Pete Kendall, who for a number of years chronicled those telling, all-important changes in Social Mood at his Socio Times website found this gem: "MasterCard taps into credit angst with Mr. Bill comeback." (Unfortunately Pete has decided to retire Socio Times, and we will be the worse for it.)
Mr. Bill, as anyone who watched Saturday Night Live in the early years knows, was a claymation clown who, no matter how bad things got, how perilous the situation, always was flattened in the end of the short film.
Writes Pete in his June 3rd post:
The return of a 1970’s icon fits because that was the last bear market of comparable size. Of course, this is also a bear market of much larger degree, so Mr. Bill’s creator is exactly right when he links his creation's newfound appeal to the mood of the 1930s. The economic set-up for a trend change of very high degree is covered in this month’s issue of The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast.
The fact that Mr. Bill now represents Mastercard is also… well, priceless. What better way to mark the entry to one of history’s great credit busts than through the hapless misadventures of a claymation figure. Also notice, the complete switcheroo in tone. The original Mastercard ads, which first appeared in the second half of the 1990s celebrated feel-good sensations like puppies, baseball and a night out on the town. In the new era, just “making it through the day” is “priceless.”
My comment: It's all good fun, I imagine, at MasterCard (MA) these days, after a huge initial public offering a couple of years ago and an equally huge, six-fold run-up in the price of its stock since May 2006, closing at 295.73 on June 6, 2008.
Sign of the top? I don't know. MasterCard makes money by processing credit card transactions, not issuing credit, so, unlike a bank, it has no delinquency or default risk, but if transaction volumes begin to decline as people use credit cards less frequently, its future earnings, and lofty stock price, perhaps may get a closer view of earth.
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