‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
(Dedicated to Bill Meehan,* and everyone else lost on 9/11
with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
not a computer was whirring, no one clicked on a mouse.
The stock shares were hung, all framed with such care,
in memory of stock splits, now worth not a penny to spare.

The children were nestled, all snug in their beds,
visions of Monsters & Hogwarts dancing ‘round in their heads.
The wife studied her Journal, the cat purred on my lap,
side by side on the couch, we checked market caps.

When there on C-1, the Heard on the Street,
ran an article that said, in '01, QQQ went down to defeat.
Away to my Barron’s in a quick broadband flash,
I tore open MW, to confirm tech’s great crash.

The facts of the matter no one could deny,
distant highs on the NASDAQ, could make big boys cry.
A cartoon in the corner brought to my eyes a small tear,
pictured there, a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rendeer.

At the helm the driver's belly looked suspiciously thick,
but when you came down to it he looked like St. Nick.
Investors held hope for the famed Santa Claus rally he’d bring,
after a year when only the shorts could--and Oh Boy!--did they sing:

Now Enron! Now @home! Now Pet.com, and Flooz!
On ePod! On eToys! On PlanetRx! were V.C.'s fooled?
To the scrap heap of dot.coms—one after another you fell.
Where are the analysts who never told us to sell?

As put volume soars before monster rallies are nigh,
it was bond analysts, who managed to fly to the sky
This fall, to the depths, the NASDAQ did sink,
far below levels the strategists led investors to think.

But then in a twinkling, I heard in my head,
stop your griping, go on, people died in your stead.
As I drew in my breath and was turning around,
Harry Potter appeared without making a sound.

With silly glasses so round, and a magical wand he could yield,
children and adults flocked to his film like to a Viking's shield.
Tax rebates and rate cuts didn't accomplish the right fix,
while Congress did splinter, so no stimulation plan yet exists.

The tragedy that each day becomes a little less of an open sore
banished Condit headlines and gave Bush final victory over Gore.
Despite mangled English and vocabulary quite limiting,
Chief Bush at the helm even comedians aren't imitating

Say good-bye to Guiliani, not just NY's economy's still pricked,
Greenspan lost the aura of perfect doctor of risk.
After years of aggressively talking the bull market down,
success brought recession, and his career nearly drowned

Forget missed soft-landings, accept birth sans silver spoon,
‘Cause money flows and earnings, not just rates still call the tune.
Now head home for the holiday with spirit and love,
Allied forces are dropping lots of snow-white peace doves.

The FAA has cleared Santa's sleigh off on it's way,
a brand New Year remains only mere days away.
Be happy '01 is about to vanish from sight.
'02 will be better, hopefully free of more frights.

So I close with a reminder to keep your perspective,
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.

© Sandi Lynne 2001
*A few years ago, I wrote the first, Annual Christmas spoof, which was published here, and in Money. Days later, Bill Meehan's version was published on another website. Within hours, he sent me a note, complimenting me on my version, which he was gracious enough to suggest was far superior to his. Thereafter, Bill and I shared ideas, as well as poems for St. Patrick's Day, Passover--you name it, anytime either of us felt silly. Were he here, I'm sure Bill would have written a new version this year and, true to form, he would have hit the past year's market highlights on the head. So it is to Bill that I dedicate this year's poem--to Bill, and everyone else lost in one excruciatingly painful day that none of us will ever forget--a day that changed the world forever.

*Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal are registered trademarks of Dow Jones & Company, Inc.. Heard on the Street refers to editorial content appearing regularly in The Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones.

Sandi Lynne is the publisher of www.WallStreetInAdvance.com, a website dedicated to event-driven trading. Extensive publishing credits include the Sunday New York Times.

’Twas the Night Before Christmas is adapted from "A Visit From St. Nicholas," written by Clement Clarke Moore, over two hundred years ago.