Did you make it to Sotheby’s or Christie’s for the auctions? No? Well, in case you haven’t noticed, it was a big week in the art world. Claude Monet’s “Haystacks” sold for $110 million—a record for his work and for any impressionist—and Jeff Koons’ sculpture “Rabbit” went for $91 million—a record for a living artist.
In 1986 when “Rabbit” was created by Koons, Monet’s “Haystacks” was sold for $2.5 million or two percent of what it sold for this week. But what’s changed? Instead of reading about greed, ambition, class and politics in Bonfire of the Vanities we stream Billions.
Your Survival Guy’s takeaways:
- Easy money and Bull Markets are the breeding grounds of fools. When $91 million is paid for a sculpture that looks like a balloon from Disney, everyday investors need to pay attention.
- $110 million is 44X what “Haystacks” sold for in 1986 and the Fed says there’s no inflation. What’s happened to the dollar then?
- $200 million for a couple pieces of art. The word untethered comes to my mind.
- “Haystacks” and “Rabbit” won’t put food on your table. What’s your survival plan if you own dead assets that depend on another “sucker” paying you a higher price for them?
- Time to make adjustments to your portfolio to protect yourself from the downsides of asset inflation.
Read part I here.
