Reach for the runes

Predicting the ups and downs of the world's stock markets takes lots of luck and no little judgement but if these precious commodities are in short supply, there's always hair. Yes, hair or more specifically the length of Japanese women's locks. The Nikkei Business Daily recently reported that in the years of economic growth leading up to 1990, 60 per cent of women in Tokyo or Osaka had long or "semi-long" hair according to a survey by Kao, a cosmetics company. But in 1997, when the economy was in deep trouble, the nation's hairdressers were busy and shorter hair was in vogue.

Fast track to today and despite fears of a recession, Japanese women are yet to go in for the chop. Could this be a sign that the nation will weather any future economic storms?  Don't be silly. As one economist tells BusinessWeek (March 10), if you could make accurate economic forecasts based on the whims of fashion, Japanese women should have been sporting shaven heads, not just a few inches off the ends.

If the clippers connection is not very convincing, try rifling through Steve Jobs' private plane bills to find out how Apple's share price might fare in the future instead.

Jobs is lucky enough to cruise the skies in his very own Gulfstream V and according to recent SEC filings, he billed Apple $550,000 for using this private jet on business for the last three months of last year. On average, this is three times the amount that the chief executive billed the firm for each of the prior six quarters, BusinessWeek (March 17) reports. An eagle-eyed Morgan Stanley analyst, Kathryn Huberty, believes this cost hike is a sign that Apple is "preparing for meaningful product launches". Factor in the rise in the price of jet fuel by 57 per cent last year and.... But without looking at Jobs' appointments diary, who knows?

The image of Japanese women wearing Harajuku-style hair can be found on www.plasticbamboo.com