No Such Thing As Bad Publicity Dept.: Etch a Sketch Stock Price Triples After Political Comment

Buy the rumor, sell the news.

That bit of wisdom has traditionally influenced the buying and selling of stocks. The theory is to get in before anything is confirmed - like facts - so that you can profit from all the other suckers who actually took the time to think about it. You then sell once they follow your lead and have driven the price up.

Etch a Sketch is a generations-old childs' toy that enables the player to mechanically make pictures on a screen which can then be automatically erased so there is no trace of the previous effort.

The Etch a Sketch 'controversy' flared when the spokesperson for an otherwise credible US Presidential candidate employed the unfortunate 'EaS' metaphor to describe what would happen to his boss' positions on the major issues of the day once he got past the primaries, in which he has attempted to address the skepticism of an ideologically inflexible electorate by taking positions not usually considered acceptable in polite company - at least in this century. The presumption from this offhand comment is that once the erstwhile candidate has won his party's nomination he will revert to policy prescriptions less closely aligned with those of the pre-revolutionary French or Russian royal families.

Equity traders, evidently bored or otherwise desperate for growth-oriented investment ideas not containing the word 'Apple,' were so taken with this obscure reference that they ran the price of the toy's parent company's stock up to its highest level in over a year. There is some doubt as to how sustainable this movement may be, but it does firmly cement the rising suspicion that the line between entertainment and politics has all but disappeared. JL

Jim Newell comments, tongue firmly in cheek, in Wonkette:

Stock traders, whose job is just to make reactive whimsical trades after every mealy-mouthed central bank and cable news idiot statement within ten minutes, were quick to get in on the action: Ohio Arts, the company that makes Etch A Sketches in China, saw its stock price more than triple When Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom said something about Etch A Sketches on CNN yesterday, America’s children all immediately ran to the toy store to pick up their copies, because nothing moves consumer retail spending in the children’s toy market quite like a Mitt Romney aide making an unfortunate metaphor on morning cable television.

National Journal writes:

Romney’s primary opponents and critics jumped on the comments. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., each made appearances with Etch A Sketch toys. Santorum spokesperson Alice Stewart was out handing the toys outside of an event. The DNC also pounced.

Ohio Art, OART:OTC US on the stock exchange, started yesterday at $4.00 per share and finished the day at $12.50 per share.

From there it’s a clear shot to $150.25, by next week! Let’s check on the latest price, just to ensure it’s sticking to this exponential trajectory: $12.50, 52 week high. SELL IT NOW.