Tom is the investment portfolio manager for abc insurance company and is a firm believer in the strong form of the efficient market hypothesis. he is interviewing candidates for a job opening in his department and has asked each of the candidates to explain their philosophy with regard to selecting stocks for abc's portfolio. which one of the following answers is most consistent with tom's efficient markets view?

a. a company's earnings history is the most important indicator of its potential for future growth and can be used to separate winning stocks from losing stocks.
b. patterns in the prices of individual stocks provide insights as to which stocks will outperform the market in the short run.
c. the analysis of professional stock analysts is indispensable in choosing a portfolio of stocks that can consistently beat the market averages.
d. individual stocks should be chosen as part of an indexed portfolio that matches the returns to a well known stock index such as the dow jones industrial average or the standard and poors 500 stock index.