FW: The Cult of Greenspan

Joe Barrera (joebar@MICROSOFT.com)
Tue, 24 Mar 1998 15:17:40 -0800


There are enough economists and wordsmiths on this list to appreciate the
following:

> Many trading houses use a software program which translates any Greenspan
sentence into a
> predicted market reaction, using a database of all his public remarks. The
program bills itself
> as the “Talmud of the Federal Reserve—interpreting his every word!”

Where can I find this program?! (Altavista on +talmud +federal +reserve
doesn’t help; in fact, although it does turn up an amazing variety of
conspiracy/one-world-government/

-----Original Message-----
From: Nev Dull [mailto:nev@bostic.com] <mailto:[mailto:nev@bostic.com]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 1998 11:05 AM
To: nev@bostic.com <mailto:nev@bostic.com>
Subject: The Cult of Greenspan

Forwarded-by: Peter Langston <psl@langston.com <mailto:psl@langston.com> >
Forwarded-by: Michael Travers <mt@watson.ibm.com <mailto:mt@watson.ibm.com>
>
PRAISED BE GREENSPAN
By Jonathan Chait and Stephen Glass
The strange rituals of Federal Reserve fanatics.
http://magazines.enews.com/magazines/tnr/current/chait033098.html
<http://magazines.enews.com/magazines/tnr/current/chait033098.html>
[excerpt]
... another bond-trading outfit has turned an empty office into a Greenspan
shrine. Dozens of news photographs of Greenspan adorn the walls; glass
casing encloses two Bic pens Greenspan supposedly used in 1993. Quotations
from more than 30 of his speeches are posted under a sign that reads
“Greenspan’s Teachings.” The centerpiece is a red leather chair that sits in
the middle of the room, surrounded by blue velvet ropes. A placard perched
on the armrest says Greenspan sat in the chair in 1948 -- at the time, he
was still in college. “Some nights when we’ve lost money,” trader Brent
Donalds confides, “I come in here and sit in the chair and think. It gives
me inspiration.”
Many trading houses use a software program which translates any Greenspan
sentence into a predicted market reaction, using a database of all his
public remarks. The program bills itself as the “Talmud of the Federal
Reserve—interpreting his every word!”