Of the many analytical methods collectively referred to as Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is the most familiar to today’s generation of students of finance. The popularity of the CAPM arises from its success in expressing a powerful theoretical insight in a simple, usable form. The primary use of the CAPM is to determine minimum required rates of return from investment in risky assets. The variable in the CAPM is called ‘beta’, a statistical measure of risk which has become familiar to all finance professionals. Over the past decade, beta has become the most widely recognised and applied measure of risk in the investment community. The model has been extensively tested in the developed capital markets, mainly in the United States of America. But the model has not been extensively tested in other developed and developing countries, often due to the size of the capital market and the lack of the data in these countries. This study attempts to fill this vacuum and tries to update the earlier tests done on the Stock Exchange of Singapore. On addition, a review of the validity of the CAPM over time, as proxied by the stationarity of the beta, is performed. Also, tests regarding heteroskedasticity and its implications have been undertaken. / Master of Commerce (Hons)

Two important findings in the IPO literature, IPO's underpricing and poor long run stock returns, are investigated by using the sample of IPOs completed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) from 1994 to 1999. The evidence suggests that Thai IPOs are underpriced and have poor long run stock returns. Rock 's (1986) model is employed to explain the underpricing of Thai IPOs. Rock's model is supported by the evidence of Thai IPOs. Past market conditions and the stock liquidity of the IPOs' industries are the main factors which affect investor demand for IPO shares. IPOs which go public in the hot market conditions (periods with high past market return) and IPOs which come from liquid industries (industries which have high stock turnover) attract more investor demand. These two factors are also positively correlated with IPO first day return. This suggests that investors have higher demand for IPOs which go public in the hot market conditions and IPOs which come from liquid industries because these IPOs are underpriced, and the underpricing of these IPOs is corrected during the first trading day. IPOs with low investor demand underperform their benchmarks in the long run. On the contrary, the long run returns of IPOs with high investor demand are not significantly different from their benchmarks. One possible explanation for the underperformance of IPOs with low investor demand is that these IPOs may be illiquid. The lack of demand during the first trading day may cause their first closing price to be different from their intrinsic value. This difference is gradually adjusted in the long run leading to the underperformance of these IPOs. This hypothesis is supported by the evidence. The sample of rights offerings announced in the SET between 1994 and 1999 also supports the role of liquidity in explaining the poor long run performance of issuers. The change in operating performance of IPOs from the IPO-year to the post-IPO years also has some power in explaining the long run underperformance of IPOs. IPOs which perform more badly after going public have poor long run returns.

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This study examines the relationship between stock prices and accounting figures, primarily the book value of equity and earnings, as well as the market perception of accounting choices implemented by companies. Market event studies from late sixties have initiated numerous of researches, and the majority of contemporary results were consistent with strong belief in the market efficiency theory. The book value of equity and earnings have been proved to have the highest explanatory power of future stock prices. Other accounting-related issues, like inventory methods or accounting for business combination, were proven to have reliable impact on the stock prices. Moreover, the cash flow implications triggered by the accounting change are not an indispensable condition to influence the stock price level. Although a great body of research has treated the relationship between accounting choices and stock prices, a clear-cut mechanism is not well specified. The evidence is inconsistent, and the consequences of accounting change are difficult to measure. However, the accounting figures included in financial statements remain the most important measure of the companies’ performance. Due to the economic and technical progress, which considerably modified the structure of companies and the environment in which they operate, further studies are advisable in order to maintain the reliability of accounting figures on significant level.

The efficacy of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts was a major topic of discussion in the 2010 midterm elections. I investigate the effect of the possible expiration and eventual extension of the dividend tax cut on US stock market performance in 2010 based on the methodology used by Amronin, Harrison and Sharpe (2008). I compare aggregate performance of US common stocks relative to foreign stocks using equity indices, and examine cross-sectional performance amongst US stocks by creating different stock portfolios based on their dividend yield. This comparison is done over two event windows, (1) 20-24 September 2010 and (2) 3-8 December 2010. Consistent with previous studies, I find that the US stock market did respond to negative and positive news on the extension of the Bush-era dividend tax cuts, with stock prices falling and rising, respectively. My findings also suggest that this aggregate effect was probably muted by the redistribution of funds by investors from lower-yield to higher-yield stocks. Unlike in 2003, however, in the post-financial crisis context of 2010, the redistribution seemed to particularly favor stocks with medium-dividend yield, rather than smaller, higher-risk stocks with the highest dividend yield.

The stock market returns are the readily available tool for the investor to make investment decision and stock market return are affected by many accounting variables. Dividend policy measures and stock return relationship has been examined from decades but result is still a dilemma. This study is a step forward to solve this dilemma by considering Karachi stock exchange, Pakistan and Nordic stock markets and conducting a comparative study to also provide a knowledge base to readers. Dividend yield ratio, dividend payout ratio and other accounting variables are examined to find their effect on stock return. Pooled least square regression has been used on the data ranging from 2005-2008 and findings are different in different markets. Dividend policy measures (dividend yield ratio and dividend payout ratio) have significant effect on the stock return and in most countries there is significant negative relationship.

The objective of this study is to examine the dividend policy measures effect on the stock prices. A sample of 171 listed companies from Karachi Stock Exchange, Pakistan is examined for a period from 1998 to 2006. The dependent variable stock price volatility is regressed against the dividend policy measures (independent variables) e.g., dividend yield, dividend payout ratio, actual cash dividends and dividend to total assets of the firm, after controlling for firms’ profitability, liquidity, gearing, size and growth. This study finds that, dividend policy measures have strong effect on the stock market prices but results are contradictory to earlier research in Pakistan. Dividend payout and actual cash dividends have negative, significant relationship with stock prices and dividend yield have significant positive relationship with stock market prices.

Stock prices are dynamic and changing frequently whenever the financial markets are opened. Many people aspire to know where prices are likely to be at future times. One of the basic problems, connected with stock valuation is to create an appropriate model of stock prices dynamics. This paper deals with the stock valuation models, such as binomial, additive, multiplicative, Brownian motion and etc. These models appeals to hypothesis, declaring that returns of stock follows by normal distribution and stock prices by lognormal one. The aim of this work is to test these hypothesis. The research of this paper discloses the basic tendency, announcing that stock is not applicable for a real adaptability of methods in Lithuanian companies because the returns of stock do not follow by the normal distribution. Disputed situation is opposite in companies of the USA. The returns of stocks are calculated by the following ways. They are numbered in the area of MS Excel. In order to review the conditions of normality, the SAS software was chosen. Finally, Delphi 10 programming language was selected for realization of the binomial tree.

本篇論文使用Correlation of Coefficient 與 Johansen cointegration test來探討股票市場與匯率市場之間的連動性。實證結果顯示股票市場與匯率市場之間有高度的相關性，特別是在西元2000年之後，全球呈現出集體的連動性。而此兩變數之間的關係亦可在不同的地區或是不同的工業化程度國家下看見不同的結果，歐體以及諸多新興市場等區域內皆呈現出股市與匯市相關係數的一致性。然而，當此研究以Johansen cointegration test來分析時，無法在此兩研究變數間發現顯著的長期關係。 / This study utilized Correlation of Coefficient as well as Johansen cointegration test to investigate the relationship between stock prices and exchange markets. The empirical results show that the two markets of study are highly correlated, especially after the year of 2000. Since then, the stock prices and exchange rates worldwide have presented one common trend, either negative correlation or positive. Different region, such as European Union or East Asian countries exclude Japan, and different level of industrialization lead to diverse relationship between exchange rates and stock prices. Put this relationship in a long-term scope, however, no distinct trend can be discerned by using Johansen cointegration test.