[bd_at_rivenhill]

You are ignoring the temporal element of the market; in the short term, prices are set by supply and demand, and trading to match supply and demand is exactly how market makers earn profits. The true value of a security can only be determined over a long period of time, which is why retail investors should pursue a "buy and hold" strategy. This is exactly what Warren Buffet does. The market is an ecology; the behavior of the ants is generally not all that relevant to the lions.