| Mean Markets and Lizard Brains applies a new science of irrationality to
personal finance. Conventional financial advice is based on the assumption
that both people and markets are rational. New research is uncovering
the reasons that real people and actual markets are often crazy. This
new work leads to novel insights into how and where to invest.
This book combines two of my passions: financial markets and the
scientific study of human nature. I had my first taste of speculation back
in the early 1980s. Because of asbestos litigation, the price of Johns
Manville Corporation’s stock approached zero. I thought the low price
was irrational so I bought some shares. The stock went up over 20% the
day after I bought it; I sold my shares and pocketed several weeks’worth
of my salary.
This trade had two effects. First, I acquired a taste for financial markets.
I have been actively involved for more than 20 years, and have
broadened my scope beyond buying stocks to include options, bonds,
gold, currencies, and more. Second, I was puzzled by a market that produced
opportunities like Manville almost for free (Warren Buffett also
recognized the value and eventually bought the firm). |
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 | | | | Cyberspace Textuality: Computer Technology and Literary TheoryComputers were once thought of as number-crunching machines; but for most of us it is their ability to create worlds and process words that have made them into a nearly indispensable part of life. As Jacques Leslie puts it, if computers are everywhere, it is because they have grown into "poetry machines." The term "cyberspace"... |
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