Social media: Unlikely culprit for the death of volatility?

London

MARK Mobius, the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, reckons he's identified a surprising culprit for the slump in volatility currently afflicting financial markets - the rise of social media. Moreover, a survey of 2,800 millionaires in seven different countries by UBS Group AG's wealth management unit delivers at least some support to his contention that a glut of untrustworthy information is suppressing price moves.

Dr Mobius said last week that people's attention spans are getting shorter as the output from social media increases. As a result, he says investors end up sitting on their hands rather than reacting to new information. Social media is having a huge impact. It's creating confusion with a lot of false news. Ironically, it's having a calming effect. If you have all this confusing information, and you don't know which one is true and which one is false, …