Efficient Market Hypothesis

Description
Autocorelation coefficient tests

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON WEAK FORM EFFICIENT MARKET HYPOTHESIS

Weak-Form Efficiency
? Prices reflect all past price and volume data. ? Technical analysis, which relies on the past history of

prices, is of little or no value in assessing future changes in price.
? Market adjusts or incorporates this information quickly

and fully.

Weak-Form Evidence
? Test for independence (randomness) of stock

price changes
? ?

If independent, trends in price changes do not exist Overreaction hypothesis and evidence

? Test for profitability of trading rules after

brokerage costs
?

Simple buy-and-hold better

Autocorelation coefficients test
One of the most direct and intuitive test of random walk is to check for serial corelation. If stock prices exibit a random walk, the returns of ) cov(rt , rt ? k stocks are uncorrelated at all cov(rt , rt ? k ) ? k ) lags. ? leads(and? var[rt ] var[rt ] * var[rt ? k )

The join hypothesis states that all the serial correlation coefficients, are simultaneosly equal to zero.

Weak-Form EMH
? Runs tests
? looking for patterns in signs of returns ? i.e. + + - + - + ? Filter rules ? sell after falls a certain % or buy after rises a

certain % ? Technical trading rules have not consistently outperformed the market on average

Two Apparent Contradictions to the Weak-Form EMH
1.
?

Momentum or persistence in stock returns
Tendency of stocks that have done well over the past 6 to 12 months to continue to do well over the next 6 to 12 months.

2.
?

“Contrarian” Strategies
Stocks that have done well over the past 3-5 year period, will do poorly over the subsequent 3-5 year period.

Thank You



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