新闻驱动的量化投资

本文讨论了在香港股市中利用新闻软信息进行量化处理并进行统计套利的量化投资策略,提出了测量新闻消息作者情绪的统计学指数,以及测量新闻消息与证券的相关的统计学指数,以及新闻消息对相关证券影响方向（正、负面或者中性）的指数。本文证明在香港股票市场上存在着利用这些指数进行统计套利的机会。     

How cross-listings from an emerging economy affect the host market?

We study the impact of mainland Chinese listings in Hong Kong on the quality and development of the Hong Kong equity market. At the macro-level, we find that the increasing presence of mainland Chinese stocks in Hong Kong increases the size, trading volume, and its link with the China and world markets but reduces the overall volatility of the Hong Kong stock market. At the firm level, the increase affects the market quality, resulting in lower turnover rate, higher Amihud illiquidity ratio, and higher spread for non-mainland Chinese firms. Furthermore, such an increase in presence causes Hong Kong stocks to move in a more synchronized way and reduces these firms investment sensitivity to stock price movement, implying deterioration in the information environment. As a whole, the increasing presence of Chinese companies in Hong Kong brings benefits to the Hong Kong market, yet not without cost.     

基于MF-DCCA方法的证券市场间交叉相关性研究

运用多重分形去趋势波动交叉相关分析法(MF-DCCA),考量上海证券市场和香港证券市场之间的交叉相关关系。实证表明：上海证券市场和香港证券市场之间存在交叉相关性,且呈现出多重分形特征;当证券市场出现较大的波动时,上海证券市场和香港证券市场的交叉标度指数要大于其平均标度指数,即两个证券市场之间的交叉相关性要大于其自相关性。     

The Credibility of Hong Kong's Link from the Perspective of Modern Financial Theory

Hong Kong's linked exchange rate system (LERS) has been in operation since 1983, during which time many other fixed exchange rate systems have succumbed to shocks and/or speculative attacks. This paper investigates how market participants assessed changes made to the LERS by using the tools of modern finance to extract information from financial asset prices about market expectations. These changes have been characterized as making the system less discretionary over time. We find that decreasing the discretionary element of the LERS led to an increase in credibility of the arrangement.     

Overseas listing as a policy tool: Evidence from China’s H-shares

We investigate why the Chinese government chooses to perform share issue privatization (SIP) of its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Hong Kong, despite the benefit of facilitating the domestic stock market development if performing SIP in China (Subrahmanyam and Titman, 1999) and the higher cost to list in Hong Kong. We address this issue by arguing that the positive effect of SIPs on the development of the domestic market may have limitations, especially when the domestic market is not well developed and cannot absorb rapid and large-scale SIP activities. To maintain domestic market order, it may be optimal to carry out SIP in overseas markets. Furthermore, by listing shares in developed overseas markets, SOEs from the less developed countries could leverage on the overseas markets’ better accounting, governance, and legal standards. By examining a sample of 92 Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong and the relevant control samples of purely domestically listed Chinese firms during the period of 1993–2006, we find supporting evidence for both arguments.     

Short-sale constraints and stock price informativeness

Morck, Yeung, and Yu (2000), in their pioneering study of international differences in stock price synchronicity, emphasize the effect of market development on investors' ability to incorporate firm-specific information into prices. We use a unique institutional feature in the Hong Kong market to investigate one of the important tools investors use to do this and hence reduce stock price synchronicity: short selling. Examining the cross-sectional and time-series variation in short-sale constraints in the Hong Kong market, we find that after the removal of short-sale constraints, stock prices become more informative and move less in tandem with the market.     

Simultaneous volatility transmissions and spillover effects: U.S. and Hong Kong stock and futures markets

Contemporaneous transmission effects across volatilities of the Hong Kong Stock and Index futures markets and futures volume of trade are tested by employing a structural systems approach. Competing measures of volatility spillover, constructed from the overnight U.S. S&P500 index futures, are tested and found to impact on the Hong Kong asset return volatility and volume of trade patterns. The examples utilize intra-day 15-min sampled data from this medium-sized Asia Pacific equity and derivative exchange. Both the intra- and inter-day patterns in the Hong Kong market are allowed for in the estimation process.     

Can happiness predict future volatility in stock markets?

In this paper, we use the Twitter based happiness index as a proxy for investor sentiment in order to examine whether happiness influences future market volatility of country VIX indexes. Our sample includes the major stock markets of the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, China, Hong Kong, India, Brazil, South Korea, and South Africa. Using linear and nonlinear causality tests, we find that Twitter happiness significantly causes the future volatility of the sample countries. The robustness checks show no divergence from our primary findings and provide strong evidence of a nonlinear relationship between investor sentiment and future stock market volatility.     

The predictive power of the implied volatility of options traded OTC and on exchanges

This paper investigates the efficiency of stock index options traded over-the-counter (OTC) and on the exchanges in Hong Kong and Japan. Our findings suggest that implied volatility is superior to either historical volatility or a GARCH-type volatility forecast in predicting future volatility in both the OTC and exchange markets. This paper is also one of the first to compare the predictive power of the implied volatility of stock index options traded OTC to that of exchange-traded stock index options. Our evidence suggests that the OTC market is more efficient than the exchanges in Japan, but that the opposite is true in Hong Kong.     

The impact of the Japanese market on the intraday Hong Kong stock returns

This paper examines the impact of the price movement of the Japanese market on the Hong Kong market. We find that the Hong Kong stock prices react rapidly to the return information of the Japanese market. The evidence also indicates that the large price movement of the Japanese market can be used as an indicator for the Hong Kong market. The price reaction of the Hong Kong market is instantaneous and takes place in the opening minutes of the afternoon session. However, there is no excess profits when the transactions costs are included. Finally, the Hong Kong market has a significantly higher turnover when the Japanese market is open.     

Are stock and real estate markets integrated? An empirical study of six Asian economies

Rising asset prices spurred by Asia's emerging economy have drawn much attention recently. This study examines one source of growth patterns in asset prices by analyzing the integration relationship between stock markets and real estate markets in Asia. Six economies are selected for empirical analysis: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Results show that stock markets are integrated with real estate markets in Japan, and partially integrated with real estate markets in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. This implies that these two investment vehicles are substitutable in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan, and provide diversification potential for investment portfolios in South Korea and Singapore. Examining the timing of market changes, we found the real estate market leading the stock market in some countries, and the stock market leading the real estate market in others. We conclude that stock and real estate markets show a variety of inter-relationships depending on economic and political policy environments.     

Market segmentation and price differentials between A shares and H shares in the Chinese stock markets

We find that the risk premiums associated with the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese markets in a two-factor model successfully explain the cross section of returns on the A and H shares. Discounts of H-share prices relative to A-share prices are related to the contemporaneous movements of the H-share local market index relative to the A-share local market index, especially during the period of the Asian financial crisis, as well as the spread of savings rates between Hong Kong and mainland China. The evidence suggests that the risk premiums associated with the segmented A-share and H-share markets exert crucial impacts on the price differentials between the two classes of shares.     

Country-specific sentiment and security prices

I study the effect of country-specific sentiment on security prices. I provide evidence that a country’s popularity among Americans affects US investors’ demand for securities from that country and causes security prices to deviate from their fundamental values. Moreover, I find that country popularity is positively associated with the intensity of US cross-border mergers and acquisitions activity, suggesting that country popularity also affects firms’ investment decisions.     

Derivative prices from interest rate models: results for Canada, Hong Kong, and United States

In this paper, we compute implied bond and contingent claim prices from the CKLS, Vasicek, CIR, and BS interest rate models using historical estimates for Canada, Hong Kong, and the United States. We find that default-free bond prices and contingent claim prices are sensitive to the assumed model used for these currencies, and that for Canada the CIR is the best, for Hong Kong the Vasicek and CIR models, and for the US the BS model.     

香港人民币离岸中心发展的机遇与挑战

香港人民币离岸中心建设已成为高层共识,前景光明,并已取得初步成果。它与内地的金融改革是协同推进的,有助于巩固香港金融中心地位,促进东亚经贸繁荣。来自其他国际金融中心的竞争,以及与大陆金融市场在利率、汇率等核心金融指标上的差异,是香港人民币离岸中心发展的重要挑战。展望其发展,有如下建议:采取适当的财政货币手段化解离岸与在岸市场的利率和汇率差异;循序渐进、逐步完善香港人民币离岸市场的货币功能;打通人民币"回流"和"外循环"的通道,支持香港成为全球人民币资产的交易、清算和定价中心。     

Regulatory Soft Interventions in the Chinese Market: Compliance Effects and Impact on Option Market Efficiency

Securities Laws in China are administered by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The CSRC has great flexibility in administering securities laws since the committee represents the will of the state. Under the state‐controlled financial system, the CSRC works closely with state‐controlled financial firms and suggests, but does not mandate, actions to be taken in the equity market, especially during periods of extreme market stress. These suggestions, or soft interventions, have been used to block trades associated with short sales, significantly reducing short‐sales volume. With daily and intraday data, we investigate the impact of these interventions on put‐call parity and implied volatilities. There is overwhelming evidence of increased deviations from put‐call parity and changes in implied volatility after soft interventions. Our results are robust after allowing for bid‐ask spreads, taxes, transaction costs, and difference‐in‐differences comparisons with control securities in the Hong Kong market.     

Time variation paths of international transmission of stock volatility — US vs. Hong Kong and South Korea

This study examines continuous time variation paths of sensitivities of the Hong Kong and South Korea stock markets to the US stock market and bond market (proxied by long-term interest rates) by using the Flexible Least Squares (FLS) estimation technique. The FLS findings suggest that changes in both the US stock market and US long-term interest rates may simultaneously have significant effects on the Hong Kong stock market in some time periods. In other periods, neither may have significant effects on the Hong Kong stock market. The results also indicate that the South Korea stock market is overall insensitive to changes in the US capital markets. However, it becomes more sensitive in the 1990s. Some macroeconomic variables may explain changes in the sensitivities of the Hong Kong and South Korea stock markets to changes in the US capital markets.     

The Hong Kong Securities Markets: Review and Prospects

The Hong Kong securities markets have achieved the status of regional prominence in that they were ranked number two in Asia after Japan in early 1997. There is also a growing presence of overseas institutional trade from US and UK showing that the Hong Kong market is getting more internationalized. However, the ownership of Hong Kong's corporations is still closely held by a single shareholder or a group of close family members. Apart from the listing of mainland Chinese enterprises equities, Hong Kong should also look at the opportunities of the trading of Renminbi based derivative instruments and the listing of bonds and equities for corporations in other Asia economies.     

Cross-sectional performance and investor sentiment in a multiple risk factor model

Economists have long recognized the importance of information veracity in valuing risky securities. Market participants concerned about the credibility of information measures may require additional compensation to entice them to hold stocks with less transparent information. These same securities are expected to display greater sensitivities to measures of market sentiment. We find that investor sentiment sensitivities increase directly with multiple measures of opacity in the cross-section. Next we examine the extent to which sentiment sensitivities are priced in an asset pricing context. Using the Jha et al. (2009) model of conditional performance evaluation, we find an inverse relation between ex ante known investor sentiment and the marginal performance of opaque stocks. In contrast, translucent stocks exhibit relatively little variability in performance across levels of sentiment.     

Do the Forward Sales of Real Estate Stabilize Spot Prices?

We examine the effect of forward sale (pre-sale) activities on the volatility of spot prices in the real estate market. The abundance of pre-sales data and major changes in regulatory control on the pre-sale market during the 90's in Hong Kong allow us to undertake empirical tests using Hong Kong's real estate data. Our results show that the volatility of spot prices increased significantly after forward sales were severely dampened by regulatory control measures introduced in 1994, but decreased again when the measures were partly relaxed in 1998. The results contribute to the long lasting debate on whether the introduction of a futures market reduces the volatility of spot prices. Previous studies were mainly conducted in markets with low transaction costs, notably financial markets. By utilizing the unique regulatory changes in the pre-sale market of Hong Kong, we are able to conduct an experiment on the conditional volatility of spot prices in a high information-cost environment, thereby shedding light on the important role of forward housing contracts in providing price expectation information for spot trading.