One solution is to modify the coin-tossing model--to add bells and whistles until the equations match the observations.

FORBES: Mandelbrot: A Math Maverick Takes Stock

Price drops or runups that the coin-tossing model sees as impossible--changes with a probability of a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a millionth--occur frequently.

FORBES: Mandelbrot: A Math Maverick Takes Stock

Langen, and his 37-year-old brakeman Zimmerman, won the right to go last after tossing a coin.

BBC: Germany take two-man title