Arbitrage is a method of risk-free investment in which an investor acquires an asset at a particular price in a certain market and simultaneously sells that asset for a different price in another market. Arbitrage exists as a result of market inefficiency and would not exist if markets were perfectly efficient. As technology has evolved over time, an investor’s ability to generate profits from arbitrage has diminished. Opportunities do still exist when, for example, the price of an asset on the New York Stock Exchange differs at the same moment in time from the price of the asset as it is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
