We provide a theoretical basis for understanding the properties of compound returns. At long horizons, multiplicative compounding induces extreme positive skewness into individual stock returns, an effect primarily driven by single-period volatility. As a consequence, most individual stocks...

At long horizons, multiplicative compounding induces strong-to-extreme positive skewness into stock returns; the magnitude of the effect is primarily determined by single-period volatility. Consequently, at horizons greater than five years, returns --individual or portfolio-- will be positively...

Sell-side analysts' forecasts of future stock returns are highly biased and the aggregated consensus forecast is a poor predictor of future returns. In sharp contrast, we show that the information revealed through the implicit ranking of return forecasts conducted individually by each analyst is...