Predictably unfashionable

Copyblogger last week told me to cross-dress my blog - to write an article from the point of view of the opposite sex, or someone of a different age.

So I have been wondering "What would missmarketcrash write?" And it became clear that the ideal article would blend a cynical attitude to the financial markets with a comment about the latest fashion accessories.

Fortunately, the perfect news story showed up in yesterday's paper. The Philips Rationalizer consists of an Emobracelet, worn on the wrist, and an Emobowl which displays your emotional responses to warn you if you are getting too irrational and need to step away from the terminal for a while.

It's recommended for use by stockmarket traders who may be susceptible to asset price bubbles. Mainly targeting the home day-trader market, but who's to say professional traders wouldn't benefit from it too? While that research claims to show that higher testosterone results in higher trading profits, I suspect that was only true in a broadly rising market. In a market which is more volatile and not producing returns above the long-run average, returns should be risk-neutral or possibly risk-negative, depending on the trading strategy.

But the important thing is that according to this site - admittedly not quite the November issue of Vogue - it "is actually cool looking" when you wear it.

Perhaps it will be the hot accessory of the fall season among hedgefundistas keen to demonstrate that their quantitative strategies are purely rational and have no basis in market sentiment. This item may give some insight into the fashion choices of such people, but I am not sure if that research has yet been carried out. Or whether the industry really wants to go there.

Comments

missmarketcrash said…
ha. if my blog-cross-dressed, I'd have to become a raging bull on the market and throw in some football references. ugh. As much as I like to think I can keep up with the boys, I'd never get there...I mean really...

On the other hand, the blog could pull off being a gay guy- I once bought some shares because the stock certificate was umm...pretty. How ridiculous. But I was passing it on as a gift. I can completely picture the success of a gay guy investment column in the FT..."The Bullish Bear...You Are Oh So Lucky to Know Him."...

Popular posts from this blog

Is bad news for the Treasury good for the private sector?

What is the difference between cognitive economics and behavioural finance?

Dead rats and dopamine - a new publication