| A Random Walk Down Wall Street | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Burton Malkiel |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Finance |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. |
| Publication date | 1973 |
| Pages | 456 |
| ISBN | 0-393-06245-7 |
| OCLC Number | 72798896 |
| Dewey Decimal | 332.6 22 |
| LC Classification | HG4521 .M284 2007 |
A Random Walk Down Wall Street, written by Burton Malkiel, a Princeton economist, is an influential book on the subject of stock markets which introduced the random walk hypothesis. Malkiel argues that asset prices typically exhibit signs of random walk and that one cannot consistently outperform market averages. The book is frequently cited by those in favor of the efficient market hypothesis. As of January 2011, there have been ten editions.[1] A practical popularization is The Random Walk Guide to Investing: Ten Rules for Financial Success.[2]
Malkiel examines some popular investing techniques, including technical analysis and fundamental analysis in light of academic research studies of these methods. Through detailed analysis, he notes significant flaws in both techniques, concluding that, for most investors, following these methods will produce inferior results over passive strategies.
Malkiel has a similar critique for methods of selecting actively managed mutual funds based upon past performance. He cites studies indicating that actively managed mutual funds vary greatly in their success rates over the long term, often underperforming in years following their success, thereby reverting toward the mean. Malkiel suggests that given the distribution of fund performances, it is statistically unlikely that an average investor would happen to select those few mutual funds which will outperform their benchmark index over the long term.