Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street Burton G. Malkiel: A Macat Analysis

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.