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Journal of Finance Vol. 61 No. 4 2006

Investor Sentiment and the Cross‐Section of Stock Returns

Malcolm Baker1; Jeffrey Wurgler2,3

1 Harvard Business School · 2 National Bureau of Economic Research · 3 University of Illinois Chicago

open access

Abstract

We study how investor sentiment affects the cross‐section of stock returns. We predict that a wave of investor sentiment has larger effects on securities whose valuations are highly subjective and difficult to arbitrage. Consistent with this prediction, we find that when beginning‐of‐period proxies for sentiment are low, subsequent returns are relatively high for small stocks, young stocks, high volatility stocks, unprofitable stocks, non‐dividend‐paying stocks, extreme growth stocks, and distressed stocks. When sentiment is high, on the other hand, these categories of stock earn relatively low subsequent returns.

DOI
10.1111/j.1540-6261.2006.00885.x
Volume
61
Issue
4
Pages
1645-1680
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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