Son of Sam's & Dangerous Dan's Investment Strategy

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In a study of investors' behavior 41 people with normal IQs were asked
to play a simple investment game. Fifteen of the group had suffered
lesions on the areas of the brain that affect emotions.

The result was those with brain damage outperformed those without.
The scientists found emotions led some of the group to avoid risks even
when the potential benefits far outweighed the losses, a phenomenon
known as myopic loss aversion.

One of the researchers, Antione Bechara, an associate professor of
neurology at the University of Iowa, said the best stock market
investors might plausibly be called "functional psychopaths."

Fellow author, Baba Shiv of Stanford Graduate School of Business said
many company chiefs and top lawyers may also show they share the same
trait. "Emotions serve an adaptive role in speeding up the
decision-making
process," said Shiv.

"However, there are circumstances in which a naturally occurring
emotional response must be inhibited, so that a deliberate and
potentially wiser decision can be made."