The 2016 Social Mood Conference:

H. Eugene Stanley, the William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor at Boston University and one of the founders of econophysics, presented a study by him and his colleagues that examined highly detailed financial data using statistical methods commonly employed in physics. They observed that the fluctuations in price, volume and trading frequency near turning points are so similar to certain physical processes that the underlying phenomenon, they believe, is likely the same.

Robert Prechter, founder and president of Elliott Wave International and founder of the Socionomics Institute, challenged the widely held assumption that laws of supply and demand govern the price of oil. He presented a wealth of evidence showing that Elliott waves, not supply and demand, regulate the price of oil.

Alastair J. Macdonald, a Zimbabwean-born investment consultant, writer, entrepreneur and an ex-professional hunter and safari guide, gave a fascinating personal account of how he first encountered socionomics and how he has used the science to guide his career.

Robert Folsom, 25-year veteran writer for Elliott Wave International, presented “Mood’s Past is Present: The Facts, Faces and Sounds of Polarized Politics in America.” Robert used humor and a wealth of evidence to show that while we may feel like the modern political scene is unprecedentedly fractious, we have indeed been here before—more than once.

Nerissa Brown, associate professor of accounting at the University of Delaware, presented “Herd Behavior in Capital Markets: A Socionomic Perspective.” She explained the debate surrounding rational behavior in financial and economic settings and described many findings of herding among investors, analysts, mutual fund managers, and also in financial reporting, corporate disclosures, issuing of restatements and adopting accounting standards.