This study investigates the relation between firm-specific attributes and future equity returns in 23 emerging markets. Equal-weighted portfolio returns reveal strong evidence of short-term momentum (rather than reversal) and medium-term return momentum. We also find evidence that market beta,...

We analyze the joint out-of-sample predictive ability of a comprehensive set of 299 firm characteristics for cross-sectional stock returns. We develop a cross-sectional out-of-sample R2 statistic that provides an informative measure of the accuracy of cross-sectional return forecasts in terms of...

This paper examines the cross-sectional relation between leverage and future stock returns. Prior research documents a puzzling negative correlation. We show that it is largely caused by firms' use of internal financing when having significant off-balance-sheet operating assets due to...

We examine when anomaly returns occur in order to understand if they exist. If anomalies are spurious, then anomaly returns should not depend on their proximity to the dates on which key anomaly information is released. Yet, they do. Using a powerful database containing the precise release date...

This paper shows that belief differences have strong effects on asset prices in consumption-based asset-pricing models with long-run risks. Belief heterogeneity leads to time-varying consumption and wealth shares of the agents. This time variation can resolve several asset-pricing puzzles,...

The same firm characteristics that help explain cross-sectional variation in expected stock returns, such as size, book-to-market and the earnings yield, also help explain cross-sectional variation in returns to trading in option-implied stock return volatility. This empirical phenomenon is...

We link a seemingly biased trading behavior to equilibrium asset prices. U.S. equity mutual fund managers tend to sell both their big winners and big losers. This selling pressure pushes down current prices and leads to higher future returns; aggregating across funds, we nd that securities for...