This thesis examines the profitability of the oldest known form of technical analysis, candlestick trading strategies. Unlike traditional technical analysis which is based around close prices, these strategies generate buy and sell signals that are based on the relationship between open, high, low and close prices within a day and over consecutive days. Traditional technical analysis, which has been the focus of previous academic research, has a long-term focus with positions being held for months and years. In contrast, candlestick technical analysis has a short-term focus with positions being held for ten days or less. This difference is significant as surveys of market participants indicate that they place 50 per cent more importance on technical analysis for horizons of a week than they do for horizons of a year. Candlestick technical analysis was developed on rice data in Japan in the 1700s so the tests in this thesis, using Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA) component stock data for the 1992 - 2002 period, are clearly out of sample tests. These tests are more robust to criticisms of data snooping than is the existing technical analysis literature. Proponents of technical analysis in the Western world would have had the opportunity to have become aware of candlestick trading strategies by this study's timeframe and would also have had the opportunity to source the data and software necessary to implement these strategies. So, a direct test of market efficiency is possible. This was not achievable by authors of many previous papers, who used data starting in the early 1900s and techniques that could not have been implemented at that time. Using an innovative extension of the bootstrap methodology, which allows the generation of random open, high, low and close prices, to test the profitability of candlestick technical trading strategies showed that candlestick technical analysis does not have value. There is no evidence that a trader adhering to candlestick technical analysis would out-perform the market.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-44)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-139). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, April 2010.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Kai-Sheng Song, Florida State University,College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Statistics; David R. Peterson, Florida State University, College of Business, Dept. of Finance. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 27, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 147 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-139).

The field of stock returns and assessing stock returns utilising financial ratios has attracted substantial interest from various stakeholders. In terms of previous research, the role of financial ratios on stock returns has been based on studies in developed markets, with limited research in emerging markets. This research study provides an understanding of two specific financial ratios, namely the Return on Equity (ROE) and Dividend Payout (DPO) ratios and their impact on annual stock returns (ASR) in emerging stock markets in South Africa and Nigeria. A longitudinal analysis was performed from 2000 to 2013 for companies listed on the JSE Top 40 Index and from 2006 to 2013 for companies listed on the NSE 50 Index. The tests between the mean ROE and the mean ASR for companies listed on the JSE Top 40 Index revealed a significant positive correlation. The conclusions drawn from the relationship between the mean ROE and the mean ASR for companies listed on the NSE 50 Index and both the relationships between the mean DPO and the Mean ASR for both companies listed on the JSE top 40 Index and the NSE 50 Index was inconclusive. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014 / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted