Fear and Greed in Financial Markets: A Clinical Study of Day-Traders

Andrew Lo (), Dmitry V. Repin and Brett N. Steenbarger

No 11243, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We investigate several possible links between psychological factors and trading performance in a sample of 80 anonymous day-traders. Using daily emotional-state surveys over a five-week period as well as personality inventory surveys, we construct measures of personality traits and emotional states for each subject and correlate these measures with daily normalized profits-and-losses records. We find that subjects whose emotional reaction to monetary gains and losses was more intense on both the positive and negative side exhibited significantly worse trading performance. Psychological traits derived from a standardized personality inventory survey do not reveal any specific "trader personality profile", raising the possibility that trading skills may not necessarily be innate, and that different personality types may be able to perform trading functions equally well after proper instruction and practice.

JEL-codes: G12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cfn and nep-rmg
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (85)

Published as Lo, Andrew W., Dimitry V. Repin and Brett N. Steenbarger. "Fear And Greed In Financial Markets: A Clinical Study Of Day-Traders," American Economic Review, 2005, v95(2,May), 352-359.

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Journal Article: Fear and Greed in Financial Markets: A Clinical Study of Day-Traders (2005)
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