Prior work shows that both short sales and put options contain information about future stock prices. In this study, we compare the return predictability in short sales to the return predictability in put options. The motivation for this comparison is based on the theoretical argument that...

This study tests the hypothesis that exchanges choose to list options for stocks that experience high levels of short activity. Results show that short activity is markedly higher for stocks that list options than for stocks that are eligible but do not list during the month prior to the option...

Much of traditional asset pricing theory rests on the assumption of normality in the distribution of stock returns. A growing body of research suggests that skewness in the return distributions can affect asset prices. This paper attempts to empirically identify factors that influence return...

This study finds evidence of autocorrelation in daily short-sale volume. The degree of autocorrelation in short volume, however, is not driven by illiquid stocks or stocks that face short-sale constraints. Contrary to prior research that suggests that autocorrelation in total trade volume is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate what is denoted as episodes of concentrated short-selling activity, or consecutive days of abnormal short-sale activity in a particular stock. The motivation to do so is two fold. First, US regulators and regulators in other countries have...

type="main" <p>We find that stocks with higher levels of prelisting short activity have a greater probability of option listing. These results are driven by the prelisting short activity of market makers, which suggests that exchanges believe that stocks with greater short selling will provide...</p>

Prior work contends that informed short sellers do not stealth trade because the uptick rule produces “execution uncertainty” and does not afford short sellers the opportunity to spread their trades across time. Contrary to this idea, our results show that informed short sellers tend to use...

This paper investigates the link between economic freedom and the price stability of individual securities in a unique setting. Using a sample of 327 American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), we find an inverse relation between the economic freedom of a ADRs' home country and the price volatility of...

Diether, Lee, and Werner (2009) show that, in general, short sellers are contrarian in both contemporaneous and past returns and able to impressively predict future returns. This study examines these trading characteristics during both the trading day and the after-hours period. Interestingly,...

Political involvement has long been shown to be a profitable investment for firms that seek favorable regulatory conditions or support in times of economic distress. But how important are different types of political involvement for the timing and magnitude of political support? To answer this...