Quote from Pekelo:
As much as I love philosophical discussions, what surprises me is that nobody has came up yet with a practical solution, with a very simple proof, namely with a prediction journal. Predicting the markets with a sufficiently high success for a longer period of time would surely put the discussion to rest.
Remember, it doesn't matter how many people think that markets are random, it only takes 1 guy who is able to predict to prove them wrong. Just like having 1000 golddigger trying to find gold on a mountain rumoured to have the yellow metal, just because they haven't been able to find any, that doesn't mean one day 1 guy can not come and strike gold on it.
What surprizes me further is the people who think markets are random. Unless they have a profitable strategy for random markets, if they really think they are correct and they can not be convinved otherwise, there is just simply no reason for them:
1. To have this discussion.
2. To be in the markets, after all they are unpredictable.
Also I wonder what those "random walk" guys think, how other profitable traders make money? They just make lucky guesses with good money management?
I happen to know a journal with daily predictions. It went for 6 months with a very high success rate. I would guess somewhere around 80%. There was a 4 weeks period when the guy who wrote it got pretty much everything right. Now he is either an incredibly lucky schmuck, or markets are predictable...
But then again, if you think that markets are random, that is fine with me, I need guys who are willing to take the other side of my trades....