IMPROVING ON THE WISDOM OF CROWDS—FISH.

IMPROVING ON THE WISDOM OF CROWDS—FISH. Although I found it interesting that day stock traders put in so much effort to talking to other traders, Jonah Lehrer (and the researchers at Northwestern that he cites) found something more interesting—a way that some traders seemed to boost their percentage of successful stock trades from 55% to over 70%. Every so often, following a news event, some traders acted “in sync”, trading “like a school of fish” (fish form schools and coordinate their behavior—without a leader—when faced with a dangerous predator). It was trades made at these times which had an over 70% success rate. The traders who more often managed to “sync up” were much more successful. I can’t help pointing out that the other traders are participants in the market. It reminds me of the old joke that rather than talk to a fisherman about how to catch fish, you’re better off talking to some fish.