The World is Completely Nuts!

I guess we knew this already. I'm paging through the NY Times this morning, and I'm reading about the stock market in Shanghai. It seems there has been a huge run-up in stock prices (over 500 percent in two years) and everyone and their brother, mother, aunt and uncle have been playing the market.

Now surprise, surprise, the market is tanking (down 45 percent since October). And as the Times puts it: "Suddenly millions of small investors who were crowding into brokerage houses, spending the entire day there playing cards, trading stocks, eating noodles and cheering on the markets with other day traders and retirees, are feeling depressed and angry."

Come on people, what were you thinking? You want to blow some dough? Come join me in the grandstand at Santa Anita. I mean, at least with the ponies there are fewer middlemen! And if we get a sunny day, no better place on earth to be.

But anyway, it was this part of the story made me want to fall on the floor and laugh like a mad coyote - ""Shopkeepers, real estate brokers, even maids and watermelon hawkers are said to have become day traders. A NEW VERSION OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM MADE IT'S WAY AROUND THE COUNTRY LAST YEAR, BEGINNING...'ARISE! YE WHO HAVEN'T OPENED AN ACCOUNT! POUR YOUR GOLD AND SILVER INTO THE HOT MARKET.'"

Kind of puts the Star Spangled Banner to shame don't ya think?!