Portfolio and Security Analysis Commons^™

Charting Your Financial Goals, Benedict Koh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Every one of us has financial goals but not many of us know how to go about achieving them. We often lack investment knowledge or expertise to design an investment plan that optimises our savings. Consequently, we adopt the default approach of leaving all our savings in bank deposits. By doing so, we have already made an asset allocation decision, one that is very conservative. Over time, we soon realise that this conservative investment plan is simply not working as our savings are not compounding fast enough to keep up with inflation. We need to invest more wisely so that …

A Multiechelon Inventory Problem With Secondary Market Sales, Alexandar Angelus

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We consider a finite-horizon, multiechelon inventory system in which the surplus of stock can be sold (i.e., disposed) in the secondary markets at each stage in the system. What are called nested echelon order-up-to policies are shown to be optimal for jointly managing inventory replenishments and secondary market sales. Under a general restriction on model parameters, we establish that it is optimal not to both sell off excess stock and replenish inventory. Secondary market sales complicate the structure of the system, so that the classical Clark and Scarf echelon reformulation no longer allows for the decomposition of the objective function …

The Effect Of Information Quality On Liquidity Risk, Jeffrey Ng

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

I investigate whether information quality affects the cost of equity capital through liquidity risk. Liquidity risk is the sensitivity of stock returns to unexpected changes in market liquidity; recent asset pricing literature has emphasized the importance of this systematic risk. I find that higher information quality is associated with lower liquidity risk and that the reduction in cost of capital due to this association is economically significant. I also find that the negative association between information quality and liquidity risk is stronger in times of large shocks to market liquidity.

What Is Behind The Asset Growth And Investment Growth Anomalies?, Fangjian Fu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Existing studies show that firm asset and investment growth predict cross-sectional stock returns. Firms that shrink their assets or investments subsequently earn higher returns than firms that expand their assets or investments. I show that the superior returns of the low asset and investment growth portfolios are due to the omission of delisting returns in CRSP monthly stock return file and that the poor returns of the high asset and investment growth portfolios are largely driven by the subsample of firms that have issued large amounts of debt or equity in the previous year. Controlling for the effects of the …

Spend Your Money On Income Generating Activities Rather Than Liabilities, George E. Ekeha

George E Ekeha

Many at times as I walk around town, in the cities and the country sides I try to observe how we live our lives in Ghana. In my previous article, I highlight some very important resources that we are endowed with in this country. We all know that those are just but few and we are proud that we have more resources than some of our neighbours in the Sub-Saharan African countries. One of these resources is the human capital. We can be proud of ourselves to have people who think about the necessity of peace in order to enhance …

Savings Habits Of African Women, The Case Of Ghanaian Market Women, George E. Ekeha

George E Ekeha

Recent economic developments in Africa have led to increased educational opportunities and new jobs for the millions of people living in the continent. Specifically, the development changes have had a significant impact on the female population in the member countries as more and more women continue to gain access to training and education and obtain the skills and qualifications needed to enter into the workforce. Due to these recent developments, women in Africa have been able to gain more control over their own finances. As a result, women entrepreneurs in most African countries have become increasingly important drivers of growth …

"The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916," Fearghal Mcgarry (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010) And "Guerrilla Warfare In The Irish War Of Independence, 1919-1921," Joseph Mckenna (Jefferson, Nc And London: Mcfarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2011), Edward J. Hagerty

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Extraordinary Rendition And U.S. Counterterrorism Policy, Mark J. Murray

Journal of Strategic Security

This article examines the United States Government policy of extraordinary rendition as a response to terrorism. The paper provides a working definition of the term, outlines why it has become controversial, and uses case studies to examine success and failures of extraordinary rendition in practice. The paper concludes with lessons learned—more specifically, policy amendments—that are necessary to keep extraordinary rendition as a viable tool for the Obama Administration and mitigate political fallout against the United States from both its allies and enemies. This paper argues that extraordinary rendition provides flexibility to policymakers to detain terrorists in cases where an attack …

Hizbollah–Syrian Intelligence Affairs: A Marriage Of Convenience, Carl Anthony Wege

Journal of Strategic Security

Since the 1980s, Hizbollah has emerged as the guardian of Lebanon's Shi'a and a stalking horse for Iran. Syria, though allied with Tehran, seeks to manage Hizbollah's freedom of action in Lebanon and is eyed cautiously in Damascus. Hizbollah has managed to maintain independence from these Syrian efforts because of both Lebanese Shi'a religious élan and the protection given Hizbollah by its Shi'a allies in Iran.

Cover & Front Matter

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Mitigating The Exploitation Of U.S. Borders By Jihadists And Criminal Organizations, Todd Steinmetz

Journal of Strategic Security

Following the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Government began improving security in large population centers and near potential highvalue terrorist targets. Included in these efforts was the development of a more robust border security program, with an emphasis on reducing the threat of terrorist infiltration at America's borders. However, nearly a decade after 9/11, terrorism and organized crime continue to pose significant threats to the United States. As many of these threats emanate from other nations, improved border security helps mitigate these threats. This article summarizes known terrorist activity along the U.S. northern and southern borders, and highlights …

Buy Off And Buy In: Flipping The Farc, Joel K. Day Ii

Journal of Strategic Security

The election of President Juan Manuel Santos in Columbia marks a new era in Columbian security policy. administration has failed to implementInstead of focusing on a solely military solution to conflict with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as his predecessor did, Santos has committed to a multifaceted effort to resolve the dispute. In spite of this hope, the Santos many critical non-military policy proposals. Like Santos, the scholarly community has ignored important comparative studies of counterterrorism. This essay attempts to fill a gap in the literature by framing a discussion of FARC in light of new advances in counter-insurgency …

"Terrorism And Homeland Security: Perspectives, Thoughts, And Opinions," Edited By Dale L. June (Boca Raton, Fl: Crc Press, 2011), Mark J. Roberts

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

"Area 51: An Uncensored History Of America's Top Secret Military Base," Annie Jacobsen (New York: Little, Brown And Company, 2011), Edward M. Roche

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Streaks In Earnings Surprises And The Cross-Section Of Stock Returns, Roger Loh, Mitchell Craig Warachka

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Quality Education And Tailor-Made Skills Development Is Needed To Solve Unemployment Problem In Ghana, George E. Ekeha

George E Ekeha

The issue of unemployment have been one of the major problems in the country for sometime now. Many opinion leaders, youth activist and other concerned groups and individuals have expressed their worries on the issue. In recent times there have been some group calling itself Unemployed Graduate Association of Ghana (UGAG) and many youth groups advocating for pressure on the governments to create jobs in the country as promised in their manifestos. Their intention was to send message out there to leaders about the fact that they have some skills to be implemented on the job markets but cannot find …

Unregulated Stock Markets In Second Life, Robert Bloomfield, Young Jun Cho

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

SLCapex is a stock exchange owned and operated by “residents” of the online virtual world Second Life. Despite its almost complete lack of regulation and legal protections against fraud or insider trading, issuers were able to raise approximately US$145,000 from investors, which grew to US$900,000 in market value before plummeting, resulting in overall investor returns of −71%. Investors in large issuances lost more than investors in small issuances, and small investors experienced more severe losses relative to large investors when more money was at stake, indicating that the market did a poor job of protecting investors from issuers and of …

Modeling Human Behavior To Anticipate Insider Attacks, Frank L. Greitzer , Ph.D., Ryan E. Hohimer

Journal of Strategic Security

The insider threat ranks among the most pressing cyber-security challenges
that threaten government and industry information infrastructures.
To date, no systematic methods have been developed that provide a
complete and effective approach to prevent data leakage, espionage, and
sabotage. Current practice is forensic in nature, relegating to the analyst
the bulk of the responsibility to monitor, analyze, and correlate an overwhelming
amount of data. We describe a predictive modeling framework
that integrates a diverse set of data sources from the cyber domain, as well
as inferred psychological/motivational factors that may underlie malicious
insider exploits. This comprehensive threat assessment approach
provides …

China's Use Of Cyber Warfare: Espionage Meets Strategic Deterrence, Magnus Hjortdal

Journal of Strategic Security

This article presents three reasons for states to use cyber warfare and
shows that cyberspace is—and will continue to be—a decisive element in
China's strategy to ascend in the international system. The three reasons
are: deterrence through infiltration of critical infrastructure; militarytechnological
espionage to gain military knowledge; and industrial espionage
to gain economic advantage. China has a greater interest in using
cyberspace offensively than other actors, such as the United States, since
it has more to gain from spying on and deterring the United States than
the other way around. The article also documents China's progress in
cyber warfare and …

"Information Operations Matters: Best Practices," Leigh Armistead, (Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2010), Robin L. Thompson

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

"Obama's Wars," Bob Woodward, (New York, Ny: Simon And Schuster, 2010), Richard J. Kilroy Jr.

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Size And Return: A New Perspective, Fangjian Fu, Wei Yang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We document robust empirical evidence that, after controlling for idiosyncratic volatility, large stocks earn significantly higher returns than small stocks. Our empirical results indicate that idiosyncratic volatility is positively related to return, but negatively related to size. Hence, failure to control for idiosyncratic volatility generates a downward omitted variable bias and leads to the widely documented negative relation between size and return. We explain the two contrasting size-return relations, with and without the control for idiosyncratic volatility, in a parsimonious equilibrium model that incorporates three empirical regularities: some individual investors are under-diversified; small stocks have higher idiosyncratic volatilities than large …

Cover & Front Matter

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

"The Dynamics Of Terror And Creation Of Homegrown Terrorists," Richard J. Hughbank, Ed. Et Al., (Mustang, Ok: Tate Publishing And Enterprises, 2010), Jennifer Jefferis

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

"The New Muslim Brotherhood In The West," Lorenzo Vidino, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), Sheldon Greaves , Ph.D.

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

"Small Boats, Weak States, Dirty Money: Piracy And Maritime Terrorism In The Modern World," Martin N. Murphy, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), Francis D. Bonadonna , Capt.

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Capital Budgeting Practices And Economic Development: A Comparative Study Of Companies In Western Europe And West Africa, George E. Ekeha

George E Ekeha

Over the years, efforts have been made to increase the developmental strides of African countries. Many projects move from donor countries like the United Kingdom and the United State into Africa to help improve the lives of the people. However, these efforts have not been able to redeem Africa from abject poverty and indebtedness to the West. Various projects that are targeted towards the reduction of poverty are normally completed with no changes in the lives of the people. These projects, in my opinion, have not been scrutinised to assess their capabilities of meeting some stated target.

Capital budgeting practices …

Leverage Change, Debt Overhang, And Stock Prices, Jie Cai, Zhe Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We document a significant and negative effect of the change in a firm's leverage ratio on its stock prices. We find that the negative effect is stronger for firms that have higher leverage ratios, higher likelihood of default, and face more severe financial constraints. Moreover, firms with an increase in leverage ratio tend to have less future investment. These findings are consistent with Myers' (1977) debt overhang theory that an increase in leverage may lead to future underinvestment, thus reducing a firm's value.

Earnings Management Surrounding Seasoned Bond Offerings: Do Managers Mislead Ratings Agencies And The Bond Market, Gary L. Gaton, Chiraphol New Chiyachantana, Choong Tze Chua, Jeremy Goh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We study earnings management (EM) efforts surrounding seasoned bond offerings using discretionary current accruals. We find that issuers tend to inflate earnings performance prior to an offering. In order for EM efforts to effectively mislead ratings agencies and the bond market, they must lead to inflated bond ratings and decreased offering yields. Regression results indicate the opposite; aggressive EM efforts are associated with lower initial ratings and higher offering yields. We also find a statistically lower proportion of subsequent downgrades for firms with the most aggressive EM efforts, which is inconsistent with these firms’ inflated initial ratings. While some firms …

Adverse Selection And Corporate Governance, Charlie Charoenwong, David K. Ding, Vasan Siraprapasiri

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines the impact of corporate governance on the adverse selection component of the bid-ask spread of stocks listed on the Singapore Exchange. These companies have been identified by Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CSLA) with the highest level of corporate governance among 25 emerging markets. We measure corporate governance by several criteria: discipline, transparency, independence, accountability, responsibilities, fairness, and social awareness. The results show that corporate governance has an inverse relationship with adverse selection. However, only the transparency dimension exhibits a significant inverse relationship with adverse selection. In addition, Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) are shown to have a smaller adverse …