This study explores the strategic interaction between large institutional investors and firms that issue put options written on their own stock. The firms experience large positive abnormal annual returns after they sell put options. The vast majority of issued put options expire without being...

This study examines the motives for stock splits in the context of the announcing firm's institutional ownership. We report an inverse relationship between the magnitude of announcement period abnormal returns and the percentage of the firm's institutional ownership, indicating that stock splits...

Companies collected billions in premiums from peculiarly structured put options written on their own stock, while almost all of these puts expired worthless quarter after quarter. Buyers of these options, primarily investment banks, lost money as a result. Although these losses might seem...