Lehman Brothers senior secured debt is trading at 15% of face value, while at the same time Lehman equity is going for 15 cents a share.
What does that mean? Senior secured debt-holders get paid back completely before stockholders see a cent. So if Lehman's stock is worth anything, its senior debt should be worth 100% of face value. The two prices are in complete disagreement.
Lehman is an extreme example, but it raises an important point: the dynamics of any particular market can have as much effect on price as the "available information". If demand is low and supply is high, prices will drop. At the same time, if prices are bordering on free, the prospect of making a quick buck will push someone to gamble. This is only one way that markets can be made inefficient, but you only have too look as far back as the bankrupting of Lehman in the first place for another one.
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