Super Finance Glossary
Over 10,000 financial glossary terms...
Random Walk
Random Walk
Definition: Theory that stock price changes from day to day are accidental or haphazard; changes are independent of each other and have the same probability distribution. Many believers in the random walk theory believe that it is impossible to outperform the market consistently without taking additional risk.
Definition: Theory that stock price changes from day to day are accidental or haphazard; changes are independent of each other and have the same probability distribution. Many believers in the random walk theory believe that it is impossible to outperform the market consistently without taking additional risk.
Random Walk
Definition: An economic theory that market price movements move randomly. This assumes an efficient market. The theory also assumes that new information comes to the market randomly. Together, the two assumptions imply that market prices move randomly as new information is incorporated into market prices. The theory implies that the best predictor of future prices is the current price, and that past prices are not a reliable indicator of future prices. If the random walk theory is correct, Technical Analysis cannot work.
Definition: An economic theory that market price movements move randomly. This assumes an efficient market. The theory also assumes that new information comes to the market randomly. Together, the two assumptions imply that market prices move randomly as new information is incorporated into market prices. The theory implies that the best predictor of future prices is the current price, and that past prices are not a reliable indicator of future prices. If the random walk theory is correct, Technical Analysis cannot work.
