People wait to cross a street in front of an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm in Tokyo. AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi People wait to cross a street in front of an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm in Tokyo. AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi
Every week, hosts Joe Weisenthal and Tracy
Alloway take you on a not-so-random walk through hot topics in markets,
finance and economics.
When most people analyse the stock market, they look at
stuff like revenues, earnings, valuations and economic conditions.
But some
people like to look at the Billboard music charts or what kinds of films are
popular at any given moment.
On this week's Odd Lots, we talk to Matt Lampert,
director of research at the Socionomics Institute, which attempts to
analyze the market by looking at the nation's social mood.
And there's no
better way to examine society's mood than by looking at pop culture.
Are horror
movies in vogue? Are people listening to upbeat pop songs?
Read also: Wait-and-see after the recent storm in the market
Each of these
things, according to Lampert, can offer a clue about the state of the nation
and therefore which way the market will go next.