Thursday, January 17, 2008

Leverage is.... (part 1)

leverage is
as leverage does
increasing the fizz
as well as the buzz

it has no emotion
keeping no friends
its not magic potion
just what a bank lends

treat it with caution
do treat it with care
else abusing its fractions
might cause you to swear

'course when in a bull
it will certainly yield
buckets more full
wiv wotever you've stealed

but...if in a bear
be you levered and long
the loss that you'll wear
makes you ev'r more wrong

7 comments:

Macro Man said...

The easiest way
To get chucked out of work
Is to converse every day
With your fund's margin clerk

Thanks for the Kovner comment, by the way (I took it as a compliment!)

"Cassandra" said...

You like the form, huh? It's a bit addictive actually...

The Kovner comment was most certainly intended as a compliment.

One more for you...

Leverage is like an onion
You taste it with delight
Tho when trends turn you wonder
Whatever made you bite

Macro Man said...

Shall I compare thee to a levered trade?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the market call you made;
Perhaps thou erred in selling options of short date.
Sometimes too hot the market darling shines,
And oft the ertswhile star is dimmed;
And every trade from time to time declines,
Alas! The over-levered ones are trimmed;
Just as a short-term extreme is made,
And soon a tidy sum thou ow'st;
Forsooth, thou start to feel afraid,
In real time, thy loss it grow'st and grow'st:
The levered trade, in time of volatility?
A dang'rous game, as you can finally see.

"Cassandra" said...

*whistle*, *whistle*, Bravo! Bravo, Standing ovations all around....

Macro Man said...

Blush...Shakespeare no doubt rolling in his grave at the sacrilige....

Mencius Moldbug said...

MM, is there an IM abbreviation for "standing on my chair clapping?" It reads well out loud - I read it to my wife, who has no interest in finance, and she thought it was hilarious. Post it on your blog, please!

"Cassandra" said...

....more visions of a smiling Sir Peter Hall, nodding approvingly at YOU, spring to mind after seeing Moldy teetering on his chair...