Who are these men?

There's nothing like pictures of fear and failure to capture the public imagination. I've never seen so many nameless men find their 15 minutes of fame. Every time I click "re-load" on CNN another snapshot of a depressed, dumbstruck stock broker pops up.

What am I supposed to feel? Sad, sorry, worried? Me, I'm amused. Every time I see one of these photos, I picture lots of middle-aged men wondering around the stock market floor tugging at their ties, running their hands through their hair, trying to act as stressed-out as possible so maybe someone with a camera will catch them and they'll get their time in the lime light.

I mean, how do we even know that these are real stockbrokers? Look at the pictures below...

That first guy is playing Mahjong on his computer, and clearly he is pondering his next move.

That next dude? He just called the golf course and realized he can't book his four-some until 10am. He just doesn't know if they'll make it for the 2:30 New York Jets kick-off.

The next so-called downtrodden "stock-broker"? You think that's coffee in his styrofoam cup? Guess again... that Ice-E turned right into brain freeze, and he's wishing he had just slowed down while he was drinking...

You tell me that's the Tokyo stock market and a down-on-his luck trader? I say prove it. I bet that's just some Japaneese father who is going to miss the season premier of Desperate Housewives because his train is delayed.

That guy in the tie on the steps? That's no stock trader. He's just a Cubs fan.






So, don't be confused when you see these pictures of wanna-be e-traders pop up. Judge them for what they are... phony.


Phony, indeed.