Linking Testosterone and Financial Market Performance

I bet each of you are questioning what's with the title.

This derives from the latest findings from a British study. The study has found that finance desk jockeys with high levels of testosterone are more likely to have a profitable day. The study involves sampling the naturally occurring steroid levels of 17 traders at a big bank in the city of London. The conclusion was that the more testosterone a trader had in the morning, the more money they made for their bank. Thus, the testosterone level may be a biological explanation for the recent twist and turns on global financial markets.

However, the researchers also believe that the downturn may be contributed by another hormone, cortisol, which is a stress hormone. Cortisol responds really strongly if you put an animal or a human in a situation of uncertainty, novelty or uncontrollability. The researchers believe cortisol may cloud the judgement of people in charge.

The big hypothesis is that extreme levels of testosterone exaggerate financial market bubbles, and extreme levels of cortisol exaggerate a financial market crash. Therefore, the testosterone and cortisol levels might be the biological explanation for what happens when the markets become so volatile.