folks (on the political end) to read this blog. I've sent many links to various radio "entertainers" because I think your message is important and frankly, they just don't get what's important at this moment in time. I've also donated, admittedly, nothing worth noting relative to others I'm sure, but hell, it's better than zero (no pun intended).
Apparently, I'm not supposed to say so, but I would be lost without this blog. You MUST continue to do what you do and I do applaud your efforts in posting this for (what I consider) the Zero family to see.
I think the Daily Kos reference was ironic.
I for one cannot stand Daily Kos and I am a political independent.
agree...i was just making a larger point that one is hard-pressed to allow politics to get in the way of ZH content....btw, update on your silver work?
No time yet, been researching swine flu genetics. Assuming nothing goes down here by Oct 15 I may have an update on silver etfs. I need to re-write some software.
You just may make it. And I am looking forward to your product on both topics PM. We are about to rediscover DIY.
I think the reference was to make the point that ZH was the ONLY place Daily Kos could get the actual document they wanted, thus forcing them to lower themselves and supply the link.
Typical of DK to drip hubris in huge quantities over their own self importance and supposed star power.
Day trader is just a RETAIL investor. I personally play the longer waves since on any given day I can't predict anything.
Bigger institutions follow zerohedge-other bloggers like Mish and Sean Broderick say nice things.
Basically, Zerohedge is an information site masquerading as a humor site. It's a good niche-don't worry about it. What else am I going to read? Marketwatch?
"rants" or "paranoia" or "conspiracy"
maintain your character since it is all that matters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX2ZwjSdVS4&feature=related
"...it commands the interest of a wider range of readers (particularly those uncomfortable with numbers or charts)..."
EXCUUUUSE ME!
After all, that is why we go into journalism. If we could add and do stuff with factual data we'd be engineers or doctors or lawyers.
Your lack of compassion is WAY offensive.
Sorry, a bit off topic but I had to share this link. A forum of people with "degrees" in economics. The stuff they are coming up with on gold is pure comedy. Clueless academic twits with their heads up their asses going on about how the "goldbugs" don't "get it" when it comes to exchange rates and how gold just simply can't work as a money standard bla bla bla. These people are hilarious.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/09/gold-buggery.ht...
Tally Ho!
Since I have been getting mauled along with the other bears who believe an economy cannot run indefinitely on borrowing money from China to buy goods from China, I have a personal as well as altruistic interest in hoping that yesterday was the start of the collapse of the junk rally and that Zero Hedge can tell Felix Salmon (who has become so much less interesting since joining Reuters), "I told you so!"
ZH et.al. is the rose growing from the dung heap.
"The most ultimate most holy form of theory is action." Nikos Kazantzakis
Yes ZH will only grow and there will only be more to
bitch about. Good problem vs Bad problem!
That was "pajama clad day traders" Marla. I am more offended by the alleged journalist's sartorial insult. I am not wearing pajamas.
I love you Marla, even if you do need a wash and chain smoke during sex. Was that remark colorful enough to get some MSM attention? I threw in sex and smoking.
P.S. I'm a jewish gypsy who was an air supply groupie.
It's times like these that call for a reexamination of the Fight Club charter (or whatever the hell ZH is based on).
What is the intent of all the time and effort that goes into ZH? I thought it was to sell societies fat back to them in the form of soap as a means of subsistence, but maybe it's just a desire to be just like them, slaves to materialism (which comes in many forms, including print), disguised in an exaggerated self-importance.
I'm not very sophisticated when it comes to money. I'm not a trader, and I am glad for that. That must make me an odd man out on this site. That's fine. I have a somewhat abnormal attitude towards money and wealth. Whatev. I read this site because it educates me, and gives me some direction in my own attempt to understand what happened one year ago, and why. In that regard this site has been invaluable, and I'd like to thank both the cast of ZHers and the many commentors. This is a very creative and insightful bunch. Some of you are maybe even almost as smart, on your best days, as the one Barry O. I cannot offer any greater complement than that.
By and large, I digest as much of this site as possible, but in the end I am left with more questions than answers. Which is fine, and expected. And yet, despite my ongoing efforts to answer many of these questions, for myself anyway, I end up spinning in circles. I'm ignorant.
For example, why can't a new currency, and a new system of credit, develop from the ground up? Black market at first, but as it gains currency - so to speak - it could overpower the system. Is there any doubt that the central bank model has shown itself to be too easily manipulated and corrupted? If we, Americans, stop using the Dollar - what used to be our money - we can decide, for ourselves, on the replacement. What would a ground-up currency look like? I don't know, but it would probably be very different than the local currencies that are becoming more and more common in the US. It would not be convertible into dollars, or any other currency. It could not be bought with dollars. The only way to get access to units of this new currency, either in form of cash or as credit, would be to enter into a new type of legal arrangement with some sort of nonprofit entity - the new central bank - whereby they could set aside certain valuable assets from their companies, homes, possessions, and earmark them as "held" by the nonprofit. This money in this system would be backed by the value of the pledged assets. I don't know. Like I said, not a genius, not a lawyer, not a banker.
I get confused by the idea that money is supposed to make money. WTF? I have my own money, in hard and dollar forms. Fuck investing it. I want to keep it, and I don't feel this sick compulsion on the part of our society to grow mony at all costs. I understand all the arguments why I am naive for maligning this natural compulsion to protect one's self, family, friends, and things. But when this compulsion becomes a desire and an end in and of itself that we go astray. We need money to buy the things that we need to survive. The Dollar is no longer that money. It's too expensive for the regular guy. Our central bank fucked us, and it is well within our constitutional rights to provide an alternative for ourselves.
Is any amount of reform going to make a difference? People need to take control. Non-participation, overparticipation, surreptitiously undermined the broken system at all points possible. Take advantage of the freedom of black markets. If two businesses want to trade goods between one another, then they should do so, secretly.
People need to stop worrying about the market and fucking man up. Do we really want our children and grandchildren in slavery? Does anyone really think that I am exaggerating? We're already there practically!
Watching TV. Barney Frank is a clown. Unbelievable. It's a bad joke.
Just as a truly successful new currency would be unstoppable, there is no way to stop it being dollar-convertable. Even online virtual world currencies are dollar-convertable (tbux, anyone? They're on ebay and dedicated sites that sell for $).
The problem is more than a currency problem. It's a problem of a household economic model that works. The one we've had since WWII, or maybe the post-Civil War model (salaries, private housing, travel to work etc) is broken and being milked of its residual value. We have no replacement that can be scaled to a multi-billion-person interdependent world. Which is why collapse to the local level is so attractive, if that's the right word.
Maybe we leave the ultra-rich a thin, gilded infrastructure so they can fly to Bali and Beijing and Brussels, and all the rest falls apart. But then we have to make our own t-shirts and toys. And probably entertain with live music or storytelling, and learn to dance. And not get drunk and puke in Cancun, just in local puke halls. Oh, and try to have enough food, shelter and energy to survive. Yah, that too.
Dark cloud or silver lining? You decide.
I appreciate the insights. What you say makes a lot of sense to me, intuitively.
You know, this basically comes down to one issue: either you believe the governement load of BS that has propped up the economy like a dying petient given a shot of adrenaline will save you, or you realize that the reaction to that shot of adrenaline is one last hurrah before the patient suddenly just dies, collapses, and decomposes in a few moments.
Those who are the former will attack ZH and its astute readership in any way, shape or form, because they are weak and stupid. Those of the latter will laugh all the way to the bitter end. Maniacally.
Got Gold? Got Guns? Got Garden?
I am Chumbawamba.
Add. got do it yourself ability.
I gotta say that your style is refreshing, in that 60 grain sandpaper way.
Jon Stewart takes on High Frequency Trading last night - funny as heck
http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2009/10/high-frequency-trading-on-daily-...
this peanut gallery is out of control, as usual. no time for this.
So why post?
I love Marla Singer. There, I've said it. And I'm PROUD.
If Zero Hedge goes, I'll shorten my time-line to 24 hours.
This just raises too many questions. Now that I've discovered I'm a jew (from the article)... do I have to stop eating bacon? Join a temple? Just continue to buy gold like I have for a couple years now?
First order of business: circumsize.
I'll send over the mohel. I recommend vodka. Just don't watch. It heals quickly.
I am Chumbawamba.
This just raises too many questions. Now that I've discovered I'm a jew (from the article)... do I have to stop eating bacon? Join a temple? Just continue to buy gold like I have for a couple years now?
[permalink]
You are a Zero Hedgie if you recoiled in horror at Hank Paulson’s first version of the TARP bill; if you were outraged at Paulson’s and Bernanke’s manhandling of the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch shotgun wedding and their obvious complicity in securities fraud; if you were dismayed at the outright theft of taxpayer dollars via payments of 100 cents on the dollar for worthless phony derivatives from AIG to Goldman Sachs and other politically powerful banks, who should have been left for dead; if you are alarmed at the lack of journalistic integrity in the main stream media evidenced on CNBC and blogs such as these, where facts and statistics are twisted and cynically spun on a daily basis to support the agenda of the wealthy and politically powerful; or if you are angered by clumsy ad hominem attacks designed to marginalize and silence those who dare speak the truth of what is going on in this country. You, Felix, are not a Zero Hedgie.
- Posted by Ned Zeppelin
This one's pretty good, too. Cornelius of ZH, is that you? I notice there is a bankruptcy judge with the same (rather unique) name out there...
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2009/09/30/the-zero-hedgies/#comme...
Dang. People actually read this site now? By now theyve should have figured out that I'm an idiot so I'll be sure to stop watching what I say from now on. Daily Kos or any other political hack piece of the turd pie be damned.
ZH is the shizzy.
Financial news with a bite and one of the most smartest communities around.
Brilliant post.
How about showing a part of the matrix for visitors of FDIC, SEC, Fed, Treasury, the White House, ...
This part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6qG4yn-Ps
The matrix is everywhere, you can ...
I would replace that with "Your shadow/puppet/ ... government is everywhere, you can ..."
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You take the blue pill ... you will forget this site exists.
You take the red pill ... and (enter the site) you will see how far the rabbit hole goes...
Possibly too nerdy though :-)
IN defense of the "free press"
http://catastrophist.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/defending-goldman-sachs-jo...
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