I'm on the Sotheby's promotion email campaigns so I get notice of all the bigthings Sotheby's is offering for sale or auction. It used to be, years ago, when that venerable firm offered mostly old things with provenance and intrinsic value - antiques, paintings, coins, etc. is the term they applied to Louis XV ormolu-mounted girandoles. In that time, life was somewhat predictable and, well, language still had meaning.

So, I was shocked by an email notice of a March 26 Sotheby's sale of. One word I do not associatewith is . Smelly, torn, fungus, stained, dirty, maybe. But not by any stretch of the imagination.

What was Sotheby's thinking about? Here's the partial lot description of one ofthose sneakers:

$80,000 start price in a timed auction, where it evidently did not sell. Not to be discouraged, another exotic shoe did sell for $23,320, a coveted Nike SB Dunk Low Pro 'Freddy Kreuger Salesman Sample.

The next time someone complains about the price of some stock or bond, youcan point to these.