Monday, June 30, 2014

Contemporary Art: Frühbürgerliche Revolution In Deutschland/Early Bourgeois Revolution In Germany, By Werner Tübke

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - I enjoy contemporary art: The paintings, scultpures and other works are full of surprises. Recently - during a visit at Berlin´s "Neue Nationalgallerie" (driveby)  - I discovered an awesome painting, called "Frühbürgerliche Revolution In Deutschland/Early Bourgeois Revolution In Germany", by Werner Tübke, an artist who had worked most time of his life in the Eastern (communist) part of Germany.






The work, which has five pieces, stretches over a long wall. In spite of the size it is very elaborate and delicate. The painting (created from 1979 through 1981) is a study for an even larger work, a wall in Bad Frankenhausen, a small city in Eastern Germany. The larger work had been commissioned by then socialist government of Eastern Germany (DDR).  They wanted something like the historical legitimization of the labor movement. The title refers to the "Great German Peasant War", a social revolution wich broke out in 1524, the time of the Renaissance. But Tübke created something which displayes his own individuality. The artistic style of the painting is called "Magical Realism". 





"Frühbürgerliche Revolution..." is seen as the magnus opum of Tübke. The artist attested himself the "capability for utopia for backwards". Sometimes he joked "everything stays as it never was". Commentators praised  his "magical mastership" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and the mindful and sensitive play with shapes and ideas.






The picture reminds me to the paintings of the Dutch masters, especially of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. And there are similarities with Hieronymus Bosch. I enjoy the blending of classical painting with futuristic and fantastical effects. There is a lot going on and you can see many very different entities. Some elements  look like segments of cartoons and you can even see some science fiction elements in this picture. Some of the figures look like angels and demons but they also could be seen as robots and aliens.






                          Robots and Aliens?





I especially like the sphere which you can see on the top of this post. A tiny part of the landscape is encapsulated, but it has a crack. This element reminds of some science fiction stories where advanced alien cultures create a sphere to shield themselve or to capture something.







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But let the images speak for themselves. Enjoy.

Stock Market: Do We Need Short Sellers?

(Drivebycuriosity) - "Every stock market party needs a short seller", claims Bloomberg (bloomberg). Short sellers borrow stocks from a broker and sell the shares immediately (going short or shorting) in the hope that stock prices will fall and then they could buy back these stocks for much less.

Noah Smith, column writer for "Bloomberg View", asserts (following ideas of scientists like Eugene Fama) that short sellers could prevent stock bubbles, because they would sell when stocks are overpriced. These sales would lead prices back to a reasonable level. But, in reality there are bubbles because short sellers are disadvantaged, Noah laments. Going short has extra costs, compared to going "long" (buying stocks), he writes, quoting an academic paper: "Usually, dealers charge only a very small fee when they lend out shares of stock to short-sellers. But occasionally, these fees can shoot up to astronomical levels, before the short position is closed. That creates a huge risk for a short-seller". Noah also complains that brokers can call back their stock loans at any time, before the wager of the short seller bears fruit.

Noah demands that short sellers have to be supported and recommends "to enable short-sellers to do their job". For instance by creating "centralized exchanges for lending stock shares". This would "would vastly increase the ability of shorts to borrow".


                                                                   Feral Hogs

I don´t buy his arguments. First I don´t believe that short selling necessarily creates reasonable prices. In the panic of late 2008 and early 2009 - as the stock prices were already down and still falling -, herds of short sellers massively dumped stocks and sent stock prices further down. Massive shorting enhanced the fall of the stock market, created panic and downward spirals for almost any stock on the market. This led to ridiculous undervalued stocks in spring 2009. This under valuation made the massive rally since then (plus 190% plus) possible. The stock market crash was at least aggravated by excessive short selling that paralyzed the whole economy. Companies ceased investing & hiring, the recession was on the brink to turn into a disaster like the great depression of the 1930s


Further, I don`t believe that short sellers are disadvantaged and need support. Shortly after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, which brought huge gains for short sellers, groups of short sellers tried to repeat their success.  In the months after Lehman´s fall herds of them - hedge funds and their followers - attacked everyone who seemed vulnerable - almost any bank had to be saved. Federal Reserve member Richard Fisher (Dallas Fed President) described this species as " big money" that "does organize itself somewhat like feral hogs. If they detect a weakness or a bad scent, they go after it." 

Short sellers are often very powerful and exert a large influence on the stock market - contrary what the Bloomberg article wants us to believe (driveby). Many hedge fund managers like Jim Chanos, David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital and others practice massive short selling and try to manipulate stock prices by accusations. Take for instance William A. Ackman. The hedge fund billionaire  and CEO of the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management is betting big against Herbalife, a producer and seller of nutritional supplements traded on Wall Street. In December 2012 Ackman revealed that he had shorted massively stocks of Herbalife and then started bad-mouthing the firm. To bring the stock down Ackman did not just use his huge reputation as a billionaire hedge fund manager - there is cult around short sellers like Ackman -: "His team has helped organize protests, news conferences and letter-writing campaigns in California, Nevada, Connecticut, New York and Illinois, against his victim - although several of the people who signed the letters to state and federal officials say they do not remember sending them" wrote the New York Times (nytimes). He also pulled the political puppet strings and got support from leading politicians.

I don´t think that short sellers need support. They don´t invest into the economy. They don`t support economic growth and they do nothing for the rising wealth of the nation. The harm they can do is dramatized in the James Bond movie "Casino Royale": The villain, named "Le Chiffre", shorted stocks of an airline and then ordered an assassin to bomb a valuable new plane in order to destroy the whole company. This is just fiction, but gives an idea how short sellers could work. Even when short sellers do nothing illegal they can inflict a lot harm by spreading rumors and allegations which can ruin the reputation of a company and thus irritate customers, creditors, investors and employes and so inflict damage on the company.

Supporting short sellers would mean strengthening the followers of Ackman, Chanos and other professional short sellers who try to destroy value. This would enhance the frequency and intensity of short raids against companies. CEOs would be discouraged to invest and to create new jobs because the implied costs could provoke attacks by short sellers. Therefore supporting short sellers could hamper economic growth.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Culture: Neues Museum, Berlin

(Drivebycuriosity) - Are you interested in ancient times? Do you like to study the early history of civilization? Then you might visit the "Neues Museum" in Berlin (smb.museum). This place is one of the gorgeous collections you can find on Berlin`s "Museum Insel" (museum island),  a cluster of huge museums.



The highlight of the show is 3,000 year old bust of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti (which I cannot show here because of strict photo prohibitions). I was in awe how beautiful this woman has looked and how her exceptional elegance has been preserved over the vast times. This piece alone is worth a visit!






And there is much more including Egyptian art and old Roman sculptures. Unfortunately we had a very tight time budget for whole Berlin (just 5 nights there). Therefore we had to rush and could just glance on some highlights.  Here are some impressions from the short visit recently. Enjoy.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

New York City: Street Art - Painting Mulberry Street In Little Italy

(Drivebycuriosity) - New York City has many faces. One of them is "Little Italy" in Southern (Downtown) Manhattan. The area tries to show a kind of Italian ambience, whatever that may be. Especially on Mulberry Street there is a row of restaurants with Italian names & menus which attract flocks of tourists. I guess not many New Yorkers pilgrimage to such a touristy place.



But things are changing. The restaurant owners are engaging street artists to paint their walls. Now you can find some really interesting murals on Mulberry Street (lisaprojectnyc). Some of the murals are worth to visit the area just to see them (vandalog).






It looks like that they want to make "Little Italy" cool looking following the role model of other New Yorker areas like East Village, Lower East Side and Soho, which are rich on street art.





I am almost impressed. But the most beautiful mural - "Lisa, the Half Naked Princess", by the visiting Italian street artist Ozmo (ozmo) - is partly hidden by a table! Who wants to eat at a place where the administrators show so little respect for art, beauty and the work of others?