Self-Annihilating Headlines
June 7, 2012 1 Comment
The world of business hums along to the soothing staccato rhythms of daily non-headline headlines such as Bernanke Says Federal Reserve Ready to Take More Steps to Strengthen Economy. When you see these things (and markets reacting to them) day after day it’s easy to get lulled into thinking they mean something. ‘Oh, he’s ready to take more steps? Well then! That sounds good to me! Buy!’
I’ve found it’s useful to try to invert the headline and see how funny it becomes. I’m thinking the more silly the inversion, the more meaningless the original story was. For example, imagine this one:
‘Bernanke Says Federal Reserve Not Ready to Take More Steps and Refuses to Do Anything to Strengthen Economy’
Etc. Many of these headlines self-annihilate under their own silliness if you imagine their logical inversions.
Today’s self-annihilating headlines
Nasdaq CEO Not Getting Pummeled, Was Definitely Not ‘Out of Touch’ During Facebook IPO
Apple Not Expected To Unveil Any Applications to Take On Google
OPEC Chief Does Not Hint At Taking Any Action To Reduce Oil Glut