This study deals with one of the efficient market hypothesis’ anomaly. The research aims at proving the existence of a size anomaly by answering the question: can you outperform the market by investing in small and mid caps? It is in fact a questioning of the well-know efficient market hypothesis (EMH). We investigate the size effect in the situation of a passive strategy with different indices (Russell Indices and S&P Indices) from 1995 to 2005. The introduction gives to the reader the background he needs to understand the methodology and the approach of the issue by the authors. Key concepts are defined such as EMH, passive strategy. The second part exposes the methodology the authors choose and the methodology of exploited indices. The research consist on measuring the risk adjusting excess returns by comparing the market index return (S&P 500 or Russell 3000) and the Small and Mid Caps indices (S&P Small Cap 600, S&P Mid Cap 400, Russell Mid Cap and Russell 2000) over the period. Indeed the methodology of indices is exposing in details to understand in which extent the study can be influence by the construction of indices. Then in part 3 the authors describe theories that are possible explanations for the size effect. Then it is understandable that the size anomaly is the result of a set of factors that generate abnormal returns. These theories help the authors to come up with a model that gives an overview of the research. After having explained their research method and reveal their empirical findings. The authors demonstrate that excess returns can be earned by investing in small and mid caps indices even after controlling for risk. The risk adjusting excess returns their findings can potentially be explained by the other factors depicted in the theoretical part. E/P ratios, Trading Costs, January effect, Overreaction are possible reasons to explain the size anomaly. They also find an instability and/or reversal of the size effect consistent with one of the theories. However the authors find data with non statistic significance, so I accept the null hypothesis that the excess returns of small and mid caps indices are equal to zero. The paper ends with a discussion about the limitations of the study and possible further researches. The authors conclude that even if the existence of a size effect is obvious for some years and horizons of investment, the passive strategy appears to be an unsuited method to take advantage of the small effect since the results reject the null hypothesis. The authors clarify the fact that before investing in small and mid caps, one has to be aware of all the factors that can influence his investment (beside risk) because the size effect is a set of factors. Key words: Efficient Market Hypothesis, Abnormal returns, Size effect (anomaly), Passive strategy, Market Index, S&P indices, Russell indices

Takeover is a business activity which really started in the beginning of the eighties and which still takes a strong part in the business and financial area all over the world. According to our studies as the desire for further acknowledgements and the desire of building a career around financial activities, this study has been naturally conducted in the banking area. Regarding the steady use of acquisition like a powerful process with some positive and negative sides, we decided to implement a comparison of different mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry in the United States and Europe. This comparison has been supported and based on the third main topic of our study: performance. These large and complex subjects combined together lead to the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Performance is not improved after takeover in the banking industry. Hypothesis 2: The level of post takeover performance is the same in the U.S. as in the European bank acquisitions. Based on the historical data and knowledge, the United States was the pioneer in the development of such gathers in the banking sector. Considering the United States as a reference, a first purpose was to compare them with the bank mergers and acquisitions in Europe. Stating on some possible differences as increasing our own knowledge have been some others purposes which have supported our work. A first large part of our work was focused, through a large literature review, on the enhancement of our knowledge as the statements of the basis and support for the analysis. To illustrate and to try to answer our research question, we have conducted our study based on a sample of 20 acquisitions which were achieved in the banking industry between March 1998 and May 2004. 10 of these acquisitions had been achieved in the United States as the 10 remaining acquisitions had been executed in Europe. The analysis has been achieved by collecting data in Thomson Datastream Advance. Based on a quantitative method, we applied two financial models: The Market Model (MM) and the Market-Adjusted Returns Model (MAR) supported by the Cumulative Abnormal Returns Method (CARs). The post-takeover study has been delimited on a period of 42 months after the public announcement. The study and the comparison between the United States and Europe have shown some differences between the two areas. Nevertheless it seems that negative abnormal returns are usually the case after such takeovers on the whole period studied. Some positive abnormal returns have been recorded at different points in the time into the studying period. According to the models we applied, the US banks results seem to be better than the ones of European banks: the differences range from 5,58 to 16,65 points under the MM, and from 1,66 to 18,08 points under the MAR model.

Background: The value of stock recommendations have been debated for a century andthe debate has escalated since Alfred Cowles (1933) published his research in “Can StockMarket Forecasters Forecast”? As of late, savings in stocks has increased and the householdsare managing their savings more actively. The consequence of the increased interestin stocks has resulted in a growing market for stock recommendations. Not just financialmedia but daily newspapers have embraced this new found interest, hence stock recom-mendations can be found in almost all large newspapers in Sweden. Furthermore, this phe-nomenon has also lead to intensified research within stock recommendations. Researchers have under the 20th and 21st century investigated a wide number of issues concerning stock recommendations. The most common issue with different angles has been whether stockrecommendations generate abnormal returns or not? Earlier research on this issue havehowever mostly been based on the American stock market. According to us, not enoughnational research has been done on whether stock recommendations generate abnormal returnsor not on the Swedish stock market. Further we think that there is a lack of research with regards to a short time span. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether stock recommendations on Nasdaq OMXSLarge-Mid-Small CAP, First North and Aktietorget generate abnormal returns? Central for the study is to investigate if stock recommendation generates abnormal returns in the short-term. Secondary the study will also investigate stock recommendations effect on stock prices in the long run. Method: First step was to create databases from high frequency data, 10 minute OHLCVbars, and from closing prices. Thereafter use these as a base for statistical calculations. Conclusion: The results from this study show that analysts have succeeded with generat-ing significant abnormal returns with their recommendations. Above all it is the business journals buy recommendations that generate the highest abnormal return. Sell recommen-dations didn’t give high significant results in our measurements. Our results also show thatabnormal returns from buy recommendations are sufficiently high and the transaction costsare sufficiently low so that investors can capitalize on the analyses. We found that buy recommendations effect companies noted on Small Cap etc to a higher extent than companies noted on Large- and Mid-Cap because of the lower degree of transparency in the smaller companies. Our results also indicate that the weekly magazines generate approximatelyequal abnormal returns. The monthly generates the lowest abnormal returns in our study. In our research we also found that buy recommendations that are published when thestock market has a positive momentum perform better than when the stock market has anegative momentum. We also found that investor should closely monitor the information flow before the recommendation is published, since a positive information flow can have afavorable outcome on the size of the abnormal return. Last but not least, we observe a correlationbetween the numbers of investors the recommendation reaches and the magnitudeof the observed abnormal return. / Bakgrund: Värdet av aktierekommendationer har debatterats i snart ett sekel, och debat-ten har eskalerat ända sedan Alfred Cowles (1933) publicerade sin forskning ”Can StockMarket Forecasters Forecast?" De senaste åren har sparandet i aktier ökat och hushållenblir allt aktivare i sitt pensionssparande. Konsekvensen av det ökade intresset för sparande iaktier har resulterat i en växande marknad för aktierekommendationer. Inte bara finansiellmedia utan också dagliga tidskrifter har tagit till sig detta ökade intresse och nästan samtligastörre dagstidningar publicerar numera aktierekommendationer. Vidare har detta fenomen också lett till att forskningen kring aktierekommendationer intensifierats de senaste decennierna.Forskare har under 1900-talet och 2000-talet undersökt en mängd olika problem-ställningar kring aktierekommendationer. Varav den vanligaste problemställningen med varierandevinklar, har varit huruvida aktierekommendationer genererar överavkastning ellerej? Tidigare forskning har dock framförallt baserats på den amerikanska aktiemarknaden. I vår mening råder det brist på nationell forskning som visar huruvida aktierekommendatio-ner genererar överavkastning på bolag noterade på svenska marknadsplatser. Vidare råderdet brist på forskning som tar hänsyn till det korta tidsperspektivet. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida aktierekommendationer på Nasdaq OMXS Large-Mid-Small CAP och First North samt Aktietorget genererar överavkastning? Centralt för studien är attundersöka om aktierekommendationer är kursdrivande på kort sikt, Sekundärt kommer också studienundersöka aktierekommendationers inverkan på aktiekurser på lång sikt. Metod: Första steget var att konstruera databaser från högfrekvensdata, 10M OHLCVbars, och stängningskurser. Därefter använda dessa som grund för statistiska beräkningar. Slutsats: Resultat från vår studie visar att ekonomijournalister har lyckats med att genererasignifikant överavkastning med deras rekommendationer. Framför allt är det affärstidskrifternasköprekommendationer som genererar högst överavkastning. Säljrekommendationergav ett lägre signifikant utslag i våra mätningar. Våra resultat indikerar också på att överavkastningen från köprekommendationer är tillräckligt hög och transaktionskostnaderna tillräckligtlåga för att investerare skall kunna kapitalisera på rekommendationerna. Vi finneratt köprekommendationer är mer kursdrivande på Small Cap etc. än bolag noterade på Lar-ge- och Mid Cap på grund av den lägre graden av transparens i de mindre bolagen. Våra resultatpekar också på att Affärsvärlden, Börsveckan & Veckans affärer genererar ungefärlika stor överavkastning. Aktiespararen & Privata Affärer genererar den lägsta överavkastningeni våra mätningar. I våra efterforskningar ser vi också en stark tendens för att aktiersom rekommenderas när börsen har ett positivt momentum presterar bättre än aktier somrekommenderas när börsen har ett negativt momentum. Vi finner också att investerare börbeakta informationsflödet innan rekommendationstidpunkten då ett positivt informations-flöde kan får en gynnsam effekt på överavkastningens storlek. Sist men inte minst observe-rar vi en korrelation mellan antalet investerare rekommendationen når och magnituden påden observerade överavkastningen.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study the possible existence of day-of-the-week effects and month-of-the-year effects in the Singapore stock market over the period January 1st 1993 to December 31st 2011. The findings are analysed with the intention of developing investment strategies and to investigate if behavioural finance can help to explain the existence of seasonal anomalies.  Background: A number of previous studies have found evidence of seasonal anomalies in global stock markets, and by challenging the core assumptions of market efficiency, such anomalies may make it possible to predict the movement of stock prices at certain periods during the year. Consequently, there may be substantial profit-making opportunities that clever investors can benefit from, raising two important questions: (1) can such anomalies be strategically used to outperform the market and (2) why do such cyclical return patterns exist? Method: Daily closing prices from the Singapore Straits Times Index (STI) are used to compute average daily and monthly returns, which are further analysed through the use of statistical significance analysis and hypothesis testing to identify the possible existence of day-of-the-week effects and month-of-the-year effects in the Singapore stock market.  The results of the statistical investigation are used to develop investment strategies that are designed to take advantage of both positive and negative effects, and the theories of behavioural finance are applied to help explain why seasonalities occur at certain points in time. Conclusions: This study finds evidence of several seasonal anomalies in the Singapore stock market. Both day-of-the-week effects and month-of-the-year effects are present in the STI over the full sample period. Many of these effects can be explained by behavioural finance, and used to develop investment strategies that outperform the market.

Denna eventstudie syftar till att undersöka hur ett byte av noteringslista påverkar kumulativ onormal avkastning (CAR) 1 till och med 12 månader efter genomfört byte. I studien undersöks därför utförda byten av noteringsplats på den svenska aktiemarknaden under tidsperioden 1995-2009. I studien beräknas onormal avkastning delvis med marknadsmodellen (MM) som grund, men också med Fama & French tre-faktormodell (FF) för att öka reliabiliteten. Vidare undersöks om skillnader i CAR föreligger under olika tidsintervall samt om olikheter förekommer efter att berörda företag delats in i undergrupper baserade på typ av byte, industri samt storlek. Slutligen testas utifall den eventuella kumulativa onormala avkastningen är signifikant skild från noll med student t-test samt om det föreligger skillnader i medelvärde i de olika undergrupperna. Resultatet visar att den genomsnittliga kumulativa onormala avkastningen (CAR) uppgår till – 4,57 % (MM), - 3,74 % (FF) en månad efter bytet, vilket är signifikant på 1 % - nivån. Denna negativa tendens håller i sig och efter 12 månader uppvisas CAR på – 20,20 % (MM), -16,99 % (FF) även dessa statistisk säkerställda på 1 % - nivån. Detta resultat är i linje med liknade studier på andra aktiemarknader. Vi kan alltså dra slutsatsen att detta fenomen även föreligger på den svenska aktiemarknaden samt konstatera att händelsen listbyte är något både företag och aktieägare bör beakta mer varsamt.

<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if abnormal patterns concerning the rates of return during specific weekdays and months are observable for the companies in the OMXS30 during the period 2003-2010. A special focus will be put on the Monday effect anomaly.</p><p><strong>Background: </strong>Investors have a tendency to search for investment opportunities. If errors exist in the pricing of stocks it indicates that anomalies are present and that the stock market is inefficient. Investors then have the possibility to utilize the anomalies in order to receive above average returns.<strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Method: </strong>This study is using data of stock prices from Nasdaq OMX in the period of 2003-2010. The strength and existence of the Swedish stock market efficiency is measured through autocorrelation-, chi-square- and regression tests.<strong> </strong>Average monthly stock returns are calculated on daily-, monthly-, and yearly basis. The returns are compared in order to examine if day-of-the-week and turn-of-the-year anomalies exist.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>No Monday effect is found in 2003-2010. However, positive Thursday- and positive Friday effects are detected. A negative turn-of-the-year effect as well as a positive April effect is found. The investment opportunities that could be utilized in 2003-2010 due to the specific anomalies in the period do not necessarily imply that the same anomalies can be expected on the OMXS30 in the future.</p>

Investors are continuously looking to increase the return on their investments. In an ideal world investors want to increase there return and outperform the market. Theory states that it is impossible to do so without increasing your risk. Arbitrage is a concept where investors are able to generate risk-free returns exceeding the market. Dividend is a common tool for publicly listed firms when rewarding their shareholders. On ex- dividend day, the day after the dividend payout, the stock price should according to theory decrease in order for the valuation of the stock to be held constant. In our research we investigate if there are arbitrage opportunities in connection to the dividend payouts, namely the ex-dividend effect. We want to generalize our results across experimental settings, thus across different stock markets. As a basis for our research we picked the OMXS. We base our research on three theoretical areas: the dividend irrelevancy theory, the efficient market hypothesis and the anchoring theory. The dividend irrelevancy relates to how the stock price ought to behave on ex-dividend day whereas the efficient market hypotheses states that prices on a market fully reflects all available information. Both theories concur that no arbitrage opportunities should be available on the financial market. The anchoring theory highlights the fact that investors formulate an anchor price for financial assets, for example stocks. In our research we aim to formulate a practical method on how to make abnormal returns on the ex dividend effect, based on the anchoring theory. Our census sample consists of dividend-paying firms publicly registered on the OMXS, and consists of 694 observations taken from 2009 to 2012. The sample was picked on the basis of characteristics, for example that the firm has been registered for at least four years and paid dividend one time during the four years of investigation. In order to tests for arbitrage opportunities on ex-dividend day, we used a simple mathematical model measuring the deviation between the price drop cum-dividend day to ex-dividend day, and the dividend amount. We conclude that the price drop differs from the dividend amount, only accounting for a price drop of 0.73 of the dividend amount. Thus, the price drop for each dividend unit is 0.73, in relation to a perfectly efficient market where there should be no difference; hence the price drop would be equal to the dividend amount, 1. Research on the ex-dividend effect is a thoroughly investigated area, where the first research was presented in 1955. Previous research all attempts to explain why there are market anomalies, but none examine how one can capitalize on the findings. In our research we examine if it is possible to make abnormal returns based on a segmenting of stocks, depending on their price volatility. This research is thereby first in examining how to capitalize on found arbitrage opportunities.

Background: Previous studies on the subject, contrary to corresponding studies on mergers and acquisitions, have shown significant positive market reactions from all over the world on the announcements of divestitures. However, similar studies have not been done on the Swedish market. There are split opinions on the origin of the abnormal returns from the announcements of divestitures, but the economic cycle, choice of payment method and industry affiliation are recurring explaining variables in event studies. Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the effect on shareholder wealth from the announcements of a divestiture on the Swedish market during the period from 1997-2017, as well as investigating how the abnormal returns are affected by the economic cycle, choice of payment method and industry affiliation. Completion: The study is conducted using the event study methodology and a deductive approach. Historical time series from divesting companies share prices are used to estimate expected returns which are then compared to actual returns to decide whether the announcement of a divestiture has an impact on shareholder wealth. Results: The study finds significant results that divesting companies’ shareholder wealth are positively affected by the announcement of a divestiture for both event windows (-3, +3) and (-1, +1). For each separate day within the event window the authors find statistically significant returns for day T-2 and T0. The authors find no statistically significant differences between the returns regarding the economic cycle. Regarding the choice of method of payment, it is concluded that payment through stock generates excess returns when compared to other financing alternatives. No differences could be found between different industry affiliations. / Bakgrund: Tidigare studier inom ämnet har, till skillnad från motsvarande forskning om företagsförvärv, påvisat signifikanta positiva reaktioner från marknader över hela världen vid tillkännagivandet av en avyttring. Däremot saknas studier om avyttringars effekt på den svenska marknaden. Det råder delade meningar om varför abnormal avkastning uppstår vid tillkännagivandet, där konjunkturläge, finansieringsalternativ och branschtillhörighet är vanligt förekommande förklarande variabler i eventstudier. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur tillkännagivandet av en avyttring påverkar säljande bolags aktiekurs på den svenska marknaden under tidsperioden 1997–2017, samt att undersöka hur rådande konjunkturläge, valt finansieringsalternativ och branschtillhörighet påverkar avkastningen Genomförande: Studien genomförs genom eventstudiemetodologin med en deduktiv ansats. Empirin utgår från historisk tidsseriedata från avyttrande bolags aktiekurser för att bestämma förväntad avkastning som sedan jämförs med faktiskt avkastning för att urskilja om tillkännagivandet påverkar kursutvecklingen. Resultat: Studien visar statistiskt signifikanta resultat för att avyttrande bolags aktiekurs påverkas positivt av tillkännagivandet av en avyttring både för eventfönstret (-3, +3) och (-1, +1). För de enskilda dagarna i eventfönstret finner författarna statistiskt signifikanta avkastningar för dag T-2 och T0. Författarna finner inga statistiskt säkerställda skillnader i avkastning beroende på rådande konjunkturläge. Gällande val av finansieringsalternativ visas att betalning genom aktier genererar signifikant högre avkastning än övriga alternativ. Inga samband kunde säkerställas beroende på företagens branschtillhörighet.

Submitted by Rafael Fernandes Piva (rafa_piva@hotmail.com) on 2016-02-12T16:30:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado - Rafael F. Piva.pdf: 987410 bytes, checksum: 36bea23e31284f38f87f91afe08988b9 (MD5) / Rejected by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br), reason: Rafael, boa tarde Para que possamos aceitar seu trabalho junto à biblioteca, realizar os seguintes ajustes conforme normas da ABNT: - Verificar a configuração da página, pois no arquivo em pdf NA CAPA, consta seu nome abaixo da data. (nome que deveria estar na contracapa) - Ainda na capa, o título deve estar em letras maiúsculas. - Alterar 2015 para 2016 pois foi quando você realizou a apresentação. Em seguida submeter o arquivo novamente. Att on 2016-02-12T19:12:29Z (GMT) / Submitted by Rafael Fernandes Piva (rafa_piva@hotmail.com) on 2016-02-12T19:23:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado - Rafael F. Piva.pdf: 988291 bytes, checksum: b72928664fcbb314404c2d51b74fa4fc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2016-02-12T19:28:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado - Rafael F. Piva.pdf: 988291 bytes, checksum: b72928664fcbb314404c2d51b74fa4fc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-15T11:28:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado - Rafael F. Piva.pdf: 988291 bytes, checksum: b72928664fcbb314404c2d51b74fa4fc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-19 / O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar os retornos de um portfólio investido na estratégia de risk arbitrage no Brasil entre 2004 e 2014, determinando se esta estratégia proporciona retornos anormais. De setembro de 2004 a dezembro de 2014, o portfólio de risk arbitrage gerou, depois de deduzidos os custos, um retorno anualizado de 14,40%, enquanto que o ativo livre de risco gerou retornos de 11,60% e o Índice Bovespa gerou 12,62%. Os resultados indicam que, usando-se tanto o CAPM como o modelo de três fatores de Fama e French (1993), a estratégia proporciona retornos anormais. Um segundo objetivo desse estudo é analisar se a distribuição dos retornos dessa estratégia é assimétrica. As evidências apontam para assimetria na distribuição dos retornos. Em função disto, foi utilizada a metodologia de Contingent Claims, que controla o efeito da relação não linear com os retornos de mercado, para analisar se mesmo assim a estratégia oferece retornos anormais. Com essa metodologia, não foram encontrados retornos anormais estatisticamente significativos. Por fim, o último objetivo desse estudo é analisar se o payoff da estratégia de risk arbitrage é análogo ao payoff da venda de uma put. Não foram encontradas evidências de que o payoff seja análogo ao da venda de uma opção de venda. / This study aims to analyze the returns of a portfolio invested in risk arbitrage strategy in Brazil between 2004 and 2014, determining whether this strategy provides abnormal returns. From September 2004 to December 2014, the portfolio of risk arbitrage generated, after costs, an annualized return of 14.40%, while the risk-free asset generated returns of 11.60%, and the Bovespa Index generated 12.62%. The results indicate that, using both the CAPM and the Fama and French (1993) three-factor model, the strategy provides abnormal returns. A second objective of this study is to analyze if the distribution of returns of this strategy is asymmetric. The evidence points to asymmetry in the distribution of returns. On that basis, it was used the methodology of Contingent Claims, which controls the effect of non-linear relationship between portfolio and market returns to analyze if the strategy still offers abnormal returns. With this methodology, no statistically significant abnormal returns were found. Finally, the ultimate goal of this study is to analyze whether the payoff of risk arbitrage strategy is analogous to that of selling a put option. No statistically significant evidence that the payoff is analogous to shorting a put option was found.

Submitted by Luca Werth (luca.camilla.werth@gmail.com) on 2016-02-13T14:21:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_Luca_Werth_IMF_FGV.pdf: 13602681 bytes, checksum: 08724741af45a494cd2781c7b14906f7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br) on 2016-02-15T11:43:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_Luca_Werth_IMF_FGV.pdf: 13602681 bytes, checksum: 08724741af45a494cd2781c7b14906f7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-15T15:01:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_Luca_Werth_IMF_FGV.pdf: 13602681 bytes, checksum: 08724741af45a494cd2781c7b14906f7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-19 / This study researches whether there has been abnormal stock market behaviour in Brazil as a consequence of election news (observed via opinion polls), regarding the last Brazilian presidential election, held in October 2014. Via applying event study methodology, the research on the Ibovespa and Petrobras suggests that events in which Rousseff was gaining in share have been subject to negative abnormal returns, and events where Rousseff was loosing in share have led to positive abnormal returns. Moreover, volatility has been significantly elevated during the election period and volume has been found to have slightly increased. / Este estudo investiga se houve comportamento anormal no mercado de ações no Brasil decorrente de notícias sobre as últimas eleições presidenciais brasileiras (através da utilização de sondagens), realizadas em outubro de 2014. Utilizando uma metodologia de estudos de evento (event studies), a investigação sobre o Ibovespa e a Petrobras sugere que, nos períodos em que Dilma melhorava a sua posição nas sondagens existiram retornos anormais negativos e, nos períodos em que Rousseff piorava a sua posição, existiram retornos anormais positivos. Além disso, a volatilidade foi bastante elevada durante o período eleitoral tendo o volume de transações aumentado ligeiramente.