But as most astute investors come to realize, Mr. Market is an amalgamation of everyone, and that can be unpredictable. Fundamentals and technicals are irrelevant. The market is a random walk.
This myth is silly. Thousands of people beat the market every day, every month, every year. Some investors have beaten the market for decades.
Consistently beating the market after fees is really hard. If fees aren’t involved, beating the market is possible. Not easy. Certainly not guaranteed. But possible.
You might think at this point: Without fees, 50% of stockpickers would beat the market and 50% lose to the market. Most individual stocks perform worse than average, but a small number of high performers beat the average.
This research tells us that “beating the market” is not a 50/50 proposition. Over this researched time period, a single stock had only a 36% chance of beating the market.