Low credit risk firms realize higher returns than high credit risk firms. This effect is puzzling because investors seem to pay a premium for bearing credit risk. This paper shows that the credit risk effect manifests itself due to the poor performance of low-rated stocks during periods of...

This paper shows that the puzzling negative cross-sectional relation between dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts and future stock returns is a manifestation of financial distress, as proxied by credit rating downgrades. Focusing on a sample of firms rated by Samp;P, we show that the...

This paper studies the relation between order imbalances and daily returns of individual stocks. Our tests are motivated by a theoretical framework, whose distinguishing feature is that it explicitly considers how market makers with inventory concerns dynamically accommodate autocorrelated...

This paper establishes a robust link between momentum and credit rating. Momentum profitability is large and significant among low-grade firms, but it is nonexistent among high-grade firms. The momentum payoffs documented in the literature are generated by low-grade firms that account for less...

This paper examines whether earnings momentum and price momentum are related. Both, in time-series as well as in cross-sectional asset pricing tests we find that price momentum is captured by the systematic component of earnings momentum. In time-series as well as in cross-sectional asset...

Daily returns for stocks listed on the New York Exchange (NYSE) are not serially dependent. In contrast, order imbalances on the same stocks are highly persistent from day to day. These two empirical facts can be reconciled if sophisticated investors react to order imbalances within the trading...

This paper studies the relation between order imbalances and daily returns of individual stocks. Our tests are motivated by a theoretical framework, whose distinguishing feature is that it explicitly considers how market makers with inventory concerns dynamically accommodate autocorrelated...

Given the evidence that the level of liquidity affects asset returns, a reasonable hypothesis is that the second moment of liquidity should be positively related to asset returns, provided agents care about the risk associated with fluctuations in liquidity. Motivated by this observation, we...

We analyze the relation between expected equity returns and the level as well as the volatility of trading activity. We document a negative cross-sectional relationship between stock returns and the variability of dollar trading volume and share turnover, after controlling for size,...