We examine the relation between stock volatility and asymmetric information empirically. We use two proxies of information asymmetry: institutional ownership and analyst coverage. We find that firms covered by more analysts are more likely to have less volatile returns. A significant and...

Recent research shows that small trade imbalances are negatively associated with future stock returns. I find that this negative association only exists when stocks have initially been mispriced. In addition, mispricing occurs before the sentimental trading of small investors. In stocks with...

In this research I empirically study the effects of information acquisition by investors or traders on analysts' forecast bias. Based on the theoretical literature on sell-side analysts, I argue that forecast bias is correlated to investors' information gathering, in two opposite directions. On...

Quantitative research analysts (Quants) produce in-depth quantitative and econometric modeling of market anomalies to assist sell-side analysts and institutional clients with stock selection strategies. Quants are associated with more efficient analyst forecasting behavior on anomaly predictors...

Using a novel database, we show that the stock-price impact of analyst trade ideas is at least as large as the impact of stock recommendation, target price, and earnings forecast changes, and that investors following trade ideas can earn significant abnormal returns. Trade ideas triggered by...

We examine whether the informativeness of sell-side analyst reports depends on the strength of the regulatory environment of a country and the regulatory background of the institutional investors of a company. Our analyses are based on more than 600,000 analyst reports from 2005 through 2010...

We use a proprietary dataset to test the implications of several asymmetric information models on how short-lived private information affects trading strategies and liquidity provision. Our identification rests on information acquisition before analyst recommendations are publically announced....

We examine the influence of investor conferences on firms' stock liquidity. We find that firms participating in conferences experience a 1.4% to 2.8% increase in stock liquidity compared to non-conference firms. Consistent with investor conferences improving firm visibility, the increase in...

I analyze 18510 SEC EDGAR Form 10-K (annual reports), for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX (NYSE MKT) stocks, along with 176565 SEC EDGAR Form 13-F (quarterly reports of institutional investors holdings), and analysts' recommendations, from 2001 until 2015. I find that (i) 10-K pessimism negatively affects...

Shareholders' approval rates on M&A deals are informative, because they are predictive of the acquirer's post-merger operating performance. Since the passing of the deal is salient information while the specific approval rate is not, investors may misprice the detailed voting outcome due to...