This thesis examines the impact of company announcements on the daily stock returns of lowly capitalised companies. A total of 105 companies comprise the sample and 1464 events are examined over the period 21110/97 to 03/0412000. The methodology employed is primarily, empirical in nature. Event studies are conducted to gauge the impact of company announcements on stock returns using the single index market model (SIMM) as the chosen equilibrium market model for modelling abnormal returns. The study professes three mam contributions to knowledge. The empirical evidence suggests that financial announcement have a more timely impact on stock returns than non-financial announcements. Secondly, there appears to be significant over-reaction and mean-reversion exhibited by lowly capitalised firms. Thirdly, the speed of adjustment of stock prices to new information is increased in cases where shareholder concentration is high while over-reactions appear inversely proportionate to shareholder concentration. This may be a consequence of smaller firms experiencing leakage of boardroom level information prior to public announcement days.

Ce mémoire porte sur l’œuvre chantée de Michel Latraverse, dit Plume. Nous y définissons le projet esthétique de cet auteur-compositeur-interprète en nous questionnant sur l’auditeur anticipé dans ses chansons. D’une part, nous constatons que Latraverse mise sur une forme d’hybridité quand il se définit en tant qu’artiste. L’hétérogénéité de ses influences lui permet d’explorer un grand nombre de styles musicaux et d’aborder une multitude de sujets. Dans ses textes, il cherche le beau à travers la simplicité et la bassesse du quotidien. Cependant, il tend malgré tout à exposer la laideur du monde en développant un réflexe d’exclusion qui n’épargne personne, brisant par le fait même toutes les solidarités. D’autre part, à l’aide des théories de la lecture, nous montrons que Latraverse, en puisant à la fois aux cultures savante et populaire, et malgré ses réflexes d’exclusion, rend possible un rapprochement entre des lecteurs aux compétences parfois très inégales. À la fin, nous concluons que Plume Latraverse opère un rabaissement systématique de l’humain afin d’en ramener l’existence à sa plus simple expression, physique et corporelle. C’est ainsi qu’il crée une communauté du bas où chacun a sa place et au sein de laquelle l’exclusion n’est plus possible. / The object of this master’s dissertation is the musical work of Michel Latraverse, also known as Plume. By identifying the anticipated listener of this singer-songwriter’s songs, we will define his aesthetic project. We will first note how Latraverse, when defining himself as an artist, relies on a certain hybridity. His influences are diverse and varied, and thus allow him to explore different musical styles and topics. His writings explore beauty within every day life’s simplicity and commonness. However, by putting forth an exclusion reflex from which no one is safe, Latraverse also tends to expose life’s ugliness. We will then show, using reader-response criticism theories, how Latraverse draws from both popular and learned cultures and thus, in spite of his exclusion reflex, allows readers of sometimes very different proficiency to reconcile. All this will allow us to conclude that Plume Latraverse systematically belittles man in order to bring him back to his most humble physical and corporal expression. He thus creates a community of the lowly where each find their place and where exclusion is no longer possible.