Friends Let Friends Read the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Only If They Promise to Immediately Trade Against It
Paul Krugman observes that the Wall Street Journal editorial page has one use: the fact that there are poor fools--whom we pity--who believe it opens up profitable trading opportunities for the rest of us:
Krugman:
Two Point Nine One: Remember this? May 29, 2009:
They’re back. We refer to the global investors once known as the bond vigilantes, who demanded higher Treasury bond yields from the late 1970s through the 1990s whenever inflation fears popped up, and as a result disciplined U.S. policy makers. The vigilantes vanished earlier this decade amid the credit mania, but they appear to be returning with a vengeance now that Congress and the Federal Reserve have flooded the world with dollars to beat the recession. Treasury yields leapt again yesterday at the long end, with the 10-year note climbing above 3.7%, its highest close since November... as risk aversion subsides, and investors return to corporate bonds and other assets, investors are now calculating the risks of renewed dollar inflation.
Bond yield as of yesterday: 2.91 percent.
What I’ve never quite understood is why so many investors still loooove the likes of the WSJ editorial page, while they hate, hate, hate people like, well, me — when believing anything the former says has historically been a very good way to lose a lot of money.
Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?
