Do Women Make Better Traders Than Men?

A new study published this week suggests that women are better parkers than men. This may well be the case but the study reminded The Hedge of the wonderful statistic that 78% of drivers think they are above average! And if the study involved a group of fedora-wearing octogenarian blokes in 1983 Volvos up against professional female speedway drivers, the results might be easier to swallow. These studies are, of course, deliberately ridiculous and are mostly designed to generate debate, sell a product of some sort or obtain the next study grant and further delay the ‘academic’ author having to get a real job.

So what are the parallels with trading? Which gender, if either has the natural advantage? For the sake of argument, we will have to generalise, so men who know they are better multi-taskers and women who know they are more logical will just have to put up with the stereotyping! And, most importantly, this is just a bit of light-hearted fun, so regardless of whether you prefer to keep your genitals inside or outside your body, take a chill-pill and don’t get your knickers or boxers in a twist!

The Parking Study, conducted in the UK, found that women were more careful parkers but they took 30% longer to complete the task. This must mean women are also more considered traders and take the time to identify setups more carefully. Conversely, they may miss some opportunities by waiting too long. On the other hand, the study found that men often missed parking spots by rushing through car parks, ergo they need to take more time over their scanning so as not to miss a setup.

The study also found that a third of women and just a quarter of men reversed into spaces. Leaving aside the staggering revelation that neither gender prefers to reverse-park – and would be eaten alive in Sydney, where you often need a lubricant to squeeze into the anorexic parking spaces – this finding clearly indicates that female traders would be better at trade entries but suggests both genders need to do more work on their Gann retracement angles.

Men were happier with their first parking attempt too. Only 29% choose to re-position their vehicles, while most women shuffle back and forth to obtain a better final position, with the result that more than half of women, but only a quarter of men, parked centrally in the space. This clearly indicates that women are better at managing a trade and will adjust their position in line with the parameters of their trading plan and goals.

One unsurprising finding from the study was that men liked to ‘pose park’ when they had a female passenger, often choosing to shoe-horn themselves into a smaller space when a larger one was available. While it is not known if this result was limited to red sports car drivers with performance anxieties and leaving aside the obvious Freudian implications, perhaps men like to take more risk, which may or may not be good for their trading, depending on their, errr, prowess.

The driving instructor who set the scoring system said: ”I was quite surprised by the results, because in my experience men have always been the best learners and usually performed better in lessons. ‘However, it’s possible that women have retained the information better. The results also appear to dispel the myth that men have better spatial awareness than women.”

So, does this study confirm that women are better traders than men? Are the parallels compelling and the analogy prudent? Or have you already realised how silly this article is and are about to click on to You Tube. Leave a comment and vote in our online poll: