Gloomy Feelings for Consumers?

“Soaring gas prices and weaker job prospects made Americans gloomier about the economy,” says the Associated Press. It’s true that the Consumer Sentiment Index recently plummeted to a 26 year low, and now consumer confidence has reached its lowest level in five years. But, how useful are economic statistics for discerning the social mood of a nation? Take a peek at Robert Prechter’s report, “Predicting Economic and Monetary Trends.”

Time for a Madame President?

The presidential election is months away. The race remains tight on the Democratic side between Clinton and Obama. Think Hillary has a shot? Sure, she picked up a key win in Indiana and has racked up a host of superdelegates, but does she have the one key factor that could ensure electoral success? Find out here.

The Great Global Warming Debate

Spring is in the air and so is controversy over global warming. Read Robert Prechter’s socionomic perspective on the popular acceptance of the global warming phenomenon.

China: From Fame to Shame

Where opinion in the Free World is concerned, the People’s Republic has gone from guiding light of progress and global partnership to whistle in the darkness of scandal and disgrace.

Notice the timeline of descent:

  • February 2006: “China, Friend Of The American Consumer” (The Record, NJ)

  • April 2008: “The government of China is the enemy of all of us.” (Epoch Times, NY)

Ally to adversary, stardom to mar-dom, China’s reputation has come a long, wrong way round. MORE>>

We highly recommend the above article from Elliott Wave International

Protesters Flock to Olympic Torch

The Olympic torch is having a hard time making it to Beijing. Protests have marred relay events in London, Paris and San Francisco. Is the era of relative tranquility for the games over? Read our analysis of more than a hundred years of Olympic participation data.

Golf in Full Swing?

Now that the green jacket has been awarded in Augusta, it’s a good time to re-visit a socionomics classic from a decade ago that examines a positive correlation between golf’s popularity and social mood.

Journal of Behavioral Finance Publishes Paper by Prechter & Parker

The Journal of Behavioral Finance has published a paper by Robert R. Prechter, Jr., Executive Director of the Socionomics Institute, and Wayne D. Parker, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Socionomics Foundation. The paper’s citation is: Prechter, Robert R., Jr., and Wayne D. Parker (2007). “The Financial/Economic Dichotomy in Social Behavioral Dynamics: The Socionomic Perspective.” Journal of Behavioral Finance, 8(2), pp. 84-108. You may view the abstract and purchase subscriptions to the Journal here. Back issues are also available. We recommend this journal for anyone interested in the psychology of financial markets. For more information, read the press release at the Socionomics Foundation’s website at www.socionomics.org/press/fin_econ.aspx.

Air Force Major Writes About Socionomics

Maj. Tyson Hummel of the Air Command and Staff College, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base has permitted the Socionomics Foundation to post an excerpt from his master's thesis. It is a fascinating application of socionomics for America's economic and military future, titled "Is the Science of Socionomics Able to Portend a Change in the United States’ Economic Might?" Read it at www.socionomics.org/pdf/Hummel_US_Econ.pdf.

Prechter Comments on Fibonacci Study

Robert Prechter, Executive Director of the Socionomics Institute, has commented on a study of Fibonacci retracements and projections in the stock market that was reported recently in The Economist, London's Financial Times and elsewhere. The study, conducted by Roy Batchelor and Richard Ramyar at the Cass Business School in London, offers evidence to support a general conclusion about Fibonacci ratios in the stock market initially mentioned by Frost and Prechter in their 1978 presentation of R.N. Elliott's Wave Principle, a model of aggregate market behavior germane to socionomics. To read Prechter's analysis of this study, click www.socionomics.net/FiboStudy.

Socionomics Foundation Wins National Research Competition

The American Political Science Association recently announced that the Socionomics Foundation's questions about social mood were among those chosen from more than 1,100 proposed queries to be included an upcoming research project funded by the National Science Foundation. To read the press release concerning the award, visit www.socionomics.org/press/ANES.

Making History: An Interview with Film Director David Edmond Moore

David Edmond Moore’s documentary, History's Hidden Engine, breaks new ground in its exploration of socionomic theory. The film, which is freely available for viewing online, features interviews with many of the pioneers in this expanding field. We turned the tables and interviewed David about his thoughts on making the film.

Q: What inspired you to create a documentary on socionomics?
A: I first became interested in socionomics after reading Bob Prechter's report, "Popular Culture and The Stock Market." It was the first time I had heard of the Wave Principle. I found it remarkable that the stock market correlated with trends in fashion, movies and music. I wasn't really a finance guy. I was just out of school, and pop culture was what interested me. What drove it home for me was that after reading the report I noticed a correlation between the crash in 1987 and a change in the music of U2 and R.E.M. Both groups went from being just rock bands to releasing two very political albums in 87. Later still, after the market recovered from the 87 crash and we extended the massive bull market through the late 80s and 90s, U2 and R.E.M. released "happy" albums. U2 went so far as to call their album Pop. You can't say it any clearer.

Continue reading the interview.


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