[jnash]

> The stock price is essentially the fair market value of the company

That is something some people choose to believe to be true. The same way some people choose to believe that God (or a number of Gods) exist.

[Nasrudith]

While there is a spike at buy-out it is still more or less true. Try to buy a company for far less than the stock market price and tell me how that works out for you.