“It’s an old stereotype but true,” said Richard Peterson, a psychiatrist who specializes in investment psychology. “Women access their emotional center,” tapping into how they feel about a purchase. Men typically don’t. Turns out, he added, those emotions lead to better decision-making.

When enough people do the same thing, it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy… until the market behavior shifts. This is why “technical analysis” works for quite a while until it doesn’t, at which time it fails spectacularly. Witness also all the ‘models’ that companies were using for investment in CDOs and MBS(s).