We examine the profitability of implementing a short term trading strategy based on predicting the error in analysts' earnings per share forecasts using publicly available information. In the 1998-2010 I/B/E/S data, the strategy of taking a long (short) position in stocks with the most...

Analysts' forecasts are often used as an information source by other investors, and therefore deviations from optimal forecasts are troublesome. Herding, which refers to imitation behavior as a consequence of individual considerations, can lead to such suboptimal forecasts and is therefore...

Using analyst stock recommendations issued between January 1996 and December 2006 we show that the odds for female financial analysts to issue optimistic investment advice is 40% lower than for male analysts. Although 17% of our sample of analysts is female, 48% is employed by a top financial...

We present a two-stage model for the decision making process of financial analysts when issuing earnings forecasts. In the first stage, financial analysts perform a fundamental earnings analysis in which they are, potentially, subject to a behavioral bias. In the second stage analysts can adjust...