We examine the performance of buy-side institutional investor trades and sell-side brokerage analyst stock recommendations, as well as their interactions. Buy-side trades follow sell-side analyst recommendations but not the other way around. While buy-side purchases significantly outperform...

We examine the trades of index funds and other institutions around S&P 500 index additions. We find index funds begin rebalancing their portfolios with the announcement of composition changes and do not fully establish their positions until weeks after the effective date. Trading away from the...

We examine the risk neutral probability density (RND) for the S&P 500 extracted from real-time bid and ask quotes for index options, under extreme market stress during the fall of 2008. The RND provides exceptional detail about investors' expectations as intraday volatility increased to a level...