Over at Smart Money (yes, Smart Money), Dan Burrows has an interesting write-up on a study that relates the tempos of popular music to what's going on in the stock market.

According to Polytechnic Institute of New York University prof Phil Maymin, when the market goes bonkers (like now), people prefer music with steady, drum machine-like beats. When the market is more predictable, that's when people like music with tempos all overt he place (anyone remember "Thong Song?").

We hate to poke holes in theories (especially ones by seasoned academics), but the main problem with this one may be that most of the listeners who make these pop song hits are around ages 13-26, and probably too young to really be reacting to changes in the stock market (unless their parents' behavior reflects said changes). Anyway, if you want to read an abstract of the study, click here.