- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
- 250
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This is a Wall Street ghost-story (my last one!) inspired by Rogue Trader, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and Ghost in the Machine.
Signing off,
====
Bud was an idealistic (and ambitious!) Wall Street stockbroker trying to apply his knowledge of microeconomics and mathematics to help him make calculated investment-choices for his prestigious NYC investment-firm Merrill Kilmer. Bud's boss (Tyke Edwards) wanted to know how math could be applied in today's dynamic markets. Bud was busy coordinating his data and company reports with his knowledge of Gaussian distribution stat-models and deviation-patterns. Bud felt like he had the necessary acumen to become a successful 'abacus-minded' modern-day stockbroker.
At last, Bud thought he had the right formula. He looked over his own notes about Euler's formula and axiomatic thinking about the distribution of variables across comparable markets (within one trading-day on Wall Street!). Bud also glossed over his cheat-sheets and equation-summary pages (e.g., Quick-Study) and organized his presentation for his boss (Tyke Edwards) for the following Monday morning (before opening bell on the NYSE-Euronext trading-floor). Bud wanted to apply double-patterns of market spikes to create bell-curves of supply-based industry success. Bud hypothesized that his nifty formulas revealed that Chinese metal/alloy and American electric (companies) would do quite well/stably in 2018! Bud was relieved he had his handy-dandy Quick-Study sheets to clean everything up in his brain before his big presentation.
Well, Bud's presentation was a big success, and his boss grant him a special 1-year investment license (to investigate Chinese metal/alloy and American electric companies!). Bud was thrilled, and his firm purchased him a wonderful vacation-trip to Malaysia that summer, and Bud went packing for a much-deserved break. As Bud took his seat on Air Lion, he noticed a very hospitable Malaysian stewardess (Elaine) was eager to tend to his every need in the first-class seat his firm purchased for him. However, Bud also noticed a rather strange-looking Malaysian stewardess constantly following (even shadowing) the hospitable stewardess (Elaine) assigned to him. Bud got the oddest thought in his head that this shadowing-stewardess was a ghost(!). Bud looked around and did indeed notice that none of the other passengers were paying any attention to this shadowing-stewardess following Elaine around. It was then that this strange shadowing-stewardess turned around and smiled at Bud.
As Bud finished his whiskey-drink, he pinched himself to make sure he wasn't having a terrible nightmare. Was all his mathematics-work regarding Wall Street market ebbs-and-flows getting to his head and giving him the bizarre notion that there was a 'ghost-stewardess' on his Air Lion flight trying to goad him about the ultimately 'mysterious' face of stocks, markets, and math? Bud got the idea to just get up and approach this stewardess and talk to her (to see if she was actually there!), but he was too drunk. He passed out. When Bud awoke, he realized his plane had crashed in the Pacific Ocean! Everyone was alright, but Bud noticed that the shadowing-stewardess was nowhere to be seen (but Elaine was there to help him get off the plane and meet in the haven-bank to wait for the rescue-teams to arrive.
Bud never forgot that terrible experience on his Air Lion flight to Malaysia that day. He decided to get to Malaysia anyway to complete his vacation. Maybe all that overworking had really gotten to his head, so he concluded that the Malaysia-trip was something he needed and nothing was going to stop him from relaxing(!). While in a Malaysian night-club in Kuala Lumpur, he met a beautiful Korean girl named Kathy and they went back to her apartment and had a very romantic evening together. When Bud awoke the next day in Kathy's room with Kathy in his arms, he saw the spirit of that ghost-stewardess shadowing his stewardess (Elaine!) on the Air Lion flight that crashed. The spirit was playing with Kathy's bra-strap! Once again, Bud thought he was hallucinating, since he had a terrible hangover from too much sake-drinking the night before. Bud quickly got dressed and told Kathy he'd call her from New York and hopped on a Air Lion flight back to JFK Airport (NYC), never looking back one moment to see if that spirit of what was more-than-likely a 'ghost stewardess' was still following him!
Bud decided to go to his local Catholic church in Manhattan before the next work-day and prayed about what he had seen. He asked Jesus why a 'ghost-stewardess' was following him and why he saw her on the Air Lion flight that crashed and then again in Kathy's apartment in Kuala Lumpur! He prayed and prayed in earnest and began reading passages from the Bible in the church about visions and dreams, and in the Book of Revelation, Bud read of the prophecy of the End of Days during which a 'great and terrible dragon' (most likely Satan himself) would rise to prominence to confuse men about the 'complications' of modern ambition and prosperity (e.g., Wall Street, right?). Bud realized that the 'spirit' of the ghost-stewardess following him around was in fact some kind of 'leviathan' (or dragon!) representing all his metaphysical fears regarding unpredictability. Bud asked Jesus to protect him from leviathan...
GOD: Do you think Bud will call Kathy?
SATAN: I think Bud's scared right now...
GOD: Well, I think he's right about seeing 'leviathan.'
SATAN: When you do too much 'Wall-Street-math,' you'll see spectres!
GOD: Do you think Bud will quit his job at Merrill Kilmer?
SATAN: No way; Bud's on top of the world now.
GOD: Perhaps that 'stewardess-spectre' he saw was indeed an omen.
SATAN: Will Bud heed such an 'omen' or disregard it as personal-paranoia?
GOD: It's difficult to say; modern civilization rewards focused ambition.
SATAN: He might dismiss that stewardess-spectre as some 'personal moral dilemma.'
GOD: That's the danger; today's ambitious professionals make capitalism a staging-ground.
SATAN: Staging-ground for what?
GOD: Staging-ground for insanity of course...
SATAN: Insanity? What's so crazy about the American Dream?
GOD: Don't you know? It's all about regret.
SATAN: If Bud sees that stewardess-spectre again, he just might decide he's a prophet!
GOD: A prophet?
SATAN: Of course. Bud's having visions of beauty...perhaps the AntiChrist is near.
====
Signing off,
====
Bud was an idealistic (and ambitious!) Wall Street stockbroker trying to apply his knowledge of microeconomics and mathematics to help him make calculated investment-choices for his prestigious NYC investment-firm Merrill Kilmer. Bud's boss (Tyke Edwards) wanted to know how math could be applied in today's dynamic markets. Bud was busy coordinating his data and company reports with his knowledge of Gaussian distribution stat-models and deviation-patterns. Bud felt like he had the necessary acumen to become a successful 'abacus-minded' modern-day stockbroker.
At last, Bud thought he had the right formula. He looked over his own notes about Euler's formula and axiomatic thinking about the distribution of variables across comparable markets (within one trading-day on Wall Street!). Bud also glossed over his cheat-sheets and equation-summary pages (e.g., Quick-Study) and organized his presentation for his boss (Tyke Edwards) for the following Monday morning (before opening bell on the NYSE-Euronext trading-floor). Bud wanted to apply double-patterns of market spikes to create bell-curves of supply-based industry success. Bud hypothesized that his nifty formulas revealed that Chinese metal/alloy and American electric (companies) would do quite well/stably in 2018! Bud was relieved he had his handy-dandy Quick-Study sheets to clean everything up in his brain before his big presentation.
Well, Bud's presentation was a big success, and his boss grant him a special 1-year investment license (to investigate Chinese metal/alloy and American electric companies!). Bud was thrilled, and his firm purchased him a wonderful vacation-trip to Malaysia that summer, and Bud went packing for a much-deserved break. As Bud took his seat on Air Lion, he noticed a very hospitable Malaysian stewardess (Elaine) was eager to tend to his every need in the first-class seat his firm purchased for him. However, Bud also noticed a rather strange-looking Malaysian stewardess constantly following (even shadowing) the hospitable stewardess (Elaine) assigned to him. Bud got the oddest thought in his head that this shadowing-stewardess was a ghost(!). Bud looked around and did indeed notice that none of the other passengers were paying any attention to this shadowing-stewardess following Elaine around. It was then that this strange shadowing-stewardess turned around and smiled at Bud.
As Bud finished his whiskey-drink, he pinched himself to make sure he wasn't having a terrible nightmare. Was all his mathematics-work regarding Wall Street market ebbs-and-flows getting to his head and giving him the bizarre notion that there was a 'ghost-stewardess' on his Air Lion flight trying to goad him about the ultimately 'mysterious' face of stocks, markets, and math? Bud got the idea to just get up and approach this stewardess and talk to her (to see if she was actually there!), but he was too drunk. He passed out. When Bud awoke, he realized his plane had crashed in the Pacific Ocean! Everyone was alright, but Bud noticed that the shadowing-stewardess was nowhere to be seen (but Elaine was there to help him get off the plane and meet in the haven-bank to wait for the rescue-teams to arrive.
Bud never forgot that terrible experience on his Air Lion flight to Malaysia that day. He decided to get to Malaysia anyway to complete his vacation. Maybe all that overworking had really gotten to his head, so he concluded that the Malaysia-trip was something he needed and nothing was going to stop him from relaxing(!). While in a Malaysian night-club in Kuala Lumpur, he met a beautiful Korean girl named Kathy and they went back to her apartment and had a very romantic evening together. When Bud awoke the next day in Kathy's room with Kathy in his arms, he saw the spirit of that ghost-stewardess shadowing his stewardess (Elaine!) on the Air Lion flight that crashed. The spirit was playing with Kathy's bra-strap! Once again, Bud thought he was hallucinating, since he had a terrible hangover from too much sake-drinking the night before. Bud quickly got dressed and told Kathy he'd call her from New York and hopped on a Air Lion flight back to JFK Airport (NYC), never looking back one moment to see if that spirit of what was more-than-likely a 'ghost stewardess' was still following him!
Bud decided to go to his local Catholic church in Manhattan before the next work-day and prayed about what he had seen. He asked Jesus why a 'ghost-stewardess' was following him and why he saw her on the Air Lion flight that crashed and then again in Kathy's apartment in Kuala Lumpur! He prayed and prayed in earnest and began reading passages from the Bible in the church about visions and dreams, and in the Book of Revelation, Bud read of the prophecy of the End of Days during which a 'great and terrible dragon' (most likely Satan himself) would rise to prominence to confuse men about the 'complications' of modern ambition and prosperity (e.g., Wall Street, right?). Bud realized that the 'spirit' of the ghost-stewardess following him around was in fact some kind of 'leviathan' (or dragon!) representing all his metaphysical fears regarding unpredictability. Bud asked Jesus to protect him from leviathan...
GOD: Do you think Bud will call Kathy?
SATAN: I think Bud's scared right now...
GOD: Well, I think he's right about seeing 'leviathan.'
SATAN: When you do too much 'Wall-Street-math,' you'll see spectres!
GOD: Do you think Bud will quit his job at Merrill Kilmer?
SATAN: No way; Bud's on top of the world now.
GOD: Perhaps that 'stewardess-spectre' he saw was indeed an omen.
SATAN: Will Bud heed such an 'omen' or disregard it as personal-paranoia?
GOD: It's difficult to say; modern civilization rewards focused ambition.
SATAN: He might dismiss that stewardess-spectre as some 'personal moral dilemma.'
GOD: That's the danger; today's ambitious professionals make capitalism a staging-ground.
SATAN: Staging-ground for what?
GOD: Staging-ground for insanity of course...
SATAN: Insanity? What's so crazy about the American Dream?
GOD: Don't you know? It's all about regret.
SATAN: If Bud sees that stewardess-spectre again, he just might decide he's a prophet!
GOD: A prophet?
SATAN: Of course. Bud's having visions of beauty...perhaps the AntiChrist is near.
====
