Sotheby's Tanks: Is the Market Next?

It looks like Van Gogh is to the art world what sub prime is to the fixed income market. Thursday, Sotheby's (BID) is down nearly 30% after a weak auction last night where a Van Gogh that was estimated to sell for between $28-$35 million received no bids.

In June, we compared the performance of Sotheby's to the S&P 500 on the hypothesis that strength or weakness in the high-end auction market was a good tell for the economy and the market. Let's hope Thursday's decline isn't an ominous sign for the market.

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