Josh Brown asks this question today on his blog as it relates to the lack of volatility in the stock markets – Where have all the Cowboys gone?
The answer is probably wrapped up somewhere in the market structure conversation. The cowboys who used to swing markets with massive directional bets have largely replaced themselves with algorithms. Software programs don’t panic. They trade methodically or stop trading entirely given certain cues. They’re also inured to the psychological pain of new record highs – How could I not be in this? The market is running away without me! Oh my god what if I’m buying the top? etc
Nope. There’s much less of that than there otherwise would have been in another era. These days, it’s “close your eyes and allocate” coupled with relentlessly steady machine-buying.
For now.
Josh is right about that.
I would also argue that the ‘cowboys’ have moved on to where the bacon is good…private markets, small cap biotech stocks, marijuana and crypto assets (the new wild west is global, social, mobile and not on your daddy’s exchange).
Wall Street’s biggest ‘cowboy’ today is Jamie Dimon who promises to fire his traders if he finds out they are trading Bitcoin.
He’s no cowboy. He’s got an old prostate and probably hates bacon.
The real cowboys take out full page ads in the Wall Street Journal talking smack to Jamie Dimon…
PS – Bob Lefsetz had been asking this same question all year of the musicians…until tonight:
Eminem drew a line in the sand tonight, if you’re not with me, FUCK YOU!
This is everything today’s “musicians” are against. They don’t want to alienate a single potential audience member. Meanwhile, Marshall even takes the side of Kaepernick when Jerry Jones and the NFL want to keep teams down on the plantation.
But homey don’t play that no more.
This was unexpected.
We had an unjust war in Iraq.
We had a “moron” elected President.
And nobody in music said a word.
But those days are done.
PSS – I would love to see Trump take an IQ test against Eminem right after Tillerson.