I like analogies to illustrate a point. I find they can help create a better understanding of a concept.

This morning as I prepared to send today's newsletter, it struck me that our seller's (be they traders, trade desks, private sellers or institutions) are very much like the Prince in Cinderella, searching for the foot that fits his love's glass slipper.

The challenge for the Seller is to find the exact matching foot so he can sweep away its owner to the castle. The castle, in this case, is the place where the transaction can be consummated.

If the shoe fits, the Buyer (Cinderella) gets to go into the castle with the Prince (Seller) and buy his/her paper. Here's where 99.99% of Buyer's fail: They try to shove a mismatched foot (their procedures) into the glass slipper.

The Prince isn't fooled; he knows a faker trying to shoe-horn his way (pardon the pun) into his castle. Like the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella, the Buyer wants to get in, but his procedures just do not fit the slipper, so the Prince moves on to the next house (Buyer) in search of the exact foot. Now, unlike the ugly stepsisters whose foot size cannot be changed, each Buyer can change his procedures to match the glass slipper and go to the castle with the Seller.

What I have seen is that so many ugly stepsisters don't want to change their foot size (procedure) to match the slipper, so they go away empty-handed. Of course, they never take responsibility for being the cause of their own failure to buy. So they blame it on everyone else--- either the brokers, or the sellers. It's actually pretty dumb, but this happens so many times each week, it seems that the broader base of would-be buyers just don't get it.

The Buyer does NOT get to dictate how he will pay for something from the Seller. It is up to the Seller to decide what forms of payment he will accept and how he will accept it. You cannot walk into Harrod's or Neiman Marcus and offer to pay for your producers with a donkey or a sheep! Why in the world would you insist on buying something that the Seller is unwilling to accept. Are you seriously looking for paper? Or are you just tire-kicking?