We measure speculation in the CDS market and investigate its determinants. The CDS volume on a firm that exceeds its outstanding debt (= naked CDS) indicates speculation since hedging can be ruled out. Using weekly CDS trading volume data for actively traded U.S. firms during 2008-2012, we...

This paper examines whether speculation in the global oil market contributes to herd behavior in the stock markets of net exporting nations. Using firm level data from the Gulf Arab stock markets, we show that investors display herd behavior during periods of high volatility while anti-herding...

The government support of financial firms through direct assistance and programs to improve market liquidity during the worldwide financial crisis of 2007-2008 is unprecedented since the Great Depression. Whether a given firm is ex-ante ‘Too Big To Fail' in the mind of government agents is not...

The large inflow of investment capital to commodity futures markets in the last decade has generated a heated debate about whether financialization distorts commodity prices. Rather than focusing on the opposing views concerning whether investment flows either did or did not cause a price...

Many financial instruments are designed with embedded leverage such as options and leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs). Embedded leverage alleviates investors' leverage constraints and, therefore, we hypothesize that embedded leverage lowers required returns. Consistent with this hypothesis,...

This paper examines whether global insurance mergers and acquisitions (M&As) create value for shareholders by conducting an event study of M&A transactions for the period 1990-2006. Insurance acquirers realized small positive cumulative average abnormal returns (CAARs), whereas targets realized...

The concept of a market portfolio plays an important role in many financial theories and models. Knowledge of each asset's share of the invested capital markets is both useful information and a good starting point for investors considering the appropriate allocation to the asset. In our latest...

This paper argues that bank runs on the shadow banking system was a significant factor in the spread of subprime losses to the overall financial system. Highly leveraged shadow banks with illiquid assets suffered from the loss spiral effect whereby they were forced to deleverage due to higher...

In previous versions of our Value vs. Glamour study we have explored the historical performance of stocks based on their fundamental characteristics and quantified a value premium. Results have shown that over the long term, unpopular “value” stocks, those that are associated with companies...