First, I never said or assumed that. Second, Human greed is, in fact, infinitely scaleable. But this is a silly debate -- obviously the most likely explanation for a spectacular market performance is chance.
> Insider trading is an advantage that exists but doesn't fall into your #1. Has it 'drained the market' or stopped businesses from using the stock market?
In a word, yes -- in a number of cases, companies try to buy themselves out of the stock market, for that and other reasons (like the tyranny of quarterly earnings reports and shortsighted boards of directors).
We're off on a tangent now. We've left the original topic. And the original topic was resolved by noting the WSJ Dartboard Contest, where managers had every incentive to show what they could accomplish, but instead they failed, spectacularly, in public, for years.
If this 'secret' could only be applied in small amounts, then the owner couldn't drain the market. Why do you think Buffett believes large funds can't outperform?
You assume any such 'secret' is infinitely scaleable. That's an incorrect assumption.
Insider trading is an advantage that exists but doesn't fall into your #1. Has it 'drained the market' or stopped businesses from using the stock market?