Picasso to Piaf
by Joel Bowman
The Rude Awakening
Wall Street, New York
Saturday, February 18, 2006 ------------------------- - Learning to appreciate art from those in the know,
- What does the latest TIC report really mean for your
American dollars?
- 3 shocking events of 2006, the voice of a sparrow and
the week's Rude reading in a neat little package...
------------------------- Picasso to Piaf
By Joel Bowman I do a double take at the price tag. Surely they can't
expect people to pay this much for a simple photograph, I
think to myself. And black and white no less! They
obviously do though, because this trendy little gallery in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is packed with art lovers who know
far more about the value of such marvelous creations than I
do. Fortunately for me, I am here with two people who are well
versed in such matters. Both my friend and sister have
studied art in some capacity and they assure me that there
is no mistake on the price tags. As we meander through the
maze of narrow rooms, they take turns in explaining why
each piece is far better than anything I could create with
a spare afternoon and a disposable camera from CVS. Their cases are compelling and, perhaps more importantly at
this moment, I know better than to argue with two women at
once. "See the softer focus here," my sister explains, pointing
to a blurry picture of a man standing under (what I think
is) a statue of a horse. She is dumbing it down for me in a
polite, sisterly way. We stand in front of the picture for
a while, Ricci cocking her head from time to time and I
scratching mine. In the alphabet of photographic terminology emitting from
the mouths of those around the room, I am lost shortly
after "aperture." Retreating to the back room, I see a hip young woman
handing out glasses of champagne and pointing guests toward
a table with a modest spread of breads and cheeses. The
large, pink lettering on her t-shirt immediately strikes
me. Suffice to say that you wouldn't usually expect people
to be accepting refreshments from someone with a shirt that
tells them, in a rather profane manner, to go away (!!!). I
half expect a supervisor to emerge from the crowd with a
handkerchief, rushing to cover the expletive. Oddly though,
at least to me, nobody seems to mind at all. It seems that
when modish art is present, one may express whatever
profanity they wish with relative carte blanche. "I like your shirt," I clumsily mutter as I accept a flute
of bubbly from her. "Oh, thanks," she politely replies before turning to reveal
a particularly unflattering mugshot of the President on the
back. "I have it in a few colors," she ads with a wry grin. Next port of call for the gallery goers is a peculiar
little shop brimming with boxes and boxes of records. There
are pictures hung on the walls and warm jazz notes fill the
main room. This place is more my speed, kind of a quasi-
gallery-come-record store. The ladies peruse the work on the far wall while I flip
madly through the plastic sleeves of a million hours of
listening pleasure. A lot of the music I don't know but
there are plenty of favorites to keep me entertained. Then
I see it...Edith Piaf's, "Piaf at the Paris Olympia."
Excited, I rush over to tell my sister who has finished
with the paintings. Sign Up for The Rude Awakening Start your mornings off with a dose of Rude news. The Rude Awakening is dedicated to highlighting phenomena in the financial markets that others may not see. Let the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times "break news." Sign up FREE Today! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
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"But you don't even have a record player," points out my
ever-pragmatic sibling. "How will you listen to it?" She is
used to my capricious (read: romantically spontaneous)
ways.
"So I'll get one." I reply logically. "Who is she anyway? I've never heard of her. Is she even
alive?" "She is the voice of a sparrow, Ricci. The songstress of
the thirties," I calmly note. "And anyway, since when is
being alive a prerequisite for an artist to have a grand
album on the shelves? Look at Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jimmy
Hendrix, Jim Morrison..." Everyone has different levels of appreciation for different
forms of art. Economics, for example, is appreciated on a
far more intellectual level by guys like Dan Denning and
Eric Fry than by your humble, Piaf-loving editor. That's
why I have included all their musings below for your
reading pleasure. So kick back, put on some of your own
relaxing tunes and enjoy this weeks Rude reading... Cheers, Joel
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------------------------- And the Week's Rude Reading...
Deficit-Disorder
By Dan Denning
This week's most valuable investment insight will NOT issue
from the mouth of Ben Bernanke, the brand new Chairman of
the Federal Reserve. But the week's most valuable insight
might spring from the pages of a bland report from the U.S.
Department of Treasury.
The "Other" Commodities
By Eric J Fry
Some commodity shares are more overvalued (or less
undervalued) than others. That's because the supply/demand
factors influencing the price of crude oil, for example,
are not identical to those influencing the price of
soybeans.
The Unsexy Dollar
Dan Denning
The TIC data confirmed my grim expectation: foreign demand
for dollar assets continues to wane. Net foreign purchases
of long-term U.S. securities fell 38% from November to
December. But that's not the most alarming number.
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investment circle today! http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/RCH/ERCHG222 ------------------------- [Joel's Note: If you have any comments or suggestions
concerning the week in Rude reading, please email them to
me here at: aussiejoel@the-rude-awakening.com Ideas for the
Monday Mailbag will be reviewed until Sunday evening each
week. Enjoy the weekend. - jb ------------------------- And the Markets... | Friday | Thursday | This week | Year-to-Date | DOW | 11,115 | 11,121 | 196 | 3.7% | S&P | 1,287 | 1,289 | 20 | 3.1% | NASDAQ | 2,282 | 2,295 | 20 | 3.5% | 10-year Treasury | 4.54 | 4.59 | -5.00 | 14.00 | 30-year Treasury | 4.51 | 4.57 | -4.00 | -3.00 | Russell 2000 | 731 | 732 | 14 | 8.6% | Gold | $552.10 | $547.75 | $1.30 | 6.8% | Silver | $9.44 | $9.43 | $0.07 | 7.0% | CRB | 326.15 | 322.60 | -5.45 | -1.7% | WTI NYMEX CRUDE | $59.88 | $58.90 | -$1.96 | -1.9% | Yen (YEN/USD) | JPY 118.22 | JPY 117.69 | -0.30 | -0.3% | Dollar (USD/EUR) | $1.1931 | $1.1891 | -30 | -0.8% | Dollar (USD/GBP) | $1.7412 | $1.7382 | 29 | -1.2% |
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