Andrew Clark's On America blog

The force is with you, traders, but you are not Jedis yet

Darth Vader surprises Wall Street by ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange
Darth Vader rings the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange

May the force be with you, Wall Street stockbrokers. Flanked by a "colour guard" of humourless stormtroopers, Darth Vader helped ring the opening bell this morning on the New York Stock Exchange.

Share prices have obliged the Sith Lord by advancing in a positive direction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day with a rise of 50 points to 10,464. There's nothing like a prod with a lightsaber to get investors into the buying mood.

Darth Vader's presence on Wall Street was a Christmas publicity stunt organised by George Lucas's production company, Lucasfilm, on the dubious premise of celebrating "30 years as the number one selling licensed toy property in the US". The pint-sized android R2-D2 got to mingle with unimpressed looking floor traders afterwards.

Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper has asked for caption suggestions to go with a shot of Darth on the stock exchange floor. Strangely, most of those mooted on the paper's website so far seem to involve references to the dark arts of Goldman Sachs.

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