Firm-specific information can affect expected returns if it affects investor uncertainty about risk-factor loadings. We show that a stock's expected return is decreasing in factor-loading uncertainty, controlling for the average level of its factor loading. When loadings are persistent, learning...

Using a sample of 24 US banks from 1997 to 2004, we examine the relationship between value-at-risk (VAR) for trading activities and banks' cost of equity capital. We show that the implied cost of equity capital and the bid-ask spread, both proxying for the cost of equity capital, is positively...