We study firm-level characteristics that a manager would employ as signalling tools in order to time the market (i.e. repurchases and issues). Following the market timing framework, we develop a two-factor asset pricing model comprising a “market” and a “mispricing” factor, which is able...

This paper is the second in a series of critiques of the assumption that stable economic relations exist between certain "firm characteristics" and expected returns. The paper explains why this is not the case for past returns and provides theoretical, empirical, and simulated evidence that the...

This study shows how correlated information consumption (CIC) of retail investors relates to comovement in stock market outcomes. We construct clusters of stocks with CIC by employing network analysis on Google co-search data. We predict significant comovement in returns and liquidity of stocks...

We examine the relative weights hedge fund investors attach to past information in the fund selection process. The weighting scheme appears inconsistent with the one of econometric forecast models that predict fund returns, alphas or Sharpe ratios. In particular, investor flows are highly...

Alternative Mutual Funds (AMFs) follow strategies similar to those of hedge funds and seek returns uncorrelated with the market. We analyze the performance of AMFs for the period January, 1998 through December, 2011 using the Carhart four-factor model and the Fung-Hsieh seven-factor model. Our...

If the firm chooses the stock of capital, labor, cash (distributions) so as to maximize its expected discounted present value, its investment policy should adjust endogenously to changes in investor preferences. It is hypothesized that quantitative easing (QE) affects asset prices through a...

Purpose: People often face constraints such as a lack of time or information in taking decisions, which leads them to use heuristics. In these situations, fast and frugal rules may be useful for making adaptive decisions with fewer resources, even if it leads to suboptimal choices. When applied...

We show meetings of investors and firms convey information about expected returns. Investors frequently travel to meet in-person with firms before investing, and we show firms with abnormally frequent meetings predictably outperform firms with abnormally infrequent meetings by roughly 70-to-100...

Passive investing, particularly in emerging markets, has become an increasingly popular means of quick, “diversified” exposure to a particular segment of the markets. Defensive investors, as Benjamin Graham noted, would be best served owning a diversified list of leading companies. Yet it's...