Absurdity is All Around Us

Okay, that last post was a little nerdy, so let’s lighten it up a bit.

At any given time there are many things in this world that make absolutely no sense to me.  I assume you feel the same way.  And if you cannot see the absurdity surrounding you, you probably should start seeing a therapist.

I’ve been noticing this absurdity more recently. The last time this happened to me was when Ariba’s market cap hit $40 billion.  I’m not calling another bubble, but there is some crazy stuff happening.  Some of this absurdity is related to bubble-like investing, much of it just comes from being an old man with too much time on his hands at night.  Here’s my current list of stuff that makes no sense:

1.  There are definitely more mutual funds (never mind ETFs) than public stocks.  The number of public stocks keeps dropping but mutual funds never seem to die.  That does not make sense (for investors).
2. It does not make sense to me that suppliers, many of whom have higher costs of capital than their buyers, almost always extend credit well beyond the time period necessary for buyers to accept the goods.  (The little guy with no cash becomes the banker!) Many VCs and companies recognize this problem–too many!   We now appear to have more “alternative lending” small business platforms in the US than there are small businesses to lend to!  Slight exaggeration, but you get the point.
3. Energizer just introduced Eco Advanced Batteries made with 4% recycled batteries.  Four percent–and they do this with a completely straight-face.  Look for the term “Eco” and the use of the color green to become regulated shortly.
4. It makes no sense that live sports on television is now simply a brief interlude between erectile dysfunction, diabetes drug, beer, and fantasy sports commercials.  Note also that these products should not be used together.
5. I continue to maintain that most food delivery services, especially the high-end healthy dinners and snack providers will never move beyond a few wealthy enclaves on the coasts.  They will also be the first companies to go down the tubes when things slow down–which they always do.  (Perhaps these companies should also deliver diabetes drugs and beer.)
6. Last night I saw a commercial for a new diabetes drug, Invokana.  Two commercials later was a commercial by a plaintiff’s attorney trolling for Invokana patients wanting to sue based on Invokana’s side effects–which I could still recite from memory.  Would it not just be more efficient for the FDA to force the drug companies to include plaintiff attorney phone numbers in the drug commercial itself right after the side effect disclosure?
7. Okay, last one on pharmaceutical commercials.  Are the “characters” representing diseases really necessary?  Okay the Mucinex Man (voiced by TJ Miller of Silicon Valley fame) rocks.  But what about the Tanzeum guy?  That is not a character, it is just an animated sandwich sign.  And the Xifaxan guy who represents irritable bowel syndrome!  I hope he gets sued by JarJarBinks.