Unusual News Flow and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns
Georgetown McDonough School of Business Research Paper No. 2820320
Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University Research Paper No. 2820320
56 Pages Posted: 12 Aug 2016 Last revised: 15 Nov 2016
Date Written: November 14, 2016
Abstract
We document that stocks that experience sudden increases in idiosyncratic volatility underperform otherwise similar stocks in the future, and we propose that this phenomenon can be explained by the Miller (1977) conjecture. We show that volatility shocks can be traced to the unusual firm-level news flow, which temporarily increases the level of investor disagreement about the firm value. At the same time, volatility shocks pose a barrier to short selling, preventing pessimistic investors from expressing their views. In the presence of divergent opinions and short selling constraints, prices end up initially reflecting optimistic views but adjust down in the future as investors' opinions converge.
Keywords: Unusual News Flow, Volatility Shocks, Short Sale Constraints, Market Efficiency
JEL Classification: G10, G12, G14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation