Business Commons^™

Stock Market Correlations To Economic Indicators, Anthony K. Quandt

Honors Theses

For this project, I researched how representative the S&P 500 (a common index of choice to represent the market) is of the economic well-being of the US. I found that stock market data can be used an as indicator of the economic well-being of the U.S.. The results do not indicate that the stock market leads to recovery, but it does suggest that it is correlated with recovery. In my analysis, I compared the S&P 500 performance to four different economic indicators: Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), The Consumer Price Index (CPI), Average Weekly Private Wages, and Unemployment Rate. A …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of Islamic Accounting Research Indexed By Dimensions.Ai, Aam Rusydiana, Muhamad Taqi, Irman Firmansyah, Aisyah Assalafiyah, Nanik Kustiningsih

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This bibliometric study investigated the current state of documents on Islamic accounting published by digital object identifier equipped journals from 1990 to 2020 listed in Dimension. The analysis focused on the trends of the keywords, authors and journals. The data analyzed were 556 publications of research publications in Dimension (https://dimension.ai). Search terms were 'Islamic accounting'. The searches used to establish the study dataset were last updated on November 13, 2020. Descriptive statistical methods were used, and a bibliometric analysis was conducted using the R Biblioshiny to find out the bibliometric map. The number of articles discussing the theme of Islamic …

Walmart Impact On The Finance And Insurance Industry, Steven C. Hall, Suzanne K. Hayes, Laurie Swinney

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Purpose

This paper investigates the effect of Walmart presence on professional service firms within the finance and insurance sector. This paper also discusses the finance and insurance industry’s place within the Walmart ripple effect—changed retail sector leads to changed professional support services resulting in altered levels of social capital within the community.

Design/Methodology

The study uses county-level data from the state of Nebraska to examine the relationship between cumulative Walmart exposure and the number of firms, number of employees, and payroll levels within the finance and insurance (F&I) sector. These same variables are also investigated within two specific F&I industries—insurance …

Behavioral Finance For The Individual Investor, Drake Gens

Senior Honors Theses

The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) has been generally accepted in academia despite its well-researched flaws; by understanding how and when markets deviate from efficiency, investors have an opportunity to not only better understand their investing habits, but also possibly generate higher investment returns. Various market anomalies, such as the Value Effect (De Bondt & Thaler, 1985), the Monday Effect (French, 1980), and the January Effect (De Bondt and Thaler, 1958 & 1987), attest to the fact that markets experience periods of deviation from efficiency. Fiévet and Sornette (2016) finding that markets experience inefficiency during periods of significant volatility is confirmed …

Influence Of Moody’S Rating Downgrade And Upgrade On The U.S. Equity Market: A Case Study Of Ibm, Ford, And Boeing, Qianhe Zhang

Honors College Theses

The main purpose of my thesis is to determine the current influence of credit rating downgrades and upgrades made by Moody's on the U.S. equity market. Previous literature has already talked about the effect of credit ratings on stock or bond price, however, my paper is different from previous works. I will focus on a single nationally recognized credit rating organization; I will talk about the both downgrade effect and the upgrade effect; I will do a case study of the credit rating effect on Ford, IBM, and Boeing. The results indicates that overall, Moody’s rating announcements have an important …

Investor Behavior In The Midst Of A Global Pandemic, Abigail N. Bates

Honors Projects

Investors partaking in portfolio and asset management through the stock market and other avenues do so with certain reasoning and methods in hand. Each investor may have different interests and risk tolerances that guide their choices for investment. Behavioral finance allows for an in-depth look at an investor’s actions and the influencing psychology behind it. Before this approach was popularized, early studies of finance assumed that investors were always rational in their decision making and put resources only into opportunities that would increase their utility or happiness. The behavioral finance approach takes a more comprehensive look at these behaviors and …

The Warren Buffett Project: A Qualitative Study On Warren Buffett, Christian G. Koch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Engaged scholarship focuses on real-world problems. The purpose of my research is to understand why Warren Buffett and his investment principles are not taught systematically in institutions where people are being prepared as investment and finance professionals. The rationale for the study was to answer the research question: What major themes can be extracted from the Warren Buffett Archive?

I used a qualitative research analytic method called thematic analysis used by Braun and Clarke (2006). The research includes 11 years of coded transcripts from Buffett speaking at his annual shareholders meetings. An interval of every two years was selected, which …

Artificial Intelligence Create Value To Investors, Jing-Yang Huang

Marriott Student Review

Artificial intelligence provides personalized assistance and solves tedious tasks in our daily lives. One of the applications of this technology is about investing. This article summarizes some basic knowledge of artificial intelligence and how it assists investors to create value.

Contemporary Investment Strategies And Comparison Applications Of Bitcoin, William Gregg Vi, Thanh Nguyen

University of South Carolina Upstate Student Research Journal

Bitcoin is an effective component to any investor's portfolio. The purpose of this research paper was to study the capabilities Bitcoin has to investors and anyone interested in learning more about cryptocurrencies. What are the strategic applications of Bitcoin and why should it be used over other types of assets? Bitcoin offers diversification capabilities to commodities, equities, bonds, the U.S. dollar, and most stock market indices. It can offer hedging capabilities against the U.S. dollar, Ethereum, stock market indices, and commodity uncertainty. The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 (FTSE100) is an example of an index that Bitcoin can hedge against. …

Beyond A Tube Of Red Lipstick: An Economic Valuation Of Estee Lauder And The Beauty Industry, Aisea Odencrantz, David Offenberg

Honors Thesis

The current valuation of the beauty industry is approximately $532 billion, yet this industry is not commonly suggested by investment professionals as a way to add diversification into their investors’ portfolios. The current craze of the market is technology and fossil fuels, but the beauty industry has remained a major player in consumer spending patterns throughout time. Through examining the historical financial statements of the publicly-traded cosmetic conglomerate Estēe Lauder, as well as several of its competitors, I modeled the future valuation of Estēe Lauder using the Discounted Free Cash Flow and Comparable Firm Multiples models. This analysis demonstrated how …

Research Project In Finance: Nve Corporation (Nvec), Houston Little

Student Scholarship

This project gives an overview of the well-being of the economy as a whole and also does a deep dive into the historical performance of the company while projecting future growth. Each of the future estimations are subject to change, based on numerous factors including but not limited to, US economic growth, international market development, management at NVE, and product innovation. There are many moving parts, but as an analyst, I will use the historical patterns, future expectations, and current financial well-being of NVE Corporation to decide whether this would be a good place for investors to rest their hard-earned …

The Implementation Of Eportfolios As A High Impact Practice In The Real Estate Practice Class, Yu Liu

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

I would like to implement the ePortfolio to my Fin 481 Real Estate Practice course. Real Estate Practice course introduces students to a broad spectrum of practical issues and activities in real estate markets. It provides the opportunity for the students to get an in-depth understanding of the real estate business. Subjects include Understand Real Estate Market; Math for Real Estate; Buying Real Estate, Mortgage, Escrow, Title Company, Inspection, Home Insurance Company; Selling Real Estate, Repairing, Brokerage, Staging; Comparative Market Analysis; Brokerage and Marketing Strategies; Investing in Real Estate Market, Debt Utilization; Flipping and Wholesaling; Construction Fundamentals; Legal Protection and …

A Case Study On Whether A Business Should Own Or Lease Its Real Estate, Benjamin Cooper

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Businesses are continually faced with many difficult decisions to make daily that can have a significant impact on their success. Whether it is if they should adopt a new accounting practice, work with a new supplier, or push into a new consumer sector, these decisions will affect their operations and long-term plans. One of these major decisions that a business has to make is whether they should own or lease their real estate. Depending on the size, type, and scope of a business this decision could be made differently but for certain companies there is definitely a correct answer. Buying …

Using Buy And Rent Discrepancies To Predict Real Estate Bubbles, Jonathan K. Niehaus

Honors Theses

The cost of housing is one of the biggest recurring expenses Americans face. Real estate is also one of the largest asset classes of investments today. The decision of whether or not it is the right time to purchase a piece of residential real estate can be difficult for the everyday person as well as professionals. With the recent downturn of 2008, many people are reminded that the price of houses can spiral upward, and if one bought at the wrong time, their house could lose a tremendous portion of its value. This study focuses on looking at different economic …

Equity Crowdfunding In The United States: Evolution, Determinants And Performance, Kenny Ozuna

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, equity crowdfunding has developed into an alternative form of early stage financing for startup firms. The main purpose of this dissertation is to understand the evolution, process and regulation of equity crowdfunding in the United States as well as assess the determinants of a successful campaign and whether this capital market lead to an enduring business.

The first essay examines the evolution, process and regulation surrounding equity crowdfunding. I establish a clear definition of crowdfunding and its restructuring of the music industry to establishing an alternative form of raising capital for nascent firms via equity crowdfunding. I …

Fintech Regulations In The United States Compared To Regulations In Europe And Asia, Victoria Williams

Honors College Theses

Fintech, or financial technology, is an up and coming industry and yet at the same time has been around since the 1950s. In Europe and Asia, there has been a lot of innovation, and lawmakers have been forced to keep up with regulating the rapidly growing industry. However, the United States has not risen to the occasion of properly regulating this industry and can learn from countries in Europe and Asia on how to effectively regulate fintech. This essay explains generally what fintech is, why it must be properly regulated, how countries in Europe and Asia regulate it, and how …

Black Women In Finance, Skylar R. Frankiewicz

Student Publications

The concept of gender has long played a role in United States’ history, greatly impacting and restructuring our economy. The push for gender equality in America has altered how organizations operate across different occupational fields. While the 2020 Equal Rights Amendment has yet to pass, many organizations are still motivated to reach total gender equality and balance within their firms. While there is a fight for feminism and gender equality, it is not a racially inclusive one. Black women face the most discrimination both in the workplace, and in social settings. Misogynoir is defined as prejudice against Black women, highlighting …

Permanent Equity: Successfully Finding And Buying A Small Business, Lewis Wang

Senior Theses

This thesis aims to build off the existing research on the advantages of permanent equity within the micro-cap market space. This strategy combines many advantages from private equity, venture capital, small-cap, and value / quality investing in order to generate a differentiated return. While the pros and cons of these various strategies have been explored by previous academic research, not much has been written on the actual implementation and choices practitioners must make when they decide how to deploy capital. In order to dive deeper into implementation, this thesis presents several anecdotes of various firms that invest in this space …

The Adoption Of Cryptocurrency Technology Into The Us Banking Infrastructure, Trevor Melito

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the possibility of using Blockchain technology to permanently change the payment structure of the US banking system. First, I examine the current technology that dominates the banking sector. I introduce the most frequently used payments methods including Automatic Clearing House transfers and wire transfers, both domestically and internationally. In addition, I highlight the major players controlling these transactions. Under the current system, frictions between senders and receivers cause billions of dollars in losses each year.

Next, I examine Blockchain’s roots along with some similar cryptocurrency technology, namely Distributed Ledger Technology and Smart Contracts. The transparency, security, and …

Understanding Cryptocurrencies, Wolfgang Karl Hardle, Campbell R. Harvey, Raphael C. G. Ruele

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

Cryptocurrency refers to a type of digital asset that uses distributed ledger, or blockchain, technology to enable a secure transaction. Although the technology is widely misunderstood, many central banks are considering launching their own national cryptocurrency. In contrast to most data in financial economics, detailed data on the history of every transaction in the cryptocurrency complex are freely available. Furthermore, empirically oriented research is only now beginning, presenting an extraordinary research opportunity for academia. We provide some insights into the mechanics of cryptocurrencies, describing summary statistics and focusing on potential future research avenues in financial economics.

Mad-Lib Style Game Sheet For Calculating Returns, Brett Whysel

Open Educational Resources

A short activity in which students pair up, fill in blanks with nouns, numbers, etc., creating their own practice problems to calculate returns.

Preferences Of Institutional Investors: Evidence From The Arab Region, Mohamed Ahmed Magdy Elsayed

Theses and Dissertations

In this research, we examine the preferences of institutional investors in the Arab region. Institutional investors’ investment decisions are based on various factors or measures that are used in assessing the worthiness of a company for investment. The research uses measures for stock risk and return, financial leverage, profitability, ownership concentration and trading activity, as well as measures for company size, value, sector, and country as predictor variables for the rate of institutional ownership and analyzes the impact of these variables. Using a cross-sectional model, the research gathers evidence from the Arab region’s leading stock markets by market capitalization for …

Newman/Martoma: The Insider Trading Law's Impasse And The Promise Of Congressional Action, Tai H. Park

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The prohibition against insider trading is a judge-made law that has evolved for over fifty years, and has reached a critical impasse in two recent decisions in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals: United States v. Newman and United States v. Martoma. Judges of the Second Circuit are sharply divided over what conduct constitutes improper trading on material nonpublic information (“MNPI”), leaving the law in profound disarray. At bottom, the disagreement stems from a decades-old split within the judiciary about how to (1) ensure a fair securities marketplace, while (2) enabling institutional analysts to probe for corporate information in furtherance …

Portfolio Insurance Strategies. Parameter Optimization And Comparison Study, Olga Biedova

2020

Portfolio insurance strategies are very popular investment solutions that provide an investor with capital protection as well as allow for an equity market participation.

This dissertation focuses on two portfolio insurance strategies: Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI), one of the most popular strategies, and Volatility Target Portfolio Insurance (VTPI), a modified version of an Option Based Portfolio Insurance (OBPI). This dissertation follows a three-paper model.

In paper one, we propose a two-step approach to the numerical optimization of the CPPI main parameter, multiplier. First, we identify an admissible range of the multiplier values by controlling the shortfall probability (chosen as …

How Access To Finances Affects Gender Inequality Across Cultures, Allison Muntin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

While many studies of financial inclusion have been undertaken, very few discuss the inclusion of women. Financial inclusion plays a large role in unlocking resources for the disadvantaged, resulting in higher economic growth and development. The economic opportunity allows individuals and businesses to have a greater contribution to society as a whole, enhancing all aspects of the economy. This paper furthers the conversation of women’s access to financial institution accounts across cultures and what underlying factors play a key role. The results indicate that the female demographic has fewer financial institution accounts in comparison to men when: (i) a country’s …

The Layers Of Digital Financial Innovation: Charting A Regulatory Response, Teresa Rodriguez De Las Heras Ballell

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The increasing penetration of digital technologies in financial markets is evidenced by promising adoption rates among users, expanding presence of fintech firms and bigtech providing techfin services, and the growing use of fintech solutions by incumbents. The increasingly popular term "fintech" captures the accelerated transformation of contemporary financial markets driven and enabled by technology, and encapsulates its multifarious potential impact on services, market structures, and business models. This Article first aims to devise and propose an analytical framework to understand the digital challenges to financial regulation based on the "layers of digital financial innovation" theory. Accordingly, digital innovation (fintech) is …

The Effect Of Gender On Ethical Investing, Delaney J. Housley

Honors Theses and Capstones

Prior literature related to gender and risk propensity would suggest that females are risk-averse, compassionate, and value ethics over return. This ideology of traditional gender norms stereotypically implies that females may be more likely to engage in ethical investing, as there is inherently less risk in investing in companies with strong corporate social responsibility. On the other hand, males are often portrayed as risk-seeking, competitively motivated, and valuing profits over principle, thus may be more willing to compromise ethics if the ends justify the means. The following paper seeks to investigate this relationship between gender and ethical investing, as examined …

The Future Of Actively Managed Funds, Oliver M. Botthof

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study analyzes the relationship between actively managed U.S. equity funds and passively managed U.S. equity funds over the past 20 years. This study concludes with a prediction as to where these markets are headed based off related literature and regression based tests run a a sample of funds.