has the efficient markets hypothesis any validity 
the validity of the emh has been questioned on both theoretical and empirical grounds there are investors who have beaten the market such as warren buffett whose investment strategy focused on undervalued stocks made billions and set an example for numerous followers there are portfolio managers who have better track records than others and there are investment houses with more renowned research analysis than others emh proponents however argue that those who outperform the market do so not out of skill but out of luck due to the laws of probability at any given time in a market with a large number of actors some will outperform the mean while others will underperform can markets be inefficient there are certainly some markets that are less efficient than others an inefficient market is one in which an asset s prices do not accurately reflect its true value which may occur for several reasons market inefficiencies may exist due to information asymmetries a lack of buyers and sellers i e low liquidity high transaction costs or delays market psychology and human emotion among other reasons inefficiencies often lead to deadweight losses in reality most markets do display some level of inefficiencies and in the extreme case an inefficient market can be an example of a market failure accepting the emh in its purest strong form may be difficult as it states that all information in a market whether public or private is accounted for in a stock s price however modifications of emh exist to reflect the degree to which it can be applied to markets 