The grim, grey editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal have become a field of glory, with flashing knives, slings and arrows, as famous academics battle to defend the besieged Efficient Market Hypothesis and the purity of Index Funds. […]

Federal Reserve flow of funds accounts for Q1 2006 show the degree to which equity investments have fallen out of favor with individual investors. Flow table F100 (Households) reports annual rates of net direct sales of equities by individuals of $866.5 billion, an all-time high. This selling is interpreted as reflecting executives exercising stock […]

Net repurchases of equity by nonfinancial domestic corporations soared to an annual rate of $586.8 billion in Q1 2006 (a new record), pushing stock prices slightly higher. This frenzied buying was five times the buyback rate in 2000, the year the Great Bubble collapsed! Corporate executives were aided significantly in their efforts to use buybacks to boost […]