Three Forms of Market Efficiency: Market efficiency refers to the degree to which prices in financial markets reflect all available information accurately and quickly. There are three forms of market efficiency: Weak Form Efficiency: In weak form efficiency, stock prices reflect all historical price and trading volume information. This means that past price patterns or trading volume patterns cannot be used to predict future stock prices. Investors cannot consistently profit by using technical analysis or trading strategies based solely on historical data. Semi-Strong Form Efficiency: Semi-strong form efficiency extends beyond weak form efficiency and assumes that stock prices reflect not only historical information but also all publicly available information. This includes financial statements, news releases, and other public disclosures. In semi-strong form efficient markets, it is not possible for investors to consistently earn abnormal returns by trading based on publicly available information since the market quickly and accurately incorporates it into stock prices. Strong Form Efficiency: Strong form efficiency is the strongest form of market efficiency. It assumes that stock prices reflect all information, including both historical and non-public or insider information. In a strongly efficient market, no investor can consistently earn abnormal returns, even with access to insider information. This form of efficiency implies that all relevant information, whether public or private, is quickly and accurately reflected in stock prices. 03:58 Random Walks and Efficient Market: The concept of a random walk is closely related to the efficient market hypothesis. A random walk suggests that stock prices move randomly, and future price changes cannot be predicted based on past price patterns or trends. It implies that stock price movements are independent of each other and not influenced by any factors other than random chance. The efficient market hypothesis posits that stock prices fully reflect all available information. If stock prices follow a random walk pattern, it suggests that the market is efficient because there are no exploitable patterns or predictable trends that would allow investors to consistently outperform the market. In an efficient market with a random walk pattern, it is assumed that all relevant information is quickly and accurately incorporated into stock prices. As a result, it becomes difficult for investors to consistently earn abnormal returns by trading based on historical price patterns or trends. The random walk theory and efficient market hypothesis together suggest that stock prices are unpredictable and that it is challenging to consistently outperform the market through active trading strategies.