L'utilisation des produits dérivés a suscité une large littérature traitant des déterminants de la couverture. Il reste pourtant beaucoup à faire dans ce domaine de recherche. Nous avons choisi dans ce mémoire d'étudier les déterminants de la couverture par les produits dérivés pour les firmes non financières constituant l'indice canadien S&P/TSX 60. En plus d'étudier les déterminants de la couverture dans le contexte canadien, notre étude contribue à la littérature en dressant le profil de l'utilisation des produits dérivés par type de risque, par type d'industrie et par type de produits dérivés utilisés par les 50 grandes entreprises canadiennes. A cette fin, une base de données a été constituée à l'aide de laquelle nous avons pu établir des relations statistiquement significatives entre le niveau de couverture et plusieurs déterminants. Ainsi, nos résultats suggèrent que les mesures de l'avantage de taxe, la taille de l'entreprise ainsi que les substituts de la couverture sont négativement liées à cette dernière, tandis que les mesures de la détresse financière et de sous-investissement sont positivement liées au niveau de la couverture. Nous avons établi, également, une relation positive significative entre le niveau des ventes à l'étranger et le niveau de couverture du risque de taux de change. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Gestion des risques financiers, produits dérivés, compagnies du S&P/TSX 60, exposition, création de valeur.

Although finance has been studied for thousands years, behavioral finance which considers the human behaviors in finance is a quite new area. Behavioral finance theories, which are based on the psychology, attempt to understand how emotions and cognitive errors influence individual investors’ behaviors (investors mentioned in this study are refered to individual investors). The main objective of this study is exploring the behavioral factors influencing individual investors’ decisions at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. Furthermore, the relations between these factors and investment performance are also examined. As there are limited studies about behavioral finance in Vietnam, this study is  expected to contribute significantly to the development of this field in Vietnam.  The study begins with the existing theories in behavioral  finance, based on which, hypotheses are proposed. Then, these hypotheses are tested  through the questionnaires distributed to individual investors at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. The collected data are analyzed by using SPSS and AMOS soft wares. Semi-structured interviews with some managers of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange are conducted to have deeper understanding of these behaviors. The result shows that there are five behavioral factors affecting the investment decisions of individual investors at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange: Herding, Market, Prospect, Overconfidence-gamble’s fallacy, and Anchoring-ability bias. Most of these factors have moderate impacts whereas Market factor has high influence.  This study also tries to find out the correlation between these behavioral factors and investment performance. Among the behavioral factors mentioned above, only three factors are found to influence the Investment Performance: Herding (including buying and selling; choice of trading stocks; volume of trading stocks; speed of herding), Prospect (including loss aversion, regret aversion, and mental accounting), and Heuristic (including overconfidence and gamble’s fallacy). The heuristic behaviors are found to have the highest positive impact on the investment performance while the herding behaviors are reported to influence positively the investment performance at the lower level. In contrast, the prospect behaviors give the negative impact on the investment performance.

In the thesis, we apply the gene expression programming (GEP) to training profitable trading strategies. We propose a model which utilizes several historical periods that are highly related to the current template period, and the best trading strategies of the historical periods generate the trading signals. To keep stability of our model, we proposed the trading decision mechanism based on simple majority vote in our model. The Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Stock Index (TAIEX) is selected as our investment target and the trading period starts from 2000/9/14 to 2012/1/17, approximately twelve years. In our experiments, the lengths of our training period are 60, 90, 120, 180, and 270 trading days, respectively. We observe that the model with higher voting threshold usually can make profitable trading decisions. The best cumulative return 236.25\% and the best annualized cumulative return 10.63\% occur when the 180-day training models pairs with available threshold 0.21 and voting threshold 0.88, which are higher than the cumulative return 0.96\% and annualized cumulative return 0.08\% of the buy-and-hold strategy.

The purpose of this master&rsquo / s thesis is to evaluate the performance of investment companies, namely Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Closed-End Funds (CEFs) in Turkey. In this study, three different models are used to evaluate the risk adjusted performances of Turkish investment companies. These models are: 1) the single-factor CAPM / 2) the Fama-French three-factor model / and 3) the Carhart&rsquo / s four factor model. The results of this study indicate that for the sample period from January 1997 to December 2009, Turkish REITs and Turkish CEFs neither overperform nor underperform the overall market. Intercepts in almost all models are statistically significantly not different from zero, implying that both REITs and CEFs are earning their expected returns. The results are robust to different models used in this study. Among employed models, the Fama-French three-factor model is the best in explaining the returns on both REITs and CEFs. In general, coefficients of the size and the book-to-market equity risk factors are significant and positive. The explanatory power of the regressions does not improve with the Carhart&rsquo / s four-factor model, since momentum factors have statistically insignificant coefficients in all regressions. Findings of this study have an important implication for the efficiency of the Istanbul Stock Exchange. The inability of professional money managers to beat the overall market could be taken as an evidence in favor of the ISE being either semi-strong or strong form efficient. On the other hand, lack of skills on the part of Turkish fund managers might be another explanation for their inability to surpass the performance of the overall market.

兩岸的關係複雜，「積極開放，有效管理」是政府的目前管理原則。但隨著大陸龐大的內需市場及大幅超經濟成長的影響，且大陸本身地區充沛的天然資源與價廉的勞力、加上語言文化的差異少的優勢，引發產業赴大陸投資的熱潮公司。由於目前公司轉投資大陸40%淨值金的限制，使得許多公司不得不想出別的財務操作模式，尋求剝離業務以子公司名義到香港上市或者以大陸投資公司直接上市。 兩岸經貿交流的密切及中國持續、高速的經濟成長及改革開放，政治、政策等限制影響力逐漸轉弱，加上台商經營愈見國際化，客觀情勢已經在改變，以往封閉的大陸及國際化的香港，如今都已經變成為台商在本地資本市場外可能的上市地選擇。然而，兩岸三地資本市場各有其不同的政策法令、發展現況及未來展望等許多不同的市場條件，對企業而言，上市地選擇的影響既深且遠，有絕對必要確保決策的正確性，但由於資本市場運作複雜，須考量的因素既多且雜，如何配合企業發展、經營策略與適當的上市地選擇，成為如今台商企業必須面對及思考的問題。 本文分別針對大陸證券市場及香港證券市場進行探討，以瞭解分析兩岸三地證券市場提供台商的資金籌措方式。經由收集探討，歸納整理出大陸及香港上市的法令規定及兩岸三地的投資關係，提出在大陸台商企業所須因應的各項準備工作。

Syfte: Uppsatsen syfte är att klargöra och analysera reporäntans ränteförändringars påverkan på aktiekurserna för samtliga svenska banker i large cap på Stockholmsbörsen. Metod: Kvantitativa händelsestudier har gjorts med deduktiv forskningsansats på fyra företag, samtliga noterade på Stockholmsbörsen. Den onormala avkastningen för de undersökta aktiekurserna har beräknats en dag före till en dag efter samtliga realiseringar av reporänteförändringar som skett mellan åren 2004 till 2015.  Teori: Den teoretiska referensramen för studien består av den effektiva marknadshypotesen och överreaktionshypotesen. Slutsatser: Studien har påvisat att det råder signifikant samband mellan ränteförändringar och de studerade aktiernas avkastning vid realisering av ränteförändringarna. / Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to clarify and analyze the changes in the discount rate and its impact on stock prices of all Swedish listed banks in large cap on the Stockholm stock exchange. Methodology: Quantitative event studies has been done with deductive research approach on four companies, all listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The abnormal returns for the examined stock prices have been calculated one day before to one day after all the realizations of the changes in the discount rate that occurred between year 2004 to 2015. Theory: The theoretical framework in this study consists of The Effective Market Hypothesis and The Overreaction Hypothesis. Conclusions: The study has shown that there is a significant correlation between the changes in the discount rate and the equity returns of the studied stocks.

Η ακριβής πρόβλεψη της μελλοντικής μεταβλητότητας αποδεικνύεται ιδιαίτερα χρήσιμη για την τιμολόγηση παραγώγων προϊόντων και την αντιστάθμιση κινδύνων στη διαχείριση χαρτοφυλακίων. H τεκμαρτή μεταβλητότητα, όπως αυτή αντανακλάται στις τιμές των δικαιωμάτων προαίρεσης, αποτελεί την εκτίμηση της αγοράς για τη μελλοντική πραγματοποιηθείσα μεταβλητότητα και έχει αποδειχθεί ότι είναι πιο αποτελεσματική από την αντίστοιχη πρόβλεψη που προκύπτει από την ανάλυση ιστορικών χρονοσειρών. Η παρούσα διατριβή πραγματεύεται τη δημιουργία ενός δείκτη τεκμαρτής μεταβλητότητας για την Ελληνική χρηματιστηριακή αγορά, χρησιμοποιώντας έναν τρόπο υπολογισμού, ο οποίος είναι ανεξάρτητος από κάθε υπόδειγμα τιμολόγησης δικαιωμάτων προαίρεσης και βασίζεται σε ένα σταθμισμένο άθροισμα τιμών δικαιωμάτων. Η μεθοδολογία αυτή εφαρμόζεται για πρώτη φορά σε μια περιφερειακή, αναπτυσσόμενη αγορά, όπως το Χρηματιστήριο Αθηνών. Ο εν λόγω δείκτης τεκμαρτής μεταβλητότητας έχει τις προοπτικές να γίνει δείκτης αναφοράς των προσδοκιών για τη μελλοντική μεταβλητότητα στην Ελληνική μετοχική αγορά, καθώς αποδεικνύεται ότι υπερισχύει στατιστικά της ιστορικής μεταβλητότητας. Επίσης, οι επενδυτές του Χρηματιστηρίου Αθηνών μπορούν να χρησιμοποιούν το επίπεδό του και τις ημερήσιες μεταβολές του για να λάβουν επενδυτικές αποφάσεις, καθώς τα αποτελέσματα της οικονομετρικής ανάλυσης αποδεικνύουν ότι υπάρχει αρνητική και ασύμμετρη σχέση μεταξύ των μεταβολών του δείκτη τεκμαρτής μεταβλητότητας και των αποδόσεων του υποκείμενου μετοχικού δείκτη FTSE/Χ.Α.-20. Τέλος, η εμπειρική έρευνα καταγράφει την επιρροή της τεκμαρτής μεταβλητότητας των κυριοτέρων χρηματιστηρίων του εξωτερικού στην εγχώρια τεκμαρτή μεταβλητότητα, ενώ επιπλέον προσπαθεί να αναπτύξει ένα υπόδειγμα για την πρόβλεψη της τεκμαρτής μεταβλητότητας αυτής καθαυτής. / In this thesis a new measure of Greek stock market volatility based on the implied volatility of FTSE/ATHEX-20 index options is proposed. Greek Implied Volatility Index is calculated using the model-free methodology that involves option prices summations and is independent from the Black and Scholes pricing formula. The specific method is applied for the first time in a peripheral and illiquid market as the Athens Exchange. The empirical findings suggest that implied volatility includes information about future volatility beyond that contained in past realized volatility and in addition, prove that there is a statistically significant negative and asymmetric contemporaneous relationship between implied volatility changes and the underlying equity index returns. Finally, the volatility transmission effects on the Greek stock exchange from the major global exchanges are tested and documented. The basis of the international integration analysis, instead of the commonly used realized returns or variances, is the implied volatilities, as proxied by the corresponding implied volatility indices.

This dissertation relates to the study of valuing a business. Edcon, a well known listed retailer, was found its market values to be lower than its net asset value at 2002 financial year-end, while all of the major competitors of Edcon had a market value considerably in excess of net asset value. It was possible that Edcon's share was underpriced at year-end recently, as it was known that Edcon was a well-managed company with sound fundamentals. The "true" value of Edcon was investigated in this dissertation. Two valuation models, Discounted Free Cash Flow and Economic Profit model, were used and simple assumptions had to be made in order to arrive at a consensus valuation in this dissertation. Finally, all valuation performed in this case revealed that the share of Edcon was underpriced at year-end, and it was concluded that investors using these fundamental valuation methods and buying the shares could have made a profit. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

An ongoing debate in the corporate finance world concerns the question of a firm's optimal capital structure. More specifically, is there a way of dividing a firm's capital into debt and equity so as to maximize the value of the firm? From a practical standpoint, this question is of utmost importance for corporate financial officers. Yet, the academic literature has not been very helpful to provide clear guidance on practical issues. Except for a few theoretical models, there is a lack of literature concernmg how companies should decide their leverage ratios in practice. These models are unfortunately not applicable in real practice because of their inability to provide managers with a precise optimal leverage level. The purpose of this study concerns the practical matter of deciding the appropriate capital structure and the possibility of improvement for the companies. Specifically: How do the case companies decide their capital structure? Are their current capital stmctures optimal or is there room for improvement? To be able to examine these questions it was necessary to investigate companies that are as comparable as possible within the same industry. Different industries were identified based on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange industry classification and were analyzed for comparability issues. The real estate industry was found to experiences very similar business and has an opportunity to take more debt due to the nature of its asset structure. Three companies were selected from the property segment of the real estate industry based on their leverage ratios and companies with highest, medium, and lowest leverages in the industry were selected. Gold-edge was found to be the highest levered company in the industry, while Samrand and Putprop were found to be average and least levered in the industry respectively. The findings indicate that none of the companies uses capital structure models when deciding their capital structure. The case companies' capital structure indicates that Gold-edge's current capital structure is considered as close to optimal as possible while Putprop and Samrand current capital structure are not optimal and there is room for improvement. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

A simple Stock Market Game Model (SEGM) was introduced in 2002 by J. Mockus to simulate the behavior of several stockholders trading a single stock. In contrast, the proposed model PORTFOLIO is simulating stock exchange including a number of different stocks. The objective of PORTFOLIO is not forecasting, but simulation of stock exchange processes that are affected by predictions of the participants. The main improvements are the multi-stock extension and a number of different trading rules, which represent both the heuristics of potential investors and the well-known theoretical investment strategies. This makes the model more realistic and allows the portfolio optimization in the space of investment strategies, in both the historical and virtual environments. This is an essential improvement comparing with traditional single-stock models with direct interaction of investment agents. The "virtual" stock exchange can help in testing the assumption of rational investor behavior vs. the recent theories that explain financial markets by irrational responses of major market participants. The model has been compared with actual financial time series and found the results to be close in some cases. The model is designed as a tool to represent behavior of individual investor, which wants to predict how the expected profit depends on different investment rules using different forecasting methods of real and virtual stocks. / Paprastas akcijų rinkos žaidimo modelis (angl. Stock Market Game Model) buvo pristatytas J. Mockaus 2002 m. Šis modelis imituoja kelių akcininkų, prekiaujančių viena akcija, elgesį. Siūlomas modelis PORTFOLIO, priešingai, imituoja akcijų biržos darbą, kurioje vyksta prekyba su daugelio firmų akcijomis. PORTFELIO modelio tikslas yra ne prognozavimas, bet simuliavimas akcijų biržos procesų, kurie yra priklausomi nuo investuotojų prognozių. Pagrindinis modelio patobulinimas yra kelių akcijų ir įvairių prekybos taisyklių įvedimas, kurios atstovauja tiek potencialių investuotojų euristikas, tiek gerai žinomas teorines investavimo strategijas. Tai suteikia modeliui daugiau realistiškumo ir leidžia atlikti portfelio optimizavimą naudojant įvairias investavimo strategijas tiek su istoriniais duomenimis, tiek virtualioje aplinkoje. Tai esminis patobulinimas lyginant su tradiciniais vienos akcijos modeliais. "Virtuali" akcijų birža gali padėti tiriant racionalaus investuotojo elgesio prielaidą lyginant su pastarojo laikotarpio teorijomis, teigiančiomis, kad pagrindiniai rinkos dalyviai elgiasi neracionaliai. Modelis buvo lyginamas su realiomis finansinėmis laiko eilutėmis ir buvo rastas rezultatų panašumas tam tikrais atvejais. PORTFELIO modelis gali būti naudojamas kaip priemonė imituoti individualaus investuotojo elgesį, kuris nori prognozuoti, kaip tikėtinas pelnas priklauso nuo įvairių investavimo taisyklių naudojant skirtingus realių ir virtualių akcijų kainų prognozavimo metodus.