Market value is not collecting value

A rising price is evidence of demand, not of importance. The market’s oldest trick is persuading you the two are one thing.

A saleroom applauds when a lot beats its estimate — real applause, not a polite ripple, and the further the hammer overshoots the louder the room gets. It is loudest for the lots the catalogue had already named as the sale’s stars. Everyone is clapping for a number. They would say they are clapping for the watch, and some of them believe it, but the wat…