Mr. B. You’re looking radiant. Today’s visit to Stall #8 seems to have touched you in a very positive way.
It has, Selig, It has. What was that wonderful music I was listening to with my headphones in there? It was so…so…
Strangely recognizable, sir? Uplifting? A perfect something to go with your reading of this month’s cover story in Bloomberg Markets Magazine?
Yes, Selig. And so much more appropriate than my usual listening choice in there.
Better than Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” sir? Your usual favorite? That’s high praise indeed, Mr. B.
Don’t get me wrong. Selig. Wagner is certainly bowl-worthy. But this new music…What was it?
“Dow 2007,” sir.”
“Beg pardon.”
I have a friend, sir. who composes the stock market. He takes charted stock movements, converts them to musical notation, adds a few jazz riffs, and creates a kind of music.
That’s amazing, Selig. I don’t suppose this technique also has predictive qualities. I mean, technical analysts in the market look at charts of stock movements searching for certain patterns they say sometimes predict which way the market — and certain stocks prices — are headed. Has your friend ever tried something like this with his market music?
He has, sir.
And have his predictions ever panned out?
Almost never, Mr. B. Though once in awhile…
Stop right there, Selig. I like that ‘once in awhile.’ If we were to package this kind of advice with the right legal caveats, claim its a kind of technical analysis that employs audial rather than visual hints, I see possibilities.
You might even bet the other side of the trade, Mr. B., to ensure Goldman wins either way.
Interesting notion, Selig. I’ll run it by our Ethics Committee. In passing, do you think we could afford to hire this friend of yours?
Afford to hire him, sir? He’s a musician. He makes his rent playing senior centers and bas mitzvahs. You can get him for a year for what you paid for dessert at that trader’s twenty-third birthday party the other night.
Hmmm. Much to cogitate about here, Selig. Do you have another market music tune from your friend that I can listen to?
I do, sir. Dow Fourth Quarter 2008. It has a funereal sound, but if you just want a bit of variety…
“That kind of variety I can do without, Selig. Hook me up one more time with Dow 2007. And have your friend destroy this other number. Believe me. No one wants to see, much less hear, 2008 played again.