... notice and start buying up the paper, raising the price? This may happen in a month, in a year, or may not happen at all. In reality, it often happens that outsider companies remain cheap for years until some event (a change in management, a takeover, a technological breakthrough) occurs that makes the market reconsider its opinion. During this time, the investor's capital will be "frozen" in a slow-moving asset. Thus, fundamental analysis is ineffective for market timing - it tells you what to buy, but ...