In this paper we address three main objections of behavioral finance to the theory of rational finance, considered as “anomalies” the theory of rational finance cannot explain: (i) Predictability of asset returns; (ii) The Equity Premium; (iii) The Volatility Puzzle. We offer resolutions of...

Classifying mandatory 13F stock-holding filings by manager type reveals that hedge fund strategies are mostly contrarian, while mutual fund strategies are largely trend following. The only institutional performers — the 2/3 of hedge fund managers that are contrarian — earn alpha of 2.4% per...

We find that the acceleration and deceleration patterns of historical prices are predictive of future expected returns in momentum investing in the U.S. equity market from 1962 to 2014. Winners with accelerated historical price increases deliver higher future expected returns and losers with...

This paper studies the trades immediately after the market open and immediately before the market close. The trades in the morning positively predict future returns and cause price continuation. The trades in the afternoon negatively predict future returns and cause price reversals. The momentum...

We study the effect of a huge sports sentiment shock, unrelated to economic conditions or government actions, on stock market outcomes. After Brazil's 7-1 humiliating defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup, which is likely to be one of the largest sports sentiment shocks ever, the stock market...

We propose an alternative investment strategy for pairs trading using Archimedean copulas in order to cover a wider range of tail dependence patterns and apply it to the S&P 500 stocks from 1990 to 2015. Empirical results show that our mixed copula approach generates higher average and risk...

We evaluate the robustness of momentum returns in the US stock market over the period 1965 to 2012. We find that momentum profits have become insignificant since the late 1990s partially driven by pronounced increase in the volatility of momentum profits in the last 14 years. Investigations of...

Investors demand higher premiums from firms whose future performance in R&D is difficult to evaluate. We construct a measure that captures investors' evaluation of a firm's R&D information quality (RDIQ) by linking a firm's historical innovation input (R&D expenditures) and innovation outcome...

We investigate the role of mutual fund flows in incorporating market sentiment into asset prices. We show that retail investors adjust their investments among mutual fund categories in response to changes in market sentiment. Consistent with sentiment-induced price pressure through fund flows,...

We examine whether the results supporting the sentiment-related overpricing story by Stambaugh, Yu, and Yuan (J. Financial Economics, v.104, p.288-302) is still valid after controlling for macroeconomic conditions. We no longer find the results consistent with the sentiment-related overpricing...