Atul Rai

A Free Cash Flow Investment Anomaly

This paper examines an investment strategy based on free cash flows. The strategy selects securities into a “long” portfolio that outperforms the market index, returns of similar size securities, and returns of similar risk (beta and book-to-market) securities. The portfolio includes firms that are consistent free cash flow generators, that have low financial leverage, and that sell at low free cash flow multiples.

The Relative Option to Stock Volume and Market Response to Earnings Surprises

This study examines the effect of option volume relative to stock volume (O/S) on market response to earnings surprises. The market reaction per unit of earnings surprise is lower for firms that have high O/S prior to earnings announcement than for firms with low O/S prior to earnings announcement. The difference is exacerbated for higher levels of pre-announcement returns. Results suggest informed trading by option traders stimulates preemption of the information content of earnings releases and makes earnings surprises less of a surprise. Overall, results are consistent with the view that options improve informational efficiency. Results are robust to several controls.