Value Investing And Behavioral Finance


Book Description

Smart and successful way of investing calls for a thorough understanding of behavioral finance not just market sentiments, crowd behavior or company performance. This book studies investing and behavioral trends in Indian capital markets, and shows the follies of collective behavioral biases and their impact on investor decisions and returns.







Indian Stock Market


Book Description

India is one of the major emerging economies of the world and has witnessed tremendous economic growth over the last decades. The reforms in the financial sector were introduced to infuse energy and vibrancy into the process of economic growth. The Indian stock market now has the largest number of listed companies in the world. The phenomenal growth of the Indian equity market and its growing importance in the economy is indicated by the extent of market capitalization and the increasing integration of the Indian economy with the global economy. Various schools of thought explain the behaviour of stock returns. The Efficient Market Theory is the most important theory of the School of Neoclassical Finance based on rational expectation and no-trade argument. The book investigates the growth and efficiency of the Indian stock market in the theoretical framework of the Efficiency Market Hypothesis (EMH). The main objective of the present study is to examine the returns behaviour in the Indian equity market in the changed market environment. A detailed and rigorous analysis, made with the help of the sophisticated time series econometric models, is one of the key elements of this volume. The analysis empirically tests the random walk hypothesis and focuses on issues like nonlinear dynamics, structural breaks and long memory. It uses new and disaggregated data on recent reforms and changes in the market microstructure. The data on various indices including sectoral indices help in measuring the relative efficiency of the market and understanding how liquidity and market capitalization affect the efficiency of the market.




Equity Markets in India


Book Description

The book presents a comprehensive view of the Indian equity markets over the past two decades (1994-2014). Equity markets constitute the most important segment of stock exchanges; in fact, the status of equity returns is, by and large, considered as a barometer of the state of a country’s economy. Returns earned by the equity investors on their funds invested in equity markets have become a decisive factor in the growth of such markets. In this context, the book discusses all the major aspects of equity returns and also conducts a dis-aggregative analysis based on underlying factors like age, size, ownership structure, industry affiliation/sector, among others, to explain the factors affecting returns and risk. While on the one hand the study ascertains the market rates of return (earned) on equities from the investors’ perspective (by including both the capital gains and the dividend income), it also shows how to compute the rates of returns on equities from the corporate perspective (that is, rate of return earned on equity funds). It further assesses the required/expected rate of return and examines the volatility in stock returns, with a focus on its behaviour during the period of the study. It deepens investors’ understanding of equity investment, helping them to make more-informed investments. While of interest to the investor community, this book also contributes significantly to the existing literature on market returns and is a valuable reference resource for academics, researchers and market participants, financial institutions and other intermediaries, regulators and policy makers.




Hedge Funds and Financial Market Dynamics


Book Description

Hedge funds are collective investment vehicles, often organized as private partnerships and resident offshore for tax and regulatory purposes. Their legal status places few restrictions on their portfolios and transactions, leaving their managers free to use short sales, derivative securities, and leverage to raise returns and cushion risk. This paper considers the role of hedge funds in financial market dynamics, with particular reference to the Asian crisis.




Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets


Book Description

John J. Murphy has updated his landmark bestseller Technical Analysis of the Futures Markets, to include all of the financial markets. This outstanding reference has already taught thousands of traders the concepts of technical analysis and their application in the futures and stock markets. Covering the latest developments in computer technology, technical tools, and indicators, the second edition features new material on candlestick charting, intermarket relationships, stocks and stock rotation, plus state-of-the-art examples and figures. From how to read charts to understanding indicators and the crucial role technical analysis plays in investing, readers gain a thorough and accessible overview of the field of technical analysis, with a special emphasis on futures markets. Revised and expanded for the demands of today's financial world, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in tracking and analyzing market behavior.




Indian Stock Market


Book Description

Indian Capital Market is considered the second largest capital market in the world next only to the United States of America. Stock Markets in India have grown exponentially as measured in terms of the number of listed companies, market capitalization, turnover on stock exchanges, price indices and others. In terms of reforms and development, the Indian stock market has been the fastest to grab every opportunity presented by the paradigm shift in India's economic policy. A well-organized and well-regulated capital market facilitates sustainable development of the economy by providing long-term funds in exchange for financial assets to investors. This book is based on a collection of chapter-contributions from leading academicians on relevant, authoritative and thought provoking aspects of Indian Stock Market. It contains both conceptual and empirical studies so as to enable the reader to acquire a holistic view of the subject. This book is designed to meet the requirements of MBA students specializing in the area of Finance, students of CA/ICWA, students of M.Com/B.Com, academicians, researchers, practitioners and investors in general.




The World's First Stock Exchange


Book Description

This account of the sophisticated financial hub that was 17th-century Amsterdam “does a fine job of bringing history to life” (Library Journal). The launch of the Dutch East India Company in 1602 initiated Amsterdam’s transformation from a regional market town into a dominant financial center. The Company introduced easily transferable shares, and within days buyers had begun to trade them. Soon the public was engaging in a variety of complex transactions, including forwards, futures, options, and bear raids, and by 1680 the techniques deployed in the Amsterdam market were as sophisticated as any we practice today. Lodewijk Petram’s award-winning history demystifies financial instruments by linking today’s products to yesterday’s innovations, tying the market’s operation to the behavior of individuals and the workings of the world around them. Traveling back in time, Petram visits the harbor and other places where merchants met to strike deals. He bears witness to the goings-on at a notary’s office and sits in on the consequential proceedings of a courtroom. He describes in detail the main players, investors, shady characters, speculators, and domestic servants and other ordinary folk, who all played a role in the development of the market and its crises. His history clarifies concerns that investors still struggle with today—such as fraud, the value of information, trust and the place of honor, managing diverging expectations, and balancing risk—and does so in a way that is vivid, relatable, and critical to understanding our contemporary world.




Adaptive Markets


Book Description

A new, evolutionary explanation of markets and investor behavior Half of all Americans have money in the stock market, yet economists can’t agree on whether investors and markets are rational and efficient, as modern financial theory assumes, or irrational and inefficient, as behavioral economists believe. The debate is one of the biggest in economics, and the value or futility of investment management and financial regulation hangs on the answer. In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Lo transforms the debate with a powerful new framework in which rationality and irrationality coexist—the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis. Drawing on psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other fields, Adaptive Markets shows that the theory of market efficiency is incomplete. When markets are unstable, investors react instinctively, creating inefficiencies for others to exploit. Lo’s new paradigm explains how financial evolution shapes behavior and markets at the speed of thought—a fact revealed by swings between stability and crisis, profit and loss, and innovation and regulation. An ambitious new answer to fundamental questions about economics and investing, Adaptive Markets is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how markets really work.