The left-digit effect is defined as when a change in the left-most digit of a price (e.g., 7 to 6 when $7.00 drops to $6.99) dramatically affects the perception of the magnitude. Using a random sample of more than 100 million stock transactions, we find excess buying by liquidity demanders when...

Do fast, competitive markets yield liquidity measurement problems when using the popular Monthly Trade and Quote (MTAQ) database? Yes. MTAQ yields distorted measures of spreads, trade location, and price impact compared with the expensive Daily Trade and Quote (DTAQ) database. These problems are...

This paper provides evidence that stock traders focus on round numbers as cognitive reference points for value. Using a random sample of more than 100 million stock transactions, we find excess buying (selling) by liquidity demanders at all price points one penny below (above) round numbers....

We investigate how the increase in speed of U.S. equity markets has distorted liquidity measures. We find that the widely-used Monthly Trade and Quote (MTAQ) database yields a percent effective spread 43% higher than our benchmark, a quoted spread that is nonpositive nine times more often, and a...

U.S. equity markets have explosively increased their trade and quote frequency and the decline of the dominance of the NYSE has increased the importance of National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) quotes. We address three methodology issues that arise in the computation of the NBBO: (1) millisecond...