The out-of-sample R2 is designed to measure forecasting performance without look-ahead bias. However, researchers can hack this performance metric even without multiple tests by constructing a prediction model using the intuition derived from empirical properties that appear only in the test...

This paper reviews research that uses big data and/or machine learning methods to provide insight relevant for equity valuation. Given the huge volume of research in this area, the review focuses on studies that either use or inform on accounting variables. The article concludes by providing...

We show that machine learning methods, in particular extreme trees and neural networks (NNs), provide strong statistical evidence in favor of bond return predictability. NN forecasts based on macroeconomic and yield information translate into economic gains that are larger than those obtained...

This paper extends the machine learning methods developed in Han et al. (2019) for forecasting cross-sectional stock returns to a time-series context. The methods use the elastic net to refine the simple combination return forecast from Rapach et al. (2010). In a time-series application focused...

Following the financial crisis of 2008, the regulators established a stress testing framework known as comprehensive capital analysis and review (CCAR). The regulatory stress scenarios are macroeconomic and do not define stress values for all the relevant risk factors. In particular, only three...

We use machine learning methods to predict stock return volatility. Our out-of-sample prediction of realised volatility for a large cross-section of US stocks over the sample period from 1992 to 2016 is on average 44.1% against the actual realised volatility of 43.8% with an R2 being as high as...

For stock market predictions, the essence of the problem is usually predicting the magnitude and direction of the stock price movement as accurately as possible. There are different approaches (e.g., econometrics and machine learning) for predicting stock returns. However, it is non-trivial to...

The loss function in supervised deep learning is a key element for training AI algorithms. For models aiming at predicting asset returns, not all prediction errors are equal in terms of impact on the efficiency of the algorithm. Indeed, some errors result in poor investment decisions while other...

The predictability of stock returns has always been one of the core research questions in finance. This paper attempts to introduce machine learning method to answer whether stock returns are predictable in China. With 108 characteristics data in Chinese stock market from January 1997 to...