This chapter discusses the efficient market hypothesis, which states that security prices fully reflect all available information. It is based on the theory of rational expectations, which says that expectations will equal optimal forecasts using all available information. Under the efficient market hypothesis, arbitrage forces will cause the expected return of a security to equal its required market return. While published investment reports are readily available, acting on this information will not yield abnormal returns as it is already reflected in prices. The chapter also discusses criticisms of the efficient market hypothesis from behavioral finance perspectives.
New highs in the equity markets prompt the questions, "Is it a good time to invest?" and "What is a good strategy?" Read on to see what Cornerstone Wealth Management's Chief Investment Officer Alan Skrainka, CFA, has to say.
Week- 5 Interest Rates and Stock MarketMoney and Banking Econ .docxalanfhall8953
Week- 5 Interest Rates and Stock Market
Money and Banking Econ 311
Thursday 7 - 9:45
Instructor: Thomas L. Thomas
Response over Time to an Increase in Money Supply Growth
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Risk Structure of Interest Rates
Bonds with the same maturity have different interest rates due to:
Default risk
Liquidity
Tax considerations
Long-Term Bond Yields, 1919–2011
Sources: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Banking and Monetary Statistics, 1941–1970; Federal Reserve; www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/data.htm.
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Risk Structure of Interest Rates (cont’d)
Default risk: probability that the issuer of the bond is unable or unwilling to make interest payments or pay off the face value
U.S. Treasury bonds are considered default free (government can raise taxes).
Risk premium: the spread between the interest rates on bonds with default risk and the interest rates on (same maturity) Treasury bonds
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Bond Ratings by Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch
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Risk Structure of Interest Rates (cont’d)
Liquidity: the relative ease with which an asset can be converted into cash
Cost of selling a bond
Number of buyers/sellers in a bond market
Income tax considerations
Interest payments on municipal bonds are exempt from federal income taxes.
Term Structure of Interest Rates
Bonds with identical risk, liquidity, and tax characteristics may have different interest rates because the time remaining to maturity is different
Yield curve: a plot of the yield on bonds with differing terms to maturity but the same risk, liquidity and tax considerations
Upward-sloping: long-term rates are above
short-term rates
Flat: short- and long-term rates are the same
Inverted: long-term rates are below short-term rates
Facts that the Theory of the Term Structure of Interest Rates Must Explain
Interest rates on bonds of different maturities move together over time
When short-term interest rates are low, yield curves are more likely to have an upward slope; when short-term rates are high, yield curves are more likely to slope downward and be inverted
Yield curves almost always slope upward
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Three Theories to Explain the Three Facts
Expectations theory explains the first two facts but not the third
Segmented markets theory explains fact three but not the first two
Liquidity premium theory combines the two theories to explain all three facts
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Expectations Theory
The interest rate on a long-term bond will equal an average of the short-term interest rates that people expect to occur over the life of the long-term bond
Buyers of bonds do not prefer bonds of one maturity over another; they will not hold
any quantity of a bond if its expected return
is less than that of another bond with a different maturity
Bond holders consider bonds with different maturities to be perfect substitutes
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Expectations Theory: Example
Let the c.
Fundamental analysis of a business involves analyzing its financial statements and health, its management and competitive advantages, and its competitors and markets.
3 ways to know if the price is right identify the overpriced & under pri...Hello Policy
Investors hoping to maximize their gains try to identify stocks that are mispriced, creating long opportunities for under-priced companies and short opportunities for overpriced shares. Not everyone believes a stock can be mispriced, particularly those who are proponents of the efficient markets hypothesis. Efficient markets theory assumes that market prices reflect all available information regarding stock and this information is uniform. Such observers also contend that asset bubbles are driven by rapidly changing information and expectations rather than irrational or overly speculative behaviour.