We find that transient institutions, characterized by diversified portfolios with high turnover, are attracted by the larger liquidity and increase their holdings in firms with higher quality of financial statements and thus boost these stock prices during market downturns. Therefore, transient...

We test and offer support to Merton's (1987) theory that difference in a stock's investor recognition affects its cost of capital. In the U.S. market, using the breadth of ownership among retail investors as a proxy for investor recognition, we show that a long-short portfolio based on the...

We show that the moving averages (MAs) of stock market indices act as psychological barriers and affect investors' trading. Market indices do not move continuously near their MAs, especially in markets dominated by unsophisticated investors. Utilizing international markets data, we show that the...