Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Bear market rally blues

Dow 18 Sept: 11,019.69
Dow 19 Sept: 11,388.44
Dow 22 Sept: 11,015.69
Dow 23 Sept: 10,854.17

Inspired by Nick Drew's bardic effusions, I offer a pastiche of Lonnie Donegan:

Does your equity lose its value
On the market overnight?
If your broker says don’t do it
Do you buy loads more in spite?
Can you hedge it with short selling?
Can you get the timing right?
Does your equity lose its value
On the market overnight?

7 comments:

  1. Nick Drew24 September 2008 at 08:50

    variety is the spice !

    (well that's my excuse)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous24 September 2008 at 15:39

    I once set a Cambridge Tripos examination question on the maths of chewing gum losing its flavour on the bed post overnight. There was no sign that the candidates were half as amused as I was. So conservative, the young.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sackerson24 September 2008 at 16:38

    They are disturbed to see the older generation have a sense of irony. You are supposed to be as solemn and stiff as Sam the American Eagle in the Muppets. It's like finding out - what a ridiculous notion! - that your parents once had S-E-X; unthinkable that they might still... no! No!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AntiCitizenOne24 September 2008 at 23:10

    What are the maths of chewing gum losing it's flavour?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous25 September 2008 at 01:30

    You can tell the candidates to assume that the diffusion equation describes the phenomenon, and you can then get them to estimate the governing diffusivity if "it happens overnight". You can also get them to estimate the different diffusivity values involved if the gum is assumed to be (i) approximately a cube, or (ii) squashed flat. Of course, for all I know it's got sod all to do with the diffusivity equation, but you can give an opportunity for comments to that effect in a "rider" at the end of the question. Wot larks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sackerson25 September 2008 at 06:33

    Don't you need to know the total mass/volume of the wad? It usually takes at least two sticks to get a reasonable chaw going.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous25 September 2008 at 14:41

    You let them estimate that. They could probably get a clue by running their fingers beneath their chairs.

    ReplyDelete

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