Does Sothey's downgrade bode poorly for the book trade...

Arguably, it is sad when a $270 million dollar sale is considered a "failure". Then again, the estimates for the sale were $400-550 million...so it is all relative. Personally, I was surprised "The Fields" didn't sell...I just really like the backstory that it was the painting hanging over van Gogh's bed as he lay dying.

The interesting issue is that the Street has treated it as a bellwether of a chilling at the high end of the market and other blurbs relate it to the softening of the real estate and broader market. This is all well and good...my question, because it effects me, is whether we will be seeing a hit in the book market and at what level.

Rising gas prices and the softening economy has, arguably, begun hitting the lower end of the market as people are feeling tighter about discretionary money. It appears the high end of the market is becoming cautionary as well. It will be interesting to see how the big fairs perform over the next several months.

N.B. Sotheby's has been on the short end of the analysts' lists before and has proven them wrong...it will be fun to watch, regards.