We propose a novel framework for analyzing linear asset pricing models: simple, robust, and applicable to high dimensional problems. For a (potentially misspecified) standalone model, it provides reliable risk premia estimates of both tradable and non-tradable factors, and detects those weakly...

Missing data is a prevalent, yet often ignored, feature of company fundamentals. In this paper, we document the structure of missing financial data and show how to systematically deal with it. In a comprehensive empirical study we establish four key stylized facts. First, the issue of missing...

We show how to build a cross-section of asset returns, that is, a small set of basis or test assets that capture complex information contained in a given set of stock characteristics and span the Stochastic Discount Factor (SDF). We use decision trees to generalize the concept of conventional...

In the past few years, the U.S. options markets experienced a major inflow of retail investors, who are young and tech-savvy, yet largely inexperienced. We show that this trend coincides with an increase in call option contracts left suboptimally unexercised. Market makers (and other...