The Zeitgeist – 3.20.2019

Every morning, we run The Narrative Machine on the past 24 hours worth of financial media to find the most on-narrative (i.e. interconnected and central) stories in financial media. It’s not a list of best articles or articles we think are most interesting … often far from it.

But for whatever reason these are articles that are representative of some sort of chord that has been struck in Narrative-world.


As Fed Meeting Starts, Investors Appear Confident That Dovishness Will Continue [Forbes]

Jay Powell is our generation’s Arthur Burns.

The only difference is that Nixon did all of his bullying in private, and Burns wouldn’t dream of saying out loud what Powell shouts at every press conference.

They’re not even pretending anymore.


Fight chaos with constrained discretion [Salon]

If only we could make Congress more like the Fed, with a professional mandarin class exercising “constrained discretion”, whatever the hell that means.

Originally posted at the Niskanen Center, which is … disappointing. Classic example of admiring the problem, which is what institutionalized libertarianism has been institutionalized around (and is why I have zero interest in associating with institutionalized libertarianism).


I’m Not Letting Fear Affect My Outlook On Boeing [Seeking Alpha]

So I’m not going to rip this Seeking Alpha guy like I would noted Raccoon and Boeing fanboy Kevin O’Leary, who just epitomizes everything that is laughable about financial media today. But I will say this, and hopefully these words wind their way to this guy’s “Dividend Growth Club”:

The absence of short interest in a name you like is NOT a good sign. On the contrary, it is a giant red flag that you have bought into a constructed and highly managed Narrative.


Lyft IPO Oversubscribed Ahead of Listing Next Week [Bloomberg]

Dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dum … or however you’re supposed to represent the Deliverance dueling banjos in Act I. Squealing like a pig comes in Act II.


TD Ameritrade Increases Commitment and Grows Capabilities for Stock Plan Services Through Its New Relationship with Certent [Press Release]

I’m seeing more and more of these partner relationship stories with back-office service providers like Certent and Carta and the like. Client acquisition costs … the struggle is real.


The Art of the Buzzer Beater: Why March Madness Magic Takes More Than One Shining Moment [SI]

Nah.

The post-hoc rationalization of lottery winners is a staple of sports writing, of course, and SI and ESPN are good places to practice your critical reading skills. And practice you should. Because this sort of inanity is even more prevalent in market writing.


Comments

  1. It is very clearly nuh-nuh-neer-neer-neer-neer-neer-neer-neeeeeer.

  2. ti.do.re–ti–do–la–ti–so–laaa

  3. Wait, is that some harmony, or a different part? I’m humming it and lost you. Isn’t the melody mi-fa-sol-mi-fa-re-mi-do-reeee?

  4. Not harmony - Transposed a fifth

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