Stock Market Porn
January 21, 2010
There is a masturbatory activity even more widespread than pornography, yet never identified or discussed.
I'm referring to stock market speculation. Whether it's day trading or long term investing, these days, it's all a giant casino.
Gambling on stocks is even more widespread than sex addiction. Watching the talk shows, it's evident that everyone and his dog owns stocks. Housewives and retirees phone in asking for guidance. We are a nation of small time speculators.
As the "bear market rally" is flagging, this may be a good time to find religion again.
BETTER THAN SEX
Many people spend more time fretting about their stocks than thinking about sex. They get a rush from seeing their stocks surge and making money from a few keystrokes. There is a warm feeling inside --they feel a little bit richer. They are their money and the more they have, the bigger they are.
They fantasize about their stocks multiplying in value, becoming "five and ten baggers." They fancy they've "bought" the company and talk up its virtues in chat rooms, encouraging fellow speculators.
For many, this is better than sex and more powerfully addictive.
Of course, there is a downside, the sickening gut-wrenching experience of watching hard earned money disappear down the toilet.
Up or down, the stock market is a roller coaster, and just as hair raising.
The majority of people have good jobs and are not dependent on the market to satisfy their immediate needs. They're speculating with their savings. So whether they make or lose $1000 on a given day really is an abstraction. They're not going to need that money for some time or ever. So why do they do it?
Boredom. A feeling of emptiness and lack of purpose. There is a basic need for excitement and distraction.
THE MARKET CONTROLS YOU
In these difficult times, we must detach ourselves spiritually from the monkey house called society. People are apes who wear trousers and skirts. The only thing that makes us human is our souls and the extent to which we incorporate our spiritual ideals --beauty, truth, justice, goodness, love -- into our behavior.
The world is controlled by central bankers who worship Lucifer. They deny the existence of soul and spiritual ideals (i.e. God.) They use the media and education to snuff out truth and beauty and turn us back into animals, better to herd, and serve them. They control the stock market through their media and money.
So if you feel good if the market cooperates, and bad if it doesn't, you're their puppet.
The stock market is bipolar. One day the glass is half-empty; the next the same glass is half-full. They decide. You lurch back and forth like a puppet on a string.
Hardly are you going to dedicate yourself to your ideals, let alone remember what they are.
You can't even remember who you are, who your family and friends are. You're too distracted.
You belong to your money. This is how the Illuminati bankers keep us in a daze. We belong to them.
CONCLUSION
If you get out of the market, and it goes up, you're not wrong. If it goes down, you're not vindicated. You're not good if you make money or bad if you don't. You just have to do the right thing.
People who have enough to meet their needs shouldn't think about money at all. They should think about what's important.
Many people die with millions unspent. They leave it to their heirs. What was the point of accumulating this fortune? Does it represent life un-lived?
Beyond your immediate needs, money is an abstraction, a specious way of keeping score. But it's an abstraction that can imprison you. We need a better way of keeping score.
Comments for "Stock Market Porn"
Bert said (January 23, 2010):
Related to the porn factor is culture of homosexuality. A speculator only "makes" money (turns his trick) when he screws at least one his fellow speculators. When he does this, in the end, all he does is screw himself, since he is a part of the crowd he intends to "speculate" against. There is no concern for actual economic productivity and happiness.
The father-in-law of Mrs. R. [below] is an example of an owner, as opposed to a speculator. He was not fantasizing quick bucks, nipped from market (PsyOps) froth of the "crowd." He searched out companies that had actual underlying economic activity (as opposed to financial activity), and he thought about them as an owner would. I venture to guess he also participated in the election of corporate directors. By comparison, the speculator is a masturbator and a homosexual as well.
MB said (January 23, 2010):
Thanks for posting another insightful piece on this problem that harms so many of us in various ways. As you astutely point out, investing has become unbridled zero sum trading casino masturbation. Hopefully, it's not too late for most people to realize that our markets/casinos are structured to ultimately benefit only a select few who can abuse analytical knowledge, experience and technical tools (hardware/software, especially high frequency order entry systems) to ruthlessly out-parlay the rest of us.
Even more so, people will hopefully also wake up to the fact that the best-of-the-best (or rather should I say the worst-of-the-worst) traders are "Wise Guys" empowered with special insight as to tone set by The Powers That Be, which unfortunately has become the only sure fire way to position one's self profitably in today's volatile markets.
Just reflect back to March 2009 when almost all asset classes were being savaged except U.S. Treasuries and Credit Default Swap (CDS) Premiums -- to the point where Obama & Co. no doubt feared panic would thwart their Agenda For Change (i.e. transfer of wealth via health care and carbon cap & trade legislation).
It now seems obvious that the ensuing bear market rally was a joint maneuver designed to (i) soothe the masses so prospects for Obama's agenda could be restored and (ii) sucker as many patsies as possible to buy in so Wise Guys could eventually realize profits and reposition for the inevitable correction to follow.
It is pretty hard to look with hindsight and not conclude that the recovery was rigged by government's embrace of the "too big to fail" banks and their Wise Guy clients who inherently knew how the game was going to be played. It was most certainly not justified by economic fundamentals or realistic business conditions.
Now that Obama & Co. pissed away their Agenda For Change (at least for now), the bogus rallies are in serious jeopardy. Their corrections could get ugly. But don't think for a minute that The Powers That Be are without a game plan to once again profit at our expense -- just like they do in wars, political elections, etc.
Even though Obama is now lashing out at the big banks -- a false flag operation designed to win back the masses -- he will never be allowed to stop the real culprits: Wise Guy traders empowered by unbridled zero sum trading casinos. They will always be around to throw cold water on the poor souls who are afflicted with the need to masturbate to market porn.
Doug said (January 23, 2010):
Hi Henry, I read your stuff and it is good. But your analogy concerning stock market investing and porn is partly true and partly false. People who search out porn are really looking for love. Of course what they find is sex, and not only that but commercial sex, a sort of fiat love.
People invest in order to fulfill the corollary of the prime directive. The prime directive being : go forth and multiply (i.e. life). The corollary being: provide sustenance and security. This can only be acheived through wealth, i.e., controlling the means of production via ownership or having the means to purchase the means of production. Where they go wrong is in misplace trust in the tokens they are forced to use and their trust that such things as markets still exist.
In a rigged RICO like the stock market, pursuing fiat hanging chads is a total waste of time; they will always be able to print them faster than you can acquire them. Wealth is another matter. Wealth is not "money", numisma, a purely legal issue. Wealth is: children, health, arable land, water, defense capability and the means to acquire the above. Money, like love and life is a gift. It consists of a thing created, things that can only be acquired by those worthy of their posession, those who work for them. The stock market is rigged to steal them.
Money is GOLD and SILVER. Always has been. Always will be. "Investing" in an "investment bank" is lunacy. At the end of the day, the best you can do is increase the number of tokens in your pocket. Tokens under the absolute control of the adversary. If you invest in GOD MONEY, a creation, not a printed token, you always sleep well. As Doug Faber said: " never mind how many tokens you have to spend to acquire it, in the end the honest weight will be what it is."
It is akin to the search for love. As a priest once said to a confessing sinner: " I cannot help you." "WHY?", the sinner replied. "Because what you seek is God."
I firmly believe that those who apply that standard to the things they seek to acquire will never go wrong.
MRS. R said (January 22, 2010):
What you are describing in your article, "Stock Market Porn," is high risk stock investments. My father in law worked on Wall Street for 39 years, mostly in the back office. I think it was margins. Early in our marriage he advised us on stock market investment. His one caveat was that if you lie awake at night worrying about the money, the stock market isn't for you. He told us that if you continuously buy and sell stock, the only one who is making any money is the house; I would call it gambling. He invested in "widows and orphan" stock most of his life. The company should be very stable, and usually only pays small dividends compared to high risk. You buy for the long term and do not sell unless the company becomes unstable. He has done well. He retired twenty two years ago, has lived off of his dividends, and continues to invest. He has lived, and continues to live, a life of thrift.
My father in law is certain that the dollar will collapse; my husband and I concur. This does not change his investment advice, however. To give him credit, one of the ways the Germans were able to save their money during the hyperinflation of the Wiemar Republic was sound stock investment. While it is true that the value declined during the height of inflation, as long as they did not sell their stock and the company was stable before the inflation, in the end, they "saved" their money. There were, of course other ways that they saved their money, but not all apply to today.
In 1 Timothy 6:10, God tell us, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
What you have described in your article is the love of money. While my father in law's savings method worked, he, too, has focused on money beyond what God would like. His investments, however, would not displease God. It is all about the focus.
JIM said (January 22, 2010):
Thanks for the timely article on the stock market addiction. I agreed with it 100%, and it validated my decision to liquidate my IRA this past Monday. Truly, the stock market is a manipulated gambling casino, promising the “American Dream” if one “in for the long haul”. I seen my former employers stock driven down from $7 to $0.72 by blatant naked short selling, and then “suddenly” become worth $5.50 again…
As a born-again Christian, I still struggled with giving it up, but Christ commands us not to be conformed by the world. Seek ye first his righteousness….
I am now a free man, disconnected from the daily slave habit on checking up on the stock market. Oh, and you should have heard all the reasons why my broker said I should stay in…
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free, and you will be free indeed.
Bruno said (January 22, 2010):
about your post "Stock Market Porn". Of course you nailed it again. As bad as sex, porn, booze, stupidity etc may be, yet still it is written "the love of money is the beginning of all evil". It permeates everything everywhere even the high moral citadels of churches. It appears to corrupt people even more than all the above. Lately it seems to me that we are validating everything that is written in the Book.
Ray said (January 22, 2010):
Innovative view of the stock market and its psychological appeal. The fact is we have been conditioned to demand short term gratification and stimulation ever since the advent of TV. The old diversions were games, reading, sports, conversation, socializing and real sex with our mates. The characteristic of the old means was human to human contact; the characteristic of the new means is isolation and solitary gratification.
This type of gratification leads to a detachment from society and an increasing need for more stimulation. We have been in this trap for 60 plus years and it is no mere coincidence that the rise of adrenaline driven "pop culture" accompanied the advent of electronic media. The answer is to turn off the TV, the I Pods and the video games and stop tweeting, messaging and staring at a screen and experience real life again. It will be hard to adjust to but it can be done, and once you detach you recover your freedom and never want to go back to the adrenaline induced stupefaction characteristic of modern day America.
Frank said (January 22, 2010):
Great article! I couldn't agree more. Just yesterday I was thinking about this same issue. The stock market is just another racket for the wealthiest among us - as they say of the casinos, Wall Street wasn't built on losings. The manipulation of values is so rampant and easily conducted by those with enough money to move the market, only the most brazen attempt to beat a rigged system. Sure, there are those who manage to do well enough, but how can they sleep at night, never knowing if the money they invest is used in a humane way? I gave up on the idea of investing, when I realized that by so doing, I would be endorsing and thereby sharing in the activities of those companies in which I invested, just like a man remains responsible for the reproductive power of the seed he spreads, even if he doesn't know the outcome. I can't imagine what it would feel like to have invested in a company that has its success on the backs of underage workers, slave wages or environmental destruction. During this most recent period of economic depression, just think how many of the companies whose stocks these "apes who wear trousers and skirts" own have mercilessly eliminated jobs to maintain a decent stock price, or how many of them have maintained a history of influence peddling with congress that costs every taxpayer more than the dividend their certificates bear.
The best thing the average person could do is to withdraw from the market, move their savings out of regional, national and global banks and liquidate as much of their debt to these entities as possible. The civil rights movement advocated the boycott, and it worked. If the new human rights movement would do it, it would work, too. If we could also quit buying goods from companies that no longer even pretend to support domestic manufacturing - Wal Mart, et al, the effect would be telling.
Dan said (January 22, 2010):
The table's rigged of course. But that's secondary to the fact that all the money that goes into this casino is fuel for NWO corporations. Those with fortunes which must be invested rather than reside in cans buried in the back yard are best put into hard assets, such as land, real estate, even tangible metals. Holding real assets doesn't fuel somebody else's hidden agendas.
.
Don't feed the beast
Karl in Vienna said (January 22, 2010):
Your 'Stock Market Porn' article is right on target and it is even more sinister and debilitating than you described.
I have 12 years of experience on Wall Street with three of the majors. Not in stocks and bonds, not in investment banking. My specialty is strategic thinking, planning and execution. They call in people like me when they crap their diapers and need a workout specialist to save their butts. This latest go round I told them to stick it, learn to swim honestly.
It is very much intertwined into the gambling addiction mindset. I have seen people buy Global Crossing at $25 to $56 and then ride it all the way down to $0.02 and blown out in bankruptcy. It is like a sickness that they will keep rolling those dice thinking their number will come up and save their butts from their greed and oversights. Many will absolutely refuse to admit
their error, to their own detriment. They read all the charts and news hypes, thus were so smart.
It is also an obsession about proving how smart and savvy they are. They can outsmart Wall Street and have a beer to gloat. When the snake turns and bites them, their true colors come out and one finds out fast that they are
quite stupid, quite juvenile, glaringly greedy.
Keep up the good work, your recent articles have been great.
Jeff said (January 22, 2010):
Your article touched on one of the biggest sicknesses in the world today. The worship of money. It has become the new religion of most of the world, and most certainly America. It is no longer enough to work and contribute to society in a meaningful way. We are told that we must become "investors", to accumulate and accumulate more, no matter the cost to our fellow human beings.
How is it that we have degenerated to a society that applauds such insanity, that does not value work, only the quick buck and thievery from our fellow humans? I see it everywhere, but most disturbingly among the young.
I know so many young people, including family members, who have absolutely no interest in working or contributing to society. Their only goal is to make money at any cost, to buy low and sell high, to make a "killing" in any way possible. It seems to be their only life goal. How sad that we have replaced human decency and spiritual growth with the worship of money.
Thanks for a terrific article with so much Truth in it.
Joe said (January 22, 2010):
I'm inspired by the accuracy of your statements. This article made my day. I earnestly hope humanity can shift the paradigm to desire to live for ideals greater than ourselves once again. We must escape the sinister dogma of post-modern "civilization". We owe it to ourselves as it relates to our inherent human dignity given to us by the Almighty to throw off the webs of deceit the Khazar NWO propaganda machine (mu-sick, Talmudvision, Jewry Theatres, Jews Media) has tried to drown us with. The mass communications industry is nothing more than the most expansive mind control operation ever conducted. We must keep our heads above the NWO's sewage water with the truth as the Almighty intended for man.
We only need to look to eras of history when the Rothschilds weren't enslaving the World to see that during those times man focused on higher ideals-namely the teachings of Biblical Christianity. The Church prevailed not the Khazar con-man click. During times of mental clarity, it was immensely challenging for a few slick Khazar shysters to oppress humanity but, these times of post-modern obfuscation are a playground for the sociopath NWO fiat money Khazar cabal. With enough awareness, the truth can prevail once again. Contrary to their egotistical beliefs, the funny money/counterfiter cabal is not God even if the Babylonian Talmud told them so. We can overcome their lies with the truth.
Thank you for offering a venue for a higher vision for humanity.
Best regards,
Joe
These are brilliant phrases from this article:
"In these difficult times, our goal should be to detach ourselves spiritually from the monkey house called society".
and
Modern history in 4 lines-
"The world is controlled by central bankers who worship Lucifer. They deny the existence of soul and spiritual absolutes (i.e. God.) They use the media and education to snuff out truth and beauty and turn us back into animals, better to herd and serve them. They control the stock market through their media and money."
Henry Makow is the author of A Long Way to go for a Date. He received his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Toronto. He welcomes your feedback and ideas at
Stephen said (January 26, 2010):
From past day trading experience, during the "dot-com boom", I could identify with your take on stock market speculation. The highs from making money for doing nothing and the inevitable lows that follow are as you describe. I do not buy stocks any longer, preferring to stay in cash, gold and tangible things, as well as using accumulated money to help others where possible. Yet endless "serious" discussion by ostensibly legitimate financial "experts" occurs daily on "stock picks". I have often wondered why wagering on football games is illegal and frowned upon, but doing the same thing except with equities in corporate entities is encouraged. The only difference is that with the former, Manhattan-based elites do not get a piece of the action.