GIRL OF FOUR BEATS ASTROLOGER IN SHARE-BUYING TEST

GIRL OF FOUR BEATS ASTROLOGER IN SHARE-BUYING TEST

21 Mar 2001

From http://www.telegraph.co.uk, March 21

AS an astrologer who specialises in share dealing, Christeen Skinner really ought to have seen it coming.

Half way through an investment challenge against an expert and a four-year-old girl, her portfolio was underperforming. In fact the self-styled financial astrologer, who based her choices on the position of Jupiter, was languishing in third place.

Embarrassingly for her, and Mark Goodson, a private investor with years of experience, Tia Roberts, the four-year-old who randomly picked her shares, was hundreds of pounds up on them.

All three were given an imaginary £5,000 last Thursday to invest in an experiment, run as part of the British Association's National Science Week. At the close of the market on Monday, halfway through the test, Tia's investment was worth £4,956.36, Mr Goodson's £4,756.27 and Mrs Skinner's £4,553.01.

The experiment was organised by Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at Hertford University, Hatfield, who puts the claims of psychics, astrologers and ghost-hunters to the test.
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So much for astrologers!

Reginald Perrin
Sunshine Desserts Ltd
Surrey, UK.