This study examines the information content of Standard & Poor's common stock ranking changes. Since prior studies find Standard & Poor's common stock rankings provide investors with a measure of risk, a ranking change may signify a change in risk. Common stock ranking changes made by Standard &...

In this study, we document evidence of a quot;reversequot; weekend effect - whereby, Monday returns are significantly positive and they are higher than the returns on other days of the week - over an extended period of eleven years (from 1988 to 1998). We also find that the quot;traditionalquot;...

In this study, an interesting aspect of the secondary market's pricing of the riskiness of insured municipal bonds is examined. Do secondary market investors still consider the underlying intrinsic credit quality of the issuer in pricing insured bonds? Is the pricing of this 'issuer effect'...

In this paper we introduce a new financial product named Outperformance Certificates PLUS and we provide detailed descriptions of the product specifications. We show that the payoff of an Outperformance Certificates PLUS can be duplicated by the combination of a long position in the underlying...

In this paper, we find a 'reverse%rsquo; weekend effect - whereby returns for Monday are positive and significantly greater than returns for the preceding Friday - in recent data for major stock indexes. We also find that, while a weak weekend effect exists in portfolios of smaller firms, the...

Investors in tax-exempt bonds may invest in bonds that are insured against default risk. Research in this paper explores whether it makes a difference to investors which insurer provides the default risk protection. Using a sample of bonds insured by each of the major insurers, evidence is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief review of pre-2003 work on the weekend effect and then discuss how recent selected work has extended our knowledge of the subject. Design/methodology/approach – Results of recently published studies are organized and summarized by...

Do credit risk transfers in general, and loan sales and securitizations in particular, by financial institutions enhance credit availability and financial stability? Or do they allow assets of poor credit quality to spread to unprotected investors, and thus create financial crises and destroy...