On Legs, Long Russian Legs
by Johnny DebacleRuminations on Russia posed this observation/question to Long or Short.
It was pointed out to me by several westerners coming in to Moscow this weekend that the airports were full of long-legged Russian beauties heading for the flesh spots of Europe. Where, it would seem that Moscow’s business community has decamped to (Moscow is Russia, but Russia is not Moscow). As the incomers lacked the cynicism of a long-term Muscovite, I felt it important to point out to them that they were probably the reserve/replacement high-class hookers heading to the south of France and Sardinia to replace those who have been on duty since early June.
So a question to Mr. Juggles, clearly now is a good time to be long legs, but is it possible to short legs in Moscow and be long them in the south of France?
Mr. Juggles is on a romantic Latin American holiday with Kaiser, so I’ll substitute for them. While it is possible to do the aforementioned pair trade, it is not recommended. Muscovite legs may indeed be experiencing a temporary outflow, but the imminent economic domination of Europe via Tsar Putin’s oil lasso combined with surging demand for nubile russian legs in Moscow ensures that this outflow is not sustainable; fundametal pressure is on the side of the Muscovite legs. The valuations multiples on Russian legs should expand as the price (implied or cash) converges with Western World leg prices; recent acquisition multiples have been bearing this out. We are bullish on attractive Russian women assets as a whole. There is the potential for a virtuous circle, for as the Russian rich get richer, the women around the rich get hotter (and able to command higher prices).
See related research Rallying Ruble, Russia: a Place to Invest or Fear? and If Russians Can’t Do It….
FYI if you are looking for nice pictures of legs, I recommend searching for “cuban heel”.
May I suggest that the parlance of the credit market may be more appropriate here – markets widening or tightening/loosening………..
The russian leg market is VERY VERY tight.
Really? you should some to London, in addition to the Russians we have many Eastern Europeans who have similar features…….
I live in London! Women here have a very high ceiling, lots of quality Eastern European assets.
Well it all comes down to cost of carry, Russians have a carry rate proportional to a) blondeness and b) leg length (this is a simplified model.
The optimum strategy, I believe is to be short a Russian – thus creating funding and long a Pole/Czech – who have similar characteristics yet are much lower maintenance thus creating a trade with many of the benefits of being long Russian but with a positive cost of carry.
Now as for the crack spreads…………
Those aren’t real shoes.
So everyone agrees that being long girls is negative carry. However, my friends made an interesting point the other day: If you have a girlfriend, you are long vega. There is going to to be a lot of volatility. If you are single and going out on the scene, then you are long gamma. You are hoping for large moves in the underlying…
Any thoughts?
Hm, daaa. As a Russian female London insider, let me, boys, tell you: you forgot an important concept: correlation. That is between the length of the legs, the degree of attractiveness to the volatility, cost of acquisition and maintenance. Even though 99.9% would be for sale, if it is, it is not worth it, believe me! When owning this attractive but expensive, unpredictable sports car accessory, your life is guaranteed to be filled with ALOT OF DRAMA, STRESS, INSECURITY and basically HELL! If you are up for riding these cycles you might as well try it.
And with Russians getting richer, the last offer I heard someone I know was approached with was £250,000 a night. With the inflation, however, sounds not that high – slightly more than what George Clooney got for a kiss from some random billionaire (or rather his girl-friend) in Cannes this week. And that would top Tatler’s April report on what some posh English long legs get these days around better parts of London. If you are still up to it, long or short, Annabele’s or Tramp in London are natural habitats for all Russian gold-digging creatures from 14 to 50. English gravitate towards Bujis, Cukoo and the plethora of other new cool places.
As for me, I belong to a different category, otherwise wouldn’t be on this blog.
Having just returned from Russia, I am recommening you close the long position on Russian legs. Based on the huge inventory I witnessed, Russia is most definitively long russian legs right now and at this point there is every threat of a massive oversupply imbalance.