Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
I am planning a doctoral dissertation in anthropology, "The Demise of Floor Trading: A Modern Day Paradigm for Margaret Mead's Lost Polynesian Eden."
My thesis is the floor represents our traditional culture, dating from before the turn of the 19th century. It was a warm, people-intensive culture, based on personal relationships and the elaborate ritual of the "opening bell", the "crowd", the "Post" and, of course, the charismatic ruler-priest, "the specialist."
The participants in this culture had established over generations a highly organized culture with many symbiotic relationships. The culture was suprisingly stratified, with group members forced to wear costumes to identify their status or lack thereof, eg, runner, clerk, 2$ broker, etc. They enjoyed a ribald environment, with continuous nightly male bonding rituals, but incongruously worshipped a series of goddess-prophets. First there was the hydra-headed Elaine Garzarelli, followed by the reign of Abbey, queen of Sachs, and then the oddly hypnotic Maria from the make believe land of Bubblevision.
Sadly, this tribe fell increasingly behind rival tribes, who embraced new technologies. The philistines from the land of Nasdaq became an increasingly threatening presence on their very borders, until a great bear appeared and devoured many of their tribe. Then an even more threatening series of rivals appeared. One from a neighboring Island, was particularly aggressive. The Island culture was a strange one indeed. It disdained any and all personal contact. All business was done over computer networks. Their religion was just as heretical. They had no "Specialist" and gloried in his absence.
The final chapter in this struggle of civilizations has yet to be written, yet it appears inevitable that the floor will join other bypassed cultures on the scrap heap of history. Such is progress.
Great Job AAA....and much like Jules Verne's "Time Machine" when the machines and "techno-types" take over, then all the above ground citizens turn into mindless sheep, without knowledge or free will to remember the days before everything was automated for them.
Electronic order matching is what we all would like for our "investments" and even the video game of "dancing otc prices" ...but, for a long time to come, I really feel that someone has to take some risk.
When my brother was in Egypt, he spent a few days with one of the larger trading firms. They can only place orders, have no clue about "making markets" (they are anxious to learn), and have no real concept about free markets.
When everyone "turns off the machines" because there is no marketplace, a sadness will permeate the air, and we will harken back to a time when the Bull and Bear of capitalism ran free and single place markets made it possible for econimies to grow and flourish.
But, I'm not too worried, we made it past Jules Verne, and we even lived through 1984 without Orwellian prophecies coming true. And, as support for my discussion, 1987 proved that we not only want, but need human intervention for survival.
Fix the system, fire the bad Specialists, watch the merger of OtC and Open Outcry (ala Amex and Naz), and let's all work together to keep Capitalism marching forward for a few decades to come.
What I fear most, seriously, is that some of the OtC proponents better beware what they wish for, for if it happens, they will have to find jobs (yuck, who wants a job).
(All the above posted in good nature to you AAA, with all the respect you have earned on the board).
And, agaain, nice story...!!!
Don
