Nov

19

Much has been written on Daily Speculations about the correlation of music and markets. I've found quite a lot of literature comparing charts with the notes on a musical score. Vic and Laurel have written extensively about this, and quite a number of articles have appeared in Daily Speculations comparing music with markets and trading. I, myself happen to be blessed/cursed with perfect pitch. I was diagnosed with this affliction/talent at a very early age, and my parents always attributed it to the amount and variety of music we had around the house. Later on, I did some reading about it and found much so contradictory information regarding perfect pitch as to render it useless. The curse of it has been that I simply cannot listen to things like beginning orchestras, or bad karaoke singers, which are like fingers on a chalkboard to me. I find myself out of my comfort zone when listening to "less than perfect" pitch which appears quite frequently in day to day living…

I've noticed that perfect pitch also can help me stay out of a bad situation when I'm in the market, and all of the sudden where it's trading effortlessly in what could be compared to a C-Major scale, then it suddenly shifts to a to a C-sharp minor. Such shifts are often a good indicator of the ever changing cycles in the market, especially when a flat note appears out of the blue. It has been my observation that my perfect pitch has allowed me to keep from stepping on the many landmines that the mistress of the market spreads in our path, however this is anecdotal and cannot be proved… I would be interested if any psychologist has ever studied the prevalence of traders with perfect pitch (sometimes referred to as absolute pitch), and the effects of such. I would also be interested in any anecdotes from Vic and Laurel, or any readers of their experiences with perfect pitch. Perhaps I'm going up another blind alley, but this is a subject that should, or ought to be quantified. One blessing of perfect pitch is that I can tune any stringed instrument by ear, which amazes my friends.

Nigel Davies writes:

N DaviesStrong chess players are similarly pained when they see a move which isn't in keeping with the position. And coming from a musical family I've long been fascinated by the connection between music and chess, outstanding practitioners of both having been Mark Taimanov (GM and concert pianist), Lajos Portisch (GM and singer), Vassily Smyslov (GM and singer) and Andre Philidor (the leading player of his day and operatic composer).

One theory I have is that whilst music represents harmony within differentiated sound, chess has a similar kind of harmony within differentiated space. Is it too fanciful to believe that markets are similar in having a harmony within differentiated price? I don't think so, and it's interesting to speculate that many list members have an interest in all three disciplines precisely because of this similarity.

Jim Sogi adds:

The physics of many musical instruments do not allow them to be in consistent tune on the various octaves. For example, a guitar is not perfectly in tune along its neck and for open strings at the same time and requires some fiddling with the nut and bridge to get the notes to be consistent along the length of the neck. The Buzz Feiten tuning system is a corrective measure to address these issues. I submit that the mechanics of the market do not allow perfect tuning and harmony, and some discordance is inevitable.

Laurence Glazier writes:

Seeing the similarities between music and market is bound to be helpful, but is unlikely to be predictive. They remain two different fields. An analogy in music would be to take the first several chords of a Bach Chorale and try (without sight of them) to predict the next few chords. Or likewise to predict the next few moves of a great chess player. So while the Market may walk with a recognizable gait, that might be as far as it goes.

I'd also suggest that while it seems that the rules have broken down, it is just that things are playing out faster, Volatility nudges the metronome setting - but interference by government is stirring the pot. When writing music one may adjust the harmonic rhythm for dramatic effect, perhaps there is are equivalents in the market to changes in the durations of chords in a chorale, or to a series of measures on a dominant pedal.

Laurel Kenner writes:

I play a lot of chamber music, and learned recently that string players tune to A=441. Pianos are tuned to A=440. The strings tune to the higher frequency for more "presence."

The market abounds in such slippage, and sometimes it pays not to argue over a the odd quarter-point.

Jim Sogi adds:

J SogiOne more comment on this subject. Playing music, one never really hits a perfect pitch. There's no emotional content to it. That's why those funky Kmart keyboards sound so bad, they are in perfect pitch. A good singer, a guitar player, a violin player, all waver around the note with vibrato, or bend up to the note or bend down to the note, and move it around, stretch it, giving it much more powerful feeling of discomfort and resolution in a subtle manner.

Let's take today, Friday, in the market. A straight run up after the gap would not have had nearly the emotional impact the midday drops to new lows, the wavering about the bottoms, and the strong surprise finish. That's emotion.


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