The study of security market imperfections, namely the predictability of equity stock returns, is one of the fundamental research areas in financial modelling. These anomalies, which are not consistent with existing theories, concern the relation between stock returns and variables, such as firm size and earnings-to-price ratios, and seasonal effects, such as January and turn-of-the-month. This book provides the most complete and current account of work in the area. Leading academics and investment researchers have combined to produce a comprehensive coverage of the subject, including both cross-sectional and time series analyses, as well as discussing the measurement of risk and prediction models that have been used by institutional investors. The studies cover many worldwide markets including the US, Japan, Asia, and Europe. The book will be invaluable for courses in financial engineering, investment and portfolio management, and as a reference for investment professionals seeking an up-to-date source on return predictability.

This timely volume addresses three important recent trends in the internationalization of United States equity markets: extensive market integration through foreign investment and links among stock prices around the world; increasing securitization as countries such as Japan come to rely more than ever before on markets in equities and bonds at the expense of banks; and the opening of national financial systems of newly industrializing countries to international financial flows and institutions, as governments remove capital controls and other barriers. Eight essays examine such issues as the current extent of international market integration, gains to U.S. investors through international diversification, home-country bias in investing, the role of time and location around the world in stock trading, and the behavior of country funds. Other, long-standing questions about equity markets are also addressed, including market efficiency and the accuracy of models of expected returns, with a particular focus on variances, covariances, and the price of risk according to the Capital Asset Pricing Model.

In an efficient market, all stocks should be valued at a price that is consistent with available information. But as financial expert Singal points out, there are circumstances under which certain stocks sell at a price higher or lower than the right price. Here he discusses ten such anomalous prices and shows how investors might--or might not--be able to exploit these situations for profit.

Economists broadly define financial asset price bubbles as episodes in which prices rise with notable rapidity and depart from historically established asset valuation multiples and relationships. Financial economists have for decades attempted to study and interpret bubbles through the prisms of rational expectations, efficient markets, equilibrium, arbitrage, and capital asset pricing models, but they have not made much if any progress toward a consistent and reliable theory that explains how and why bubbles (and crashes) evolve and are defined, measured, and compared. This book develops a new and different approach that is based on the central notion that bubbles and crashes reflect urgent short-side rationing, which means that, as such extreme conditions unfold, considerations of quantities owned or not owned begin to displace considerations of price.

The Efficient Market Hypothesis believes that it is impossible for an investor to outperform the market because all available information is already built into stock prices. However, some anomalies could persist in stock markets while some other anomalies could appear, disappear and re-appear again without any warning. A Special Issue on "Efficiency and Anomalies in Stock Markets" will be devoted to advancements in the theoretical development of market efficiency and anomaly in the Stock Market, as well as applications in Stock Market efficiency and anomalies.

Sound investment decisions require an in-depth knowledge of the financial markets and available financial instruments. This book provides students and professionals with an understanding of the role and activities of an equity security analyst within the investment process. Emphasis is on understanding the process of analyzing companies; the valuation process; and the challenges of achieving success in a highly competitive capital market. The authors present a comprehensive compendium on the financial theory, the empirical evidence and the mathematical tools that form the underlying principles of investment decisions.