Ambergris

A financial adviser has a fiduciary responsibility to an individual.

But I feel that an economist, as I conceive of it, is a fiduciary to a community and to the future. He is an artist, who like a musician, is a friendly experiencer in an art that is invisible... conceiving in a reality that is at once terrifying, glorious and profound.

I feel that of all of the art forms... music, architecture and economics are the most abstruse and profound because to practice them involves perceiving, visualizing and inventing structures out of the invisible. time

I see my role as a protector of all of those in my circle, be it my parents, all my friends, or generation mgmt. This is more or less what I've been trying to accomplish here, though gnosis can't be transmitted piecemeal as it is in this media.

It is because of this that I often feel a tremendous burden and responsibility. It often causes deafening pressure and stress and frequently is the source of my (sometimes) erratic behavior. I did not start by seeking this role, but in a sense, I suppose, I have been performing as such my whole life in my desire for community and utopia. As I am the only one so qualified in my extended circle of friends, I feel that it is exigent and indeed requisite.

There are many of my friends who I know feel this existential pressure to express "it" in their art. This art is a reflection of the greater vision of our community and the pressure stems from this tremendous responsibility, nay fiduciary duty, to portray (what I, for lack of a better term, call) generation mgmt in the greatest light.

I wish you all the best, and if I ever appear to be too crazy, please know that I only have the best intentions...

I know that someday, we will all find our ambergris.

-Matty Talty

Oh Time, will you ever cease to beguile me?

from ft alphaville:

UK interest rates cut to 315-year low

The Bank of England on Thursday urged the Treasury to hasten plans to ease the flow of credit to companies, as it cut official interest rates to a 315-year low of 1.5%. Warning of “an unusually sharp and synchronised downturn” in the global economy, the Bank said it needed to cut interest rates by a further 0.5 percentage points to prevent inflation falling too far for too long. But it stressed that further steps were needed to increase the flow of lending. The government is trying to gather international support for a package to restore funding for bank lending and ease pressures in capital markets.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 5:52 and is filed under Capital markets. Tagged with bank of england.

Ketchup Soup

1.2 Trillion Dollars vanished from our imagination here in the United States, and we moved four years back in time. The S&P 500 had the biggest percentage loss since October 1987. The Vix (Fear Gauge) hit a level that has only been seen in 1987, the Russian Default of 1998, and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Campbell Soup was the only stock in the S&P 500 which gained today. But, if we are really in the worst crisis since the Great Depression, shouldn't this be the worst performer?

This is deeply disturbing. Either everything is going to be okay, or we should all go out and enter a spread: shorting Campbell soup and buying some second-tier ketchup like Hunts.

By the way, the Ebay Whip-Inflation-Now Indicator is flashing high alert as it hit 100% unconcerned about the prospects for inflation. At zero bids, Ebay W.I.N. Indicator is signalling crisis level fears of imminent depression. I may have to intervene in the market.