{"id":2476,"date":"2008-09-16T07:51:33","date_gmt":"2008-09-16T11:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=2476"},"modified":"2008-09-18T16:18:59","modified_gmt":"2008-09-18T20:18:59","slug":"market-timing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/market-timing","title":{"rendered":"Market timing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two anecdotes that help me make sense (of humor) out of the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy, the Merrill Lynch buyout, the Fannie\/Freddie seizure, Bear Stearns debacle and all else:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Around 1991, I walked into a local-ish comic store, as is my wont. As I was checking out, I noticed that the store had the first issue of Justice League International<\/a> for sale at $20. It had come out in 1987 and I had a copy at home. A semi-impoverished college student, I figured I could use a few bucks, and asked if they were buying copies of that comic.<\/p>\n

The clerk said, “No, man. We’ve got a whole box of that issue back in the storeroom.”<\/p>\n

“Then why are you selling it for $20?” I asked.<\/p>\n

“Because that’s what [The Guide] says it’s worth,” he told me.<\/p>\n

Ah: [The Guide]. I don’t recall which price guide was in vogue back then, but I think that was the beginning of the era when comic magazines were publishing revised price guides on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n

“But [The Guide] doesn’t make money selling copies of JLI #1,” I replied. “It makes money selling copies of [The Guide]. You oughtta put ‘HALF-OFF!’ signs up and I bet you could move the whole box pretty quickly.”<\/p>\n

“But [The Guide] says they’re worth $20!”<\/p>\n

“It’s only worth what you can get for it,” I said. Never let it be said I didn’t learn anything from my dad.<\/p>\n

Mark to market.<\/a> That’s why Lehman Bros. went into bankruptcy while Merrill Lynch managed to get itself bought.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My next-door neighbor took his stockbroker exam in October 1987. This was three days before the Black Monday collapse<\/a>, in which the Dow tanked 22%. He went on to work as a substitute teacher in our high school for the next several years.<\/p>\n

In that spirit, congratulations to Slate<\/a>, which launched its new business\/finance site, The Big Money<\/a>, yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two anecdotes that help me make sense (of humor) out of the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy, the Merrill Lynch buyout, the Fannie\/Freddie seizure, Bear Stearns debacle and all else: 1. Around 1991, I walked into a local-ish comic store, as is my wont. As I was checking out, I noticed that the store had the first … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Market timing”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,26],"tags":[328,326,327,329],"class_list":["post-2476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-business","category-comics","tag-justice-league-international","tag-lehman-bros","tag-merrill-lynch","tag-slate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-DW","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5621,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/desk-jockey","url_meta":{"origin":2476,"position":0},"title":"Desk Jockey","author":"Gil","date":"October 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I keep ibuprofen and deodorant in my desk at the office. At Merrill Lynch, things worked a little differently: As he was being escorted out the door, according to an H.R. executive, Semerci asked that someone retrieve some money taped inside a drawer in his desk. When the security personnel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13963,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-403-merrill-markoe","url_meta":{"origin":2476,"position":1},"title":"Episode 403 – Merrill Markoe","author":"Gil","date":"October 20, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 403: Merrill Markoe (+ Emily Flake) \"What you find when you look at your old writings is that you're a completely different person until you're about 13 or 14.\" Comedy legend Merrill Markoe returns to the show to celebrate her new graphic memoir, We Saw Scenery: The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/markoe2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C516&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/markoe2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C516&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/markoe2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C516&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/markoe2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C516&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/markoe2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C516&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6485,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/an-embarrassment-of-riches-maybe","url_meta":{"origin":2476,"position":2},"title":"An Embarrassment (Of riches? 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