Exciting Period

Emmy talks about the run on Northern Bank and the period leading up to GFC. But Mary jokes about why Little Johnny thinks a period is so exciting.

Emmy sat reading the stock market analysis in his bed when Mary came in.

"Anything exciting?" she asked, as she got in bed.

"Yeah," said Emmy, "Northern Rock has had the first run on a British bank in more than a century. Its price has crashed."

"On 17 Sep 2007, Chancellor Alistair Darling dramatically intervened to try and end this crisis by agreeing to guarantee all deposits held by Northern Rock."

"He said savers will not lose a penny and that his action was motivated by the "importance I place on maintaining a stable banking system".

"Should be an exciting period ahead if one were to buy its shares now, as Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also just implied that he won't let it fail."

"European Central Bank and US Fed have already pumped in huge amounts of cash in the market to boost liquidity, and Mervin

King might just have to take a U-turn on his "No pumping" stance. What about your day?"

"Oh nothing as exciting as a run on a bank," she answered, "pumping central bankers or jumping share markets. All is quiet on the home front. But I did hear a joke about another kind of exciting period today."

Emmy put away his laptop and looked at her.

"Called Little Johnny's Assignment," she began, "it tells of a kindergarten teacher who had given a homework assignment to her kids."

They were to share with the class anything exciting they found the day before. Now little Johnny had been building up a reputation to be a little crude. So, when the time came for the little kids to give their reports, the teacher called them one at a time."

"She had been reluctant to call upon Johnny, but eventually his turn came."

"He walked slowly up to the blackboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and made a small dot on the blackboard. Then he slowly walked back and sat back down."

"As nobody could fathom what he was on about and he hadn't uttered a word, a frustrated expectation built up in the class. When the teacher couldn't bear it any longer, she asked him to explain himself."

"It's a period," said Johnny, unusually restrained.

"Well I can see that!" she said, "But what is so exciting about a period?"

"Damned if I know," said Johnny, "but this morning my sister said she missed one. Then Daddy had a heart attack, Mommy fainted and the man next door shot himself."