THE EFFECT OF THE SEC'S ORDER-HANDLING RULES ON NASDAQ

We study the effect of the implementation of new Securities and Exchange Commission order-handling rules—the Limit Order Display Rule, the Quote Rule, and the Actual Size Rule—on NASDAQ's quoting and trading behavior. We find that the number of reported quotes increases and the bid-ask spread decreases following the implementation of the new rules. The decreased quoted depth associated with placement of individual investors' limit orders—the Limit Order Display Rule—outweighs the increased quoted depth associated with displaying institutional quotes—the Quote Rule. Further, the number of trade executions increases while the average trade size decreases. The volatility of trade-to-trade and midpoint returns decreases for the initial group of stocks subject to the rules, but not for the two subsequent groups.     

THE EFFECT OF MARKET CONDITIONS AND RISK CLASSIFICATIONS ON MARKET MODEL PARAMETERS

This article reports the results of tests used to detect shifts in market model parameters during bull and bear market conditions. The evidence indicates that the parameters exhibit nonstationarity during market advances and market declines for certain predetermined stock groups. Specifically, the parameters of stocks in high-risk and low-risk classifications behave as if they are affected by the alternating forces of bull and bear markets.     

THE EFFECT OF THE WPPSS CRISIS ON THE TAX-EXEMPT BOND MARKET

The 1983 default of the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) was the largest municipal default. Some writers contend that the default affected the entire municipal bond market. This study examines the effect of key WPPSS-related events on the general municipal market, tax-exempt public power district bonds, and WPPSS bonds, respectively. The results show that although certain events significantly affected all WPPSS bonds, these events did not affect the general municipal bond market or non-WPPSS public power bonds. The use of a standard event-time methodology with daily bond prices (as opposed to monthly yields) appears to provide a more powerful test of the effect of a municipal crisis on the tax-exempt bond market.     

EMPIRICAL TESTS OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE CURRENCY OPTION MARKET

Tests of a hedge and a rational boundary of the efficiency of the currency option market are conducted in this study. These tests use transactions data and account for the effects of currency and option bid/ask spreads, synchronization of option prices and underlying exchange rates, market depth, execution lags, and transaction costs. Currency options, unlike domestic stock options, exhibit continuous dividends. The nature of the option and of the data set employed makes the immediate exercise lower bound test one of the purest tests of market efficiency to date. Results reported here indicate no ability to earn abnormal economic or riskless arbitrage profit for the period when these tests are conducted.     

THE IMPACT OF MARKET MAKER CONCENTRATION ON ADVERSE‐SELECTION COSTS FOR NASDAQ STOCKS

We examine the impact of market maker concentration on adverse‐selection costs for NASDAQ stocks and find that more market makers results in lower costs. Furthermore, this reduction in adverse selection exceeds the overall reduction in spreads that is attributable to market maker competition. We hypothesize that order flow internalization is increasing in market makers and allows for greater information production, and is an explanation for our findings. Our results provide an explanation for the puzzle documented by previous work that finds that adverse‐selection costs for NASDAQ tend to be lower than for the New York Stock Exchange, whereas spreads tend to be higher.     

A NOTE ON THE EFFECTS OF EFFICIENCY CRITERIA AND PORTFOLIO SIZE ON CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFICIENT PORTFOLIOS*

Comparisons of the results of using alternative efficiency criteria for portfolio selection, while plentiful overseas, are seemingly scarce in Australia. Here, mean-variance efficient sets are compared with and found to be not too different from sets efficient according to second and third degree stochastic dominance. In examining the effect of increasing the number of securities allowed in each portfolio, it is found that the size of efficient sets of portfolios diminishes, as does the mean return and, most significantly, the variance of return for efficient portfolios.     

MARKET REACTION TO NYSE LISTINGS: TESTS OF THE MARKETABILITY GAINS HYPOTHESIS

This study examines the market reaction to listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The marketability gains hypothesis states that investors expect liquidity gains for the less liquid over-the-counter (OTC) stocks but not for their liquid counterparts after their listing on the NYSE. The hypothesis is supported even after accounting for other firm-specific news releases. Stocks with low liquidity on the OTC exhibit a positive reaction, whereas stocks with high liquidity show a non-positive market reaction around the announcement of the listing application. The findings imply that the two different marketplaces, NYSE and OTC, are suitable for stocks with different liquidity characteristics.     

THE DEALER AND MARKET CONCEPTS OF BID-ASK SPREAD: A COMPARISON FOR NASDAQ STOCKS

Two models of bid-ask spread are estimated with a unique sample of matched observations of dealer spreads and market (inside) spreads for NASDAQ stocks. The estimates demonstrate that dealer and market spreads relate differently to their common determinants, indicating that the two measures are not interchangeable. Consequently, studies must select the spread concept that is appropriate to the hypothesis being tested to get unbiased estimates and correct interpretations of model parameters. In particular, the cost of immediacy to investors is measured directly by market spreads, while market-making costs and interdealer competition relate directly to dealer spreads.     

A NOTE ON THE BEHAVIOR OF SECURITY RETURNS: A TEST OF STOCK MARKET OVERREACTION AND EFFICIENCY

Researchers have debated stock market efficiency for years and have found several apparent anomalies, among them the overreaction investment strategy. In a sample of virtually all AMEX and NYSE stocks over twenty-one years, it is demonstrated that abnormal returns earned in one year are positively related to the abnormal returns earned in the next year. This evidence is contrary to the overreaction investment philosophy.     

THE OVER-THE-COUNTER MARKET AND NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE TRADING HALTS

This paper examines the over-the-counter (OTC) market activities for stocks temporarily suspended by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Unlike previous studies, we use transaction-to-transaction data on the NASDAQ during NYSE trading halts to investigate the price adjustment process between market equilibria. The evidence indicates that while being halted by the NYSE, the same stocks have exhibited significantly greater volatility in the OTC market. Since the volatile price movement is mainly random and provides no arbitraging opportunities for the OTC market traders, we do not find support for the proposal that trading halts should be mandatory for all trading locations.     

THE EXISTENCE OF HETEROSCEDASTICITY AND ITS EFFECT ON ESTIMATES OF THE MARKET MODEL PARAMETERS

A number of recent studies have found significant evidence of heteroscedasticity in the market model. These studies have only documented the existence of heteroscedasticity and have not determined the actual impact of this econometric aberration in the estimation process. This study develops a more general specification to determine the effects of heteroscedasticity on the market model parameters. The consequences of this econometric problem in relation to efficiency-bias, temporal stability of betas, and estimates of systematic risk are revealed in the estimation of a maximum likelihood specification.