Reflections on Vancouver, British Columbia and other topics, related or not

 

Whores of Howe Street

A fortunately unfinished novel
about Vancouver penny stock promoters

Plummeting performance.
(Getty Images)

 

“Two cents. You’re now at two cents. 

“Two cents, Tyler. You’re up—up!—from zero-point-five at market-open. Two cents and it’s now, ow, ow, ow, going up, up, up. Past three already, almost four it’s—yes, yes, yes you’re hitting a nickel Tyler, solid nickel, rock-solid rock-hard nickel, Tyler, you’re.…” 

Very suddenly she realized Tyler wasn’t hard anymore, let alone rock-solid.

Nickel prices had plunged just that morning and this whore of Howe Street hadn’t done sufficient pre-trick due diligence to anticipate the deflationary effect such a reference would have on client performance. The last she’d heard, Tyler was promoting a scandium prospect. Or was it graphite? Chromite? Good old-fashioned gold? How was she to know base metal nickel would puncture his pickle? Really, she should be getting extra money to research who’s pumping what before she let them pump her. But she had to settle for what she could get. The years had affected her market value and, unlike those incomprehensible penny stock swings, done so predictably. 

 

[Enough.]