The Enigma Broker

“Well, we have a saying here at the Merc; the best thing to cure high prices, is high prices!”

Claudia laughed at her insider joke humor, while Jim looked on dispassionately. Realizing the joke didn’t translate to non-futures traders, she quickly added, “As prices go up and up, the lure of profits brings more entrants into the commodity production business. That then adds to the supply which then leads to downward pricing pressure. Usually the high cost producer is the first to retool their business model, or exit the business. The survivors return to business as usual, or almost. This time, however, it appears that no one is blinking at the game of corporate chicken so no one is saying ‘I quit.’ The supply numbers are stubbornly high, and everyone is suffering.”

Claudia offered Jim a seat then turned around to seat herself. She allowed her dress to ride up farther than necessary to properly seat herself but not enough to qualify for a porno ad. Jim, somewhat disgusted with the flagrant display, was nonetheless unable to turn off his male scoping abilities, so he readily enjoyed the show. Claudia went on to re-cross her legs in such a way as to have Jim focus on how high up her legs her nylons traveled. Claudia seemed to be spending a lot of unnecessary time straightening herself and the tight fitting dress, in Jim’s estimation.

Finally growing tired of the female display, Jim asked, “If your clothes are so uncomfortable, why don’t you go change them? I’m sure your antics play well for the futures traders trying to get ahead, but, frankly, I am here on government business. And only that. Your repacking the female goods in a spray-on dress act doesn’t contribute to our information exchange. Please let me be clear; I am ONLY here to exchange information, understand?

“If need be, I can have your supervisor take a call from my supervisor with potential results. You can be selling your goods as SPAM email offerings for lonely Russian girls seeking male companionship. Now, is the floor show over?”

Claudia was somewhat taken aback by the no-nonsense attitude of this impressive man. She really didn’t want to give up trying to engage him in Business Seduction, but she didn’t want to test his character any farther since his threat sounded legitimate.

She tugged her dress line down and quietly offered, “You must have a very special lady back home to resist such an easy invitation, but alright, have it your way. You see, we get two kinds of people in here; people wanting an advantage and those offering help. My job is to find out which kind of person you are and then engineer the next step. Frankly, we don’t get many in here to help.”

Claudia studied Jim for a few brief seconds, and then she stated, “Let’s talk about how commodity prices are set and why they are not working correctly now. You had asked about coal production in this country specifically, but coal is produced globally. That can help or hurt domestic prices. We watch all markets, but something is wrong, really wrong.”