Kinabalu

CIT's Bankruptcy and the Trading Sardine

Over the last 40 years I've probably heard 50 versions of the trading sardines story, from Cannery Row to the Alaskan gold rush. This was one of the worst. Here's another version if any one's interested:

The story goes that sometime in the early years of the Twentieth Century there was a lull on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, a lull that extended from hours to days - and the boys were getting bored and restless. One afternoon, for want of any better entertainment, a trader pulled out an elderly sardine tin and announced his willingness to sell this unique item for no more than a nickel. In a moment two jobbers from the Railroads pitch had bid and counter-bid for the tin, pushing the price up to a dime. Not to be outdone, the cowboys who trade Texas oil stocks jump in, doubling the price of the sardines, then doubling it again. The tin passes from professional hand to professional hand, with the ticket sometimes a cent or two higher, sometimes up a quarter. At last the hubbub attracts the attention of the baby of the floor, a wet behind the ears college kid. He spots the unusual label and can't miss the excitement in the open outcry yelling of the traders. The kid, determined to show he can play with the big boys and genuinely intrigued by the apparent rarity of the item, firmly calls out 'Ten bucks' and is delighted when the bidding comes to an abrupt end. Hefting out his pocket-knife, he punctures the tin, only to be met with the unmistakeable stink of rotting fish. Bewildered and heavily out of pocket, the new boy turns to one of his elders, who had taken a half dollar turn out of the tin an hour previously. 'I don't get it' says the kid, 'these sardines are terrible.' 'Son', says the old jobber, 'those weren't eating sardines, those were trading sardines.'