Thesecurities industryworldwide is constructedupon the quicksandof self-delusionand socially-acceptable confabulations. These serve to holdtogetherplayers and agents whose interests areboth disparate and diametricallyopposed. In thelong run, thesecurities markets arezero-sumgamesand the onlypossible outcome is win-lose. Thefirst "dirtysecret"is that afirm's market capitalizationoften stands in inverseproportionto its value and valuation(as measured byanobjective,neutral, disinterestedparty). This is trueespeciallywhen agents (management) arenot also principals(owners). .
