naked capitalism Tue 2009-12-29 09:03 EST

Guest Post: Investor Psychology ... Fear Turns People Into Sheep

George Washington

Investors are basically rational, right? In fact, as many studies have demonstrated, the answer is no...Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe. For the most part people completely ignore contrary information...

Fear Turns People; Guest Post; Investor psychology; naked capitalism; sheep.

Credit Writedowns Wed 2009-10-14 12:12 EDT

Currencies pegged to the dollar under pressure to drop peg

...as the dollar continues to weaken, those countries with pegs will be under pressure to drop their peg or to revalue their pegs higher. The Bloomberg video linked below explains. The dichotomy whereby the adjustment process is done only through free-floating currencies is inherently unstable -- and invites a nationalistic response. A busted peg in any major U.S. trading partner's currency is likely to have a very negative psychological impact on currency markets and severe knock-on effects... [dollar losing reserve status]

credit writedowns; currency pegs; Dollar; drop peg; pressures.

Calculated Risk Tue 2009-09-08 14:43 EDT

Survey: ``The Anguish of Unemployment''

CalculatedRisk

Unemployment survey by the Rutgers University John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development: A comprehensive national survey conducted among 1,200 Americans nationwide who have been unemployed and looking for a job in the past 12 months, including 894 who are still jobless, portrays a shaken, traumatized people coping with serious financial and psychological effects from an economic downturn of epic proportion.

Anguish; Calculated Risk; survey; unemployment.

Tue 2009-06-16 00:00 EDT

AlterNet: Conservatives Live in a Different Moral Universe -- And Here's Why It Matters

by Tom Jacobs; Jonathan Haidt ``Morality is not just about how we treat each other, as most liberals think. It is also about binding groups together and supporting essential institutions''; psychology of morality

AlterNet; Conservatives live; Different Moral Universe; matter; s.

Sun 2008-05-18 00:00 EDT

Calculated Risk: Shiller on the Psychology of Foreclosure

by Tanta

Calculated Risk; foreclosures; psychological; Shiller.

Sun 2008-05-18 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: Bail Out Housing to Salve Damaged Psyches

Shiller on psychology of foreclosure

bailed; Housing; naked capitalism; Salve Damaged Psyches.

Tue 2007-09-11 00:00 EDT

Hussman Funds - Weekly Market Comment: September 10, 2007 - Waiting for the Witch Doctor

by John P. Hussman; "whatever the Fed does, the impact will be almost entirely psychological"

2007; Hussman Funds; September 10; waiting; weekly market comments; witch doctor.