Ben Chu: The market shoots wide on Sir Alex

Outlook Since Manchester United announced on Wednesday that the long reign of Sir Alex Ferguson will come to a close at the end of the season the share price of the 10 per cent of Manchester United that it floated on the New York Stock Exchange has declined by around 2.5 per cent. That means investors' estimate of the "Fergie premium" on the $18.77 share price was also 2.5 per cent, or $0.47.

Impose that over the $3bn market value of the club, and the implication is that Sir Alex – the man who has virtually single-handedly turned United into one of the world's most successful clubs – is worth around $75m (£50m).

If you wanted disproof of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis (the notion that investors collectively always price things correctly) look no further.