We examine whether greater futures‐trading activity (volume and open interest) is associated with greater equity volatility. We partition each trading activity series into expected and unexpected components, and document that while equity volatility covaries positively with unexpected futures‐trading volume, it is negatively related to forecastable futures‐trading activity. Further, though futures‐trading activity is systematically related to the futures contract life cycle, we find no evidence of a relation between the futures life cycle and spot equity volatility. These findings are consistent with theories predicting that active futures markets enhance the liquidity and depth of the equity markets.

We investigate the relations between trading volumes and our proxies for information flows and divergences in opinions. We view S&P 500 Index futures' open interest as a useful proxy for divergences of traders' opinions, and find that volumes are higher on days when open interest increases than on days with declines. Volume in individual equities is more closely related to firm-specific information flows, while equity basket volume is more closely associated with market information. This differential impact is greatest for small capitalization stocks where market-wide news has no explanatory power.

Trading halts increase, rather than reduce, both volume and volatility. Volume (volatility) in the first full trading day after a trading halt is 230 percent (50 to 115 percent) higher than following 'pseudohalts': nonhalt control periods matched on time of day, duration, and absolute net-of-market returns. These results are robust over different halt types and news categories. Higher posthalt volume is observed into the third day, while higher posthalt volatility decays within hours. The extent of media coverage is a partial determinant of volume and volatility following both halts and pseudohalts but a separate halt effect remains after controlling for the media effect.

We investigate IPO market efficiency using a sample of equity carve-outs offered during the period of 1985–2005. Unlike IPOs examined in previous studies where trading during the pre-IPO book-building period does not exist and trading on the IPO date is rationed, in equity carve-outs, investors can trade in the non-rationed market for shares of the parent, which holds a significant fraction of the subsidiary. We find that the subsidiary's initial day return is significantly related to its parent's return over the book-building period, but unrelated to its parent's contemporaneous return. Neither the pre-IPO price revision of the subsidiary nor the return to the parent on the initial trading day can be predicted. While the portion of the subsidiary's initial return unpredictable from information available during the book-building period is significantly related to its parent's contemporaneous return, the predictable component of the initial return is not. We interpret these results as evidence consistent with market efficiency.

This study examines price stabilization in new equity issues. Stabilizationtruncates the distribution of post-issue prices at a floor price, lowering the risk of adverse price moves and hence, in a competitive dealer market, reducing the bid-ask spread. Using 1.523 NASDAO-traded firm- commitment initial public offerings issued between 1982 and 1987, we find that spreads narrow when the market price is close to the offer price and stabilization is most likely. Moreover, significant negative returns are documented after the hypothesized termination of stabilizing activities, suggesting that stabilization, and its cessation, affect market prices.

Trading halts increase, rather than reduce, both volume and volatility. Volume (volatility) in the first full trading day after a trading halt is 230 percent (50 to 115 percent) higher than following “pseudohalts”: nonhalt control periods matched on time of day, duration, and absolute net‐of‐market returns. These results are robust over different halt types and news categories. Higher posthalt volume is observed into the third day while higher posthalt volatility decays within hours. The extent of media coverage is a partial determinant of volume and volatility following both halts and pseudohalts, but a separate halt effect remains after controlling for the media effect.

Trading halts increase, rather than reduce, both volume and volatility. Volume (volatility) in the first full trading day after a trading halt is 230 percent (50 to 115 percent) higher than following “pseudohalts”: nonhalt control periods matched on time of day, duration, and absolute net-of-market returns. These results are robust over different halt types and news categories. Higher posthalt volume is observed into the third day while higher posthalt volatility decays within hours. The extent of media coverage is a partial determinant of volume and volatility following both halts and pseudohalts, but a separate halt effect remains after controlling for the media effect.

We find that trading volume increases and market liquidity remains unchanged, while the adverse selection and order-processing cost components of the spread increase and decrease, respectively, after margin levels decline when stocks become margin-eligible. This evidence indicates that the information content of trades has increased, thereby improving market quality. However, no changes were detected after the 1997 regulatory reforms. These results have implications across a broad swath of corporate finance dimensions, including the (1) cost of capital, (2) public vs. private financing decision, (3) form of managerial compensation, (4) type of ownership structure, and (5) degree of shareholder monitoring.

We use the term structure of futures prices to test whether investors anticipate mean reversion in spot asset prices. The empirical results indicate mean reversion in each market we examine. For agricultural commodities and crude oil the magnitude of the estimated mean reversion is large; for example, point estimates indicate that 44 percent of a typical spot oil price shock is expected to be reversed over the subsequent eight months. For metals, the degree of mean reversion is substantially less, but still statistically significant. We detect only weak evidence of mean reversion in financial asset prices.

We use the term structure of futures prices to test whether investors anticipate mean reversion in spot asset prices. The empirical results indicate mean reversion in each market we examine. For agricultural commodities and crude oil the magnitude of the estimated mean reversion is large; for example, point estimates indicate that 44 percent of a typical spot oil price shock is expected to be reversed over the subsequent eight months. For metals, the degree of mean reversion is substantially less, but still statistically significant. We detect only weak evidence of mean reversion in financial asset prices.