(no subject)

[electricland]

In the morning, once I've fought my way out of bed, I trundle down the stairs, lock my front door, and pick up the paper. It's a four-block walk to the coffee shop where crankygrrl and I meet to fuel up for the day ahead, and I don't have a whole lot of self-control, so block two normally finds me strolling along flipping through the front pages of the various sections. Today most of the Globe's front page was taken up by a snarky article about gas prices and "panic buying" and long lineups at the pump, and what I want to know is, why when it's the stock market is high-volume trading a completely normal and expected response to a shift in information about a stock, but when it's ordinary consumers they're just ignorant and irrational? Why is nobody in the business section ever quoted as saying "It's crazy. It's just a lot of fear, panic and rumours going on"? OK, for all I know people say that all the time, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that a market is a market is a market. Markets are all about group behaviour. I thought the whole foundation of free-market capitalism was the belief that supply and demand will balance out and prices will find their correct level, and the level of knowledge in the system doesn't actually matter.

Yesterday's RoB had a rockin' map with this article. Sadly, I can't find the map online, but it showed the refineries and oil drilling platforms in the Gulf and the path of Katrina and the projected path of Rita, and my take on the whole thing? Forget the fetuses. It's totally obvious that God hates oil. Texas people, stay safe, OK?

Toronto Unlocked's last broadcast was today. Sniff. I want my CBC back.

Comments

[archaica.livejournal.com]

Ah, but the stock market is where the big boys play. Gas lines are where the proles go nuts.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed.

*sigh*

[archaica.livejournal.com]

It *is* a very interesting congruence.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's occurred to me before that gas these days is just like the stock market - try to buy low, try to predict when the cycle will climb and dip - except that I blame this *on* the stock market. If we didn't trade gasoline futures, we wouldn't have to treat gasoline like a particularly risky stock investment.

But, as you say, the average person gets called "panicky" but the average shrieking stockbroker is just typical.

[archaica.livejournal.com]

Yeah I've been getting more and more pissed about trading gasoline futures - if it weren't such a volatile commodity, well ....

[electricland.livejournal.com]

"shrieking stockbroker". Hee. I love it.

I like reading the business section, but it does sometimes strike me that a little less unquestioning allegiance to The Power Of The Market might do them a lot of good.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I think it's the danger of getting too close to your beat - the ones who cover celebrities often act like *they're* sane, too. :) Still frustrating, though.

I'm getting a little sick of hearing about "The Power Of The Market."