"Nowadays, you can't turn on the TV without some talking head telling you about the economy. Yet, in a world overrun by 'analysts,' only one man has the guts, the brains, and, quite frankly, the poetry to put it all in perspective.That man is Michael Silverstein... Silverstein is a true intellectual." — Gersh Kuntzman, The New York Post

"Few people have found much to laugh about in the stock market this year. Michael Silverstein is the exception. The Bard of the Bourse can find humor in losing money, globalization and stock options." — USA Today

More Of What The Critics Are Saying
About Silverstein's Verse

 

Is the recent dive in stock prices the long-awaited market correction, or is it just a dress rehearsal for an even bigger downturn in the future—say in October, when Wall Street traditionally gives it back by the bushel basket? The following verse considers this question. It’s written in the style of Alfred Noyes’ classic poem, "The Highwayman."

The Meltdown Blues

The U.S. dollar is shrinking, like a summer ice cream scoop,
Congress is again overspending, awash in that old debt soup,
The struggling Dow and Nasdaq, can’t seem to find a floor,
And investor fears keep rising, rising, rising,
Investor fears keep rising,
As confidence goes through the floor.

The days are past when investors viewed all losers as fallen gems,
And rushed to their rescue with money, like nurturing mother hens,
Now good companies, too, go begging, and cut spending to the bone,
To avoid deeper fiscal trouble,
Escape a deflated bubble,
Flee from surrounding rubble,
With consequences unknown.

Perhaps one market morning soon, to panicky echoes we’ll wake,
The equity holders will tremble, the bond investors quake,
And as global economies teeter, we’d best pray there appears,
A plausible confidence mender,
A deep pocket lender spender,
Who can calm all our white knuckle fears.

*******

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