We show that the slope of the yield curve affects bank lending and economic activity through an "expected bank profitability channel." Using detailed banking data and term premium shocks identified via instrumental variables or event studies, we show that a steeper yield curve-when driven by...

Quantitative investment strategies are often selected from a broad class of candidate models estimated and tested on historical data. Standard statistical technique to prevent model overfitting such as out-sample back-testing turns out to be unreliable in the situation when selection is based on...

This paper presents evidence suggesting that artificial neural networks approach (ANNs) outperform traditional statistical methods and can forecast equity premiums reasonably well. The study replicates out-of-sample estimates of regression using ANN with economic fundamentals as inputs. The...

We introduce a dynamical model for the time evolution of probability density functions incorporating uncertainty in the parameters. The uncertainty follows stochastic processes, thereby defining a new class of stochastic processes with values in the space of probability densities. The purpose is...

This paper provides evidence of confirmation bias by sell-side analysts in their earnings forecasts. We show that analysts tend to put higher weight on public information when the current forecast consensus is more consistent with their previous forecasts. Our results further suggest that the...

We develop a novel ranking methodology to rank the market forecaster. In particular, we distinguish forecasts by their specificity, rather than considering all predictions and forecasts equally important, and we also analyze the impact of the number of forecasts made by a particular forecaster....

Empirical Finance is in crisis: Our most important "discovery" tool is historical simulation, and yet, most backtests published in leading Financial journals are flawed.The problem is well-known to professional organizations of Statisticians and Mathematicians, who have publicly criticized the...

In order to predict future relative results within a universe of equity portfolios, the authors hypothesize that it is possible to use selected portfolio characteristics as opposed to relying on past performance. This research uses Active Share and Concentration Coefficient data for universes of...

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of beating analysts' forecasts and the impact of analysts' forecast dispersion on the pricing of firms' credit default swaps (CDSs). CDS premium is the compensation required by investors for bearing firms' credit default risk. Sell-side analysts...