Trader’s Narrative

In case you didn’t catch this, a curious exchange occurred way back on July 18th, 2008 on Google’s finance messageboard. It was not unlike the usual chatter that you are likely to read in this corner of the internet, full of mysterious innuendo, bold predictions and anonymity. But what made it stand out from the rest was that it came true:

That was enough to not only get people’s attention but garner the mysterious Nostradamus a cult following. The prediction was linked to a little known Catholic group called Legatus - a network of Catholic businessmen (and women) - think of them as the LinkedIn of the Holy See.

Then on January 28th, 2009 “reinhardt” emailed his next prediction:

February 09 2009

100% sure thing

market begins huge downfall

People waited with bated breath… and were disappointed because Monday’s market was a snooze-fest. Then came Tuesday and every screen was covered in red. Here’s a chart showing the timing of the two predictions:

What do you think? Has the stock market Nostradamus finally stepped into the light? or is this is just an elaborate (and ingenious) viral marketing campaign for Dan Brown’s next movie?

Personally, it reminds me of the massive “doomsday” option trade back in August 2007 (nervous giggle).