Forget the bulls and bears. According to a recent news report, anthropologists are looking at a different group of animals for hints about how our “investor brains” evolved. Monkeys are the worst, as they get “easily excited at the next big investment opportunity in hopes of making a killing. Not much thought goes into what they do.” We assume anyone involved in flipping condos or speculating on dot-com stocks would qualify as a monkey.

Lizards play it too safe: they “defy logic when investing and get a rush of adrenaline that tells them they are about to be killed in the market.” Right, buy high, sell low, go broke. So, who’s left to make a killing? Squirrels, of course: “The squirrel brains are often the most successful investors. These guys take the time to hunt for nuts to store for the future instead of eating them all in one place.” Dull, right? Maybe so, but while the monkey and lizard don’t end up with much over the long term, the squirrels “build their savings with monthly nut deposits, then sit back in the tree and enjoy their leisure time without worry.”

Anthropologists use animals to describe investing traits [Chicago Tribune]

(Photo: blue_j)

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