The Winning Entry: 7th Annual "Insider Trading Poetry Compet
Published: May 02, 2011
The cruel month of April is finally over. As is the 7th Annual "Insider Trading Poetry Contest." Which means the judges have decided on a winner. And that winner is ...
THE CRAVEN
by Christopher von Corswant
Once upon a trading frenzy, while I talked to a friend at McKinsey,
Not over BlackBerry but a disposable phone and in codes of morse,
While we babbled, about SEC dabble, suddenly there was a rapping,
As if someone was tapping, tapping us talking about blue horse,
'Tis the Feds' I yelled, 'tapping me of course!'
Only this, and they had found their source...
Von Corswant's entry impressed the judges due to it name-checking the largest insider trading case in a generation (the U.S. v. Rajaratnam) as well as the greediest fictional inside trader of all time (the phrase "blue horse," of course, played a prominent part in Oliver Stone's Wall Street). We were also impressed by the entry's creative use of rhyme (who knew frenzy rhymed with McKinsey?) and remaining faithful to the phrasing and meter of the poem upon which it was based: Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."
Congratulations, Christopher.
And thanks to all of you who submitted your insider trading poetry.
("The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe)
(Related: 7th Annual "Insider Trading Poetry Competition")