In the first of a two-part series, Nick Dewhirst examines the strengths and weaknesses of behavioural finance
Some academics support the efficient market thesis, others support behavioural finance. The former argue that the market's performance is a random walk because everything known is immediately reflected in share prices by players acting rationally. The latter argue that share prices are predictable because players often act irrationally. When presented with the evidence of behavioural finance, the random walkers may grudgingly accept there are some effects such as loss aversion or backing long-shots, but these are merely anomalies of marginal relevance to the way markets work as a whole. ...
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