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Theses/Dissertations

2016

Discipline
Institution
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Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Portfolio and Security Analysis

Feats And Failures Of Corporate Credit Risk, Stock Returns, And The Interdependencies Of Sovereign Credit Risk, Uche C. Isiugo Aug 2016

Feats And Failures Of Corporate Credit Risk, Stock Returns, And The Interdependencies Of Sovereign Credit Risk, Uche C. Isiugo

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation comprises two essays; the first of which investigates sovereign credit risk interdependencies, while the second examines the reaction of corporate credit risk to sovereign credit risk events. The first essay titled, Characterizing Sovereign Credit Risk Interdependencies: Evidence from the Credit Default Swap Market, investigates the relationships that exist among disparate sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) and the implications on sovereign creditworthiness. We exploit emerging market sovereign CDS spreads to examine the reaction of sovereign credit risk to changes in country-specific and global financial factors. Utilizing aVAR model fitted with DCC GARCH, we find that comovements of spreads …

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The Benefits Of Global Diversification, David J. Tassone May 2016

The Benefits Of Global Diversification, David J. Tassone

Honors Thesis

International diversification reduces total risk to a portfolio by adding uncorrelated assets and brings higher long-term returns. In this study, the research looks to see if any single country index or continent index consistently outperforms a diversified value-weighted global market index. In order to value-weight the global index, the study uses the International Monetary Fund’s voting shares of each country and equates each voting share to each country or continent’s stake within the value-weighted global market index. To correct for currency exchange, the study uses iShares and other ETFs denoted in the United States Dollar. The value-weighted global market index …

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Strategic Asset Allocation For Fixed Income And Fixed Income-Like Securities In Anticipation Of A Bear Market, Ngoc B. Phan May 2016

Strategic Asset Allocation For Fixed Income And Fixed Income-Like Securities In Anticipation Of A Bear Market, Ngoc B. Phan

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

In a market contraction, it is often beneficial to actively manage fixed income and fixed income-like portfolio via strategic asset allocation. Many fixed income securities tend to outperform equities during market contractions owing to their fixed payment streams, lower volatility, and higher position in capital structure. This study seeks to estimate a set of optimal asset allocation portfolios in anticipation of recessions empirically using historic inflation-adjusted data. I apply mean-variance optimization to find optimal portfolio mix, discuss investors of different risk levels and discuss performance of portfolios in growth, recession and long-term periods.

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The Taper Tantrum Of 2013: Momentum-Driven Or A Return To Fundamentals?, Colette L. Terhune May 2016

The Taper Tantrum Of 2013: Momentum-Driven Or A Return To Fundamentals?, Colette L. Terhune

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study explores the driving force behind the Taper Tantrum of 2013. Following the Fed’s announcements of potential QE tapering, investors poured of the bond market, causing yields to rise sharply. This analysis seeks to determine whether this was a momentum-driven reaction or a return to fundamental values. Throughout this paper, fundamental determinants of bond prices and investor returns are combined with trading volume and bid-ask spread data to determine the motivating market force. The findings suggest that the Taper Tantrum was a return to fundamental bond prices following an asset bubble burst, likely due to momentum trading.

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Correlation Between Shareholder Concentration And Firm Performance With Regard To Midcap Companies, Wynn Lemmons May 2016

Correlation Between Shareholder Concentration And Firm Performance With Regard To Midcap Companies, Wynn Lemmons

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The research herein explores the correlation between performance and shareholder concentration. This paper compares the performance of a group of companies with a single shareholder stake of over 10% from the universe of the S&P 400 Midcap Index to the performance of the index itself over a period of eight years (January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2016). When run as a simulated portfolio, the group selected generated a slight amount of positive alpha, but the results were ultimately statistically insignificant.

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Financial Performance In Upstream, Downstream, And Integrated Oil Companies In Response To Oil Price Volatility, Jonathan P. Garcia May 2016

Financial Performance In Upstream, Downstream, And Integrated Oil Companies In Response To Oil Price Volatility, Jonathan P. Garcia

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper investigates the relation between crude oil price volatility and stock returns among oil companies using a three-part methodology, by using the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) as oil price benchmark. I asses the various indicators that set signals for oil price volatility and the interpretation of each (PMI, S&P500, DJIA, and World Crude Oil Output). This research also focuses on the relation between different types of companies in the oil industry (integrated, upstream, and downstream) and how each type of company will be assessed in a particular way to predict abnormal returns, based on market data and statistical analyses …

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The Millennial Investor: Mutual Funds Versus Exchange Traded Funds, Terrell Mclendon May 2016

The Millennial Investor: Mutual Funds Versus Exchange Traded Funds, Terrell Mclendon

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research paper seeks to understand the Millennial investor. The distinct purpose of this research is to determine if Millennials in the U.S., specifically those ages 25 to 35, prefer investing in exchange traded funds to mutual funds. Additionally, this research seeks to discern if these Millennials prefer investing online to working with a personal financial advisor. Secondary research was utilized extensively to compile a review of existing literature on the topics of the Millennial generation, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, personal financial brokers, and online investing sites. Primary research was completed through a questionnaire survey to gather new data …

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Trading Ahead Of Bad News: Evidence From Short-Sales Of Stocks And The Options Market, Nicholas E. Macksoud Apr 2016

Trading Ahead Of Bad News: Evidence From Short-Sales Of Stocks And The Options Market, Nicholas E. Macksoud

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Throughout the past ten years, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued hundreds of enforcement actions in the electric, natural gas, and petroleum industries. The vast majority of these citations have been violations of environmental statutes, notably the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA). My research evaluates the timing of informed investors’ actions pertaining to the public release of these EPA announcements. Since informed traders have much more leverage in the options market, there seems likely to be a concentration of abnormal put option activity shortly before the time in which the announcements reach …

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Should I Invest In Art?, Alexandra Eldridge Jan 2016

Should I Invest In Art?, Alexandra Eldridge

MA Projects

One of the more interesting ways to consider the perennial is art a good investment? question is by looking at the various ways that the art market does or does not behave like other markets. When comparing art as an asset class to more traditional assets, we first need to ask ourselves – are the two even comparable? This article explores the idiosyncrasies of the art world, compares the claims people make regarding art's investment potential to the available research studies, discusses some non-monetary motives for buying, and may even have an answer for the nagging art-as-investment question.

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An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Security Information Technology Enhancements And Computer Security Breaches And Incidents, Linda Betz Jan 2016

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Security Information Technology Enhancements And Computer Security Breaches And Incidents, Linda Betz

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Financial services institutions maintain large amounts of data that include both intellectual property and personally identifiable information for employees and customers. Due to the potential damage to individuals, government regulators hold institutions accountable for ensuring that personal data are protected and require reporting of data security breaches. No company wants a data breach, but finding a security incident or breach early in the attack cycle may decrease the damage or data loss a company experiences. In multiple high profile data breaches reported in major news stories over the past few years, there is a pattern of the adversary being inside …

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Informational Efficiency And The Reaction To Terrorism: A Financial Perspective, Nicholas Roland Jan 2016

Informational Efficiency And The Reaction To Terrorism: A Financial Perspective, Nicholas Roland

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study is to measure the message terror organizations hope to convey using the financial markets as a proxy of measurement to determine patterns within the marketplace and the effects on the terrorists’ ability to deliver a desired message due to the increased use of digital devices and access to instantaneous news, seen over the past decade. Using death count, geographic location, and event type, this study identified 109 attacks between 1985 and 2015 to be analyzed against 5 market indices and 5 securities. Measuring the effects within a 10-day sample window from the time of the …

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Testing The Predictive Power Of Equity Valuation Metrics: A Minskyian Approach, Mohd Ahnaf Habib Khan Jan 2016

Testing The Predictive Power Of Equity Valuation Metrics: A Minskyian Approach, Mohd Ahnaf Habib Khan

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Valuation process is at the core of finance. There are several methods that can be used to value a stock. Analysts, due to constraints in time, choose between a few metrics to obtain a target price for the stock. In this paper we analyze the predictive power of different valuation metrics when used to predict the S\&P 500. We do so by first presenting theoretical discussions about the financial markets. The case that EMH is not a good model for finance and that behavioral finance, though useful, does not create a complete picture. Mainstream investment theories presented by Neoclassicals and …

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The Cost Of Feeling Good, Casey M. Field Jan 2016

The Cost Of Feeling Good, Casey M. Field

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Cost of Feeling Good attempts to quantify the optimum portfolio returns of Socially Responsible Investment Funds and Dual-Purpose Portfolios. In order to meet the demands of investors who want to create a social impact and generate financial returns, investors can choose two methods. For the purpose of this study, the social returns were quantified and the financial returns were quantified using net present value. In every scenario, the socially responsible investment decision generated higher financial returns. Because of the immediate loss to an investor after choosing the DPP strategy, financially, the SRI fund appears to be the better approach …

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