This paper uncovers several empirical regularities in the returns of small stocks. First, within the sample of firms that have low market capitalisations, stocks with low past profitability ('laggers') bring returns that are significantly higher than those of stocks with high past profitability...

This paper examines the intertemporal relation between downside risk and expected stock returns. Value at Risk (VaR), expected shortfall, and tail risk are used as measures of downside risk to determine the existence and significance of a risk-return tradeoff. We find a positive and significant...

This paper uncovers several empirical regularities in the returns of small stocks. First, within the sample of firms that have low market capitalisations, stocks with low past profitability ('laggers') bring returns that are significantly higher than those of stocks with high past profitability...

It has become increasingly popular to advise investors to relocate their funds from a primarily stock portfolio to a primarily bond portfolio as they get older. However, the well-known decision rules such as mean-variance or stochastic dominance rules are unable to explain this common practice....

This paper provides an analysis of the predictability of stock returns using market-, industry-, and firm-level earnings. Contrary to Lamont (1998), we find that neither dividend payout ratio nor the level of aggregate earnings can forecast the excess market return. We show that these variables...

This paper provides new evidence on the time-series predictability of stock market returns by introducing a test of nonlinear mean reversion. The performance of extreme daily returns is evaluated in terms of their power to predict short- and long-horizon returns on various stock market indices...

This paper examines the time-series predictability of aggregate stock returns in twenty emerging markets. In contrast to the aggregate-level findings in the United States, earnings yield forecasts the time series of aggregate stock returns in emerging markets. We consider aggregate earnings not...

This paper investigates the risk versus mispricing explanation of superior returns to contrarian strategies using the interactions between value-to-market indicators and corporate financing transactions that increase or decrease a firm's outstanding equity. Portfolio-level analyses and...

Credit rating agencies assert that they rely on financial information provided by issuers and that they value rating stability as well as accuracy. In an environment where rating agencies depend on issuer-reported information and are reluctant to adjust ratings promptly, managers of issuing...