A Macat Analysis of Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street

In his highly influential best seller, first published in 1973, Burton Malkiel demolishes the idea that investment 'experts' can predict stock price changes and 'beat the market.' Since all information that could affect the value of a company's shares is known almost instantly to all investors, Malkiel argues, shares quickly find the price that reflects that information. He recommends buying a broad range of stocks to reflect the market price level as a whole—investing in an index fund—and holding on to them. This, he argues, will achieve the same performance as the stock market as a whole, which always goes up over time.