Using hundreds of significant anomalies as testing portfolios, this paper compares the performance of major empirical asset pricing models. The q-factor model and a closely related five-factor model are the two best performing models among a long array of models. The q-factor model outperforms...

We propose a new decomposition of the realized covariance matrix into components based on the signs of the underlying high-frequency returns. Under an asymptotic setting in which the sampling interval goes to zero, we derive the asymptotic properties of the resulting realized semicovariance...