Common Risk Factors in Stock and Bond Returns: A Comprehensive Analysis

Investment Paper 2: Common risk factors in the returns

On stocks and bonds:


This Paper identities five common

risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds.
There are

three stock
Market factors: an overall market factor and

factors related to firm size and book-to-market equity.

There are two bond-market factors. Related to maturity

and default risks. Most important. The five factors seem

to explain average returns On stocks and bonds. They

used the time-series regressions to attack the central

asset-pricing issues: how do Different combinations

of variables can capture the Common variation through

time in the returns on bonds And stocks, second the

cross-section of average Returns.
The result concluded

as the following: TERM and DEF was used to explain

the cross-section of returns It seems that default factor

is more powerful than TERM.TERM and DEF is less risky.

Firm size factor seems to Effect on the earnings amount.

Another thing the book to market equity effect

firms by having prescient abnormal return.
While the three

factors model or five factors will give the same explanation

on stock and bound return. Also Sharpe lintner model was

the most used for portfolio Performance valuation.



Are the Fam and French Factors Global or Country Specific?


Investment Paper 3: This Article examines whether country-specific

or global versions of Fama And French’s three-factor model better

explain time-series Variation in international stock returns.
Findings

Regressions for portfolios and individual stocks indicate that Domestic

factor models explain much More time-series variation in returns and

generally have lower pricing Errors than the world factor model.

In addition, decomposing the world factors into domestic and Foreign

components demonstrates that The addition of foreign factors to

domestic models leads to less accurate in-sample and out-of-sample

pricing. Practical Applications of the three-factor model, such as cost

of capital calculations and performance evaluations, are best Performed

on a country-specific basis.So the article do not support the Notion that

these are benifite to Extending the fama and French factor model to a

global context.

Corporate Finance Paper 5:Do financial crises alter the dynamics of Corporate capital structure?


Evidence from GCC Countries:We study the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the capital

structure of GCC firms. We Employ

a dataset covering a 10-year Period from eight sectors to investigate patterns in corporate leverage

before and after the crisis And identify changes in debt financing. Our results indicate that leverage

ratios were negatively and Significantly impacted by the 2008 crisis due to lack of debt supply by

lenders. We also find that the demand for debt by firms is the main Driver of leverage before the

crisis whereas the demand for debt by firms and the supply of debt By lenders are both important

determinants of leverage After the crisis. Moreover, we find that firms adjust their leverage ratios

toward the target leverage Much slower after the crisis. Our results also indicate that the impact

of the crisis on the capital Structure is different across industries and across countries. These

results are of paramount importance for stakeholders to understand And mitigate the impact of

crises on capital structure. Two traditional approaches have Emerged attempting to explain capital

structure decisions. The First, the trade-off theory benefits of debt achieved through tax savings

and the reduction of managerial agency costs; against bankruptcy Costs and the agency costs

between shareholders and bondholders. A dynamic extension of this Theory allows firms to

deviate from their target leverage where firms adjust their Leverage by balancing the benefits

from being at their optimal capital structure and the adjustment Costs toward the target leverage.

The second, the pecking order theory, does not assume the existence Of an optimal capital structure

and postulates that capital Structure decisions are driven by the costs of adverse selection between

the firm and outside investors. When financing their operations, The managers attempt to reduce the

asymmetry costs in capital markets. According to the pecking order Theory, the firm first uses internal

resources, then issues debt If internal resources are insufficient, and finally issues external equity

believed to be the most Expensive.

\

Corporate Finance Paper 4: The costs of going public:


This

paper presents evidence Regarding the two quantifiable

components of the costs of Going public: direct expenses

and underpricing which are primarily investment banking

fees and both are economically significant. Together, these

costs average 21.22% of the realized market value of the

securities issued for firm Commitment offers and 31.87% for

best efforts offers. For a Given size offer, the direct expenses

are of the same order of Magnitude for both contract types,

but the underpricing is greater for best efforts offers. An

explanation of why some firms choose to use best efforts offers

in spite of their apparent Higher total costs is given. I resolve this

apparent paradox as follows: If there is enough uncertainty about the

value of the firm, an issuing firm is better off using a best Effort

contract because the required underpricing if it used a firm Commitment

contract would be so severe. Using a data set of initial public Offers

from 1977-1982, I find empirical results consistent with the Theory:

firms that are more volatile in the aftermarket are more likely to Have

used a best efforts contract to go public. The process of going Public

starts when a registration statement, containing descriptive

material about the issuing Firm and the proposed offer is filed

with the united states Securities and exchange commission.

Corporate Finance Paper 6: The Impact of Initiating Dividend Payments

On Shareholders’ Wealth


: This study Investigates the impact of dividends

on stockholders’ wealth by Analyzing 168 firms that either pay the first

dividend in their corporate history or initiate dividends after a 10-year hiatus.

The empirical results Exhibit larger positive excess returns than any previous

study on dividends. This Result does not depend on any other events

(such as earnings announcements) and the excess return is Positively related

to the size of the initial payment. Subsequent dividend increases For the same

sample of firms are also Investigated. Compared with the initiation of dividends,

the results suggest that Subsequent increases may produce a larger positive

impact on shareholders’ Wealth. The results also indicate that other studies

may have underestimated the effect of dividend increases. The Findings for

both initial and subsequent dividends are consistent with the view That

dividends convey unique, valuable information to investors. The Effects we

find are larger than those Presented in other studies and do not appear to be

caused by contemporaneous Announcements such as earnings reports.

These results are consistent with the view that dividends convey Unique,

valuable information to Investors.As lintner (1956) and others have

documented, managers behavior also appears to be consistent with This view.

The impact of a firms dividend policy on its value is an unresolved Issue.

In their seminal work,miller and Modigliani demonstrate that absent Imperfections

Dividend policy should not affect shareholders wealth.

The real exchange rate determination: An empirical investigation: Financial

Market Paper


3:
This study examines the real exchange rate determination in

Asian economies (Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong) The methods show that the

real exchange rate and terms Of trade can be jointly determined. Productivity

differential, terms of Trade, the real oil price, and reserve differential are found

to be important in the real Exchange rate determination in the long run. However,

the significant impacts of Those variables on the real exchange rate determination

are different across economies. The real exchange rate plays an Important role in

the international trade and Investment determination. The results of generalised

forecast error variance decompositions show that terms of trade, The real oil price,

and reserve differential are The important contributors to the real exchange rate

determination in Japan, terms of trade and reserve differential are The important

contributors to the real exchange Rate determination in Korea, and reserve

differential and the real Oil price are the important contributors to the real

exchange rate determination In Hong Kong. Thus there is no universal set of

important contributors on The real exchange rate determination. On the whole,

terms of trade, reserve Differential, productivity differential, and the real oil

price is found to be Important in the real exchange rate determination but the

significant impacts of those Variables on the real exchange rate determination

is different across Economies.