The day of the week effect on stock market volatility

This study tests the presence of the day of the week effect on stock market volatility by using the S&P 500 market index during the period of January 1973 and October 1997. The findings show that the day of the week effect is present in both volatility and return equations. While the highest and lowest returns are observed on Wednesday and Monday, the highest and the lowest volatility are observed on Friday and Wednesday, respectively. Further investigation of sub-periods reinforces our findings that the volatility pattern across the days of the week is statistically different

Ultra-conformal drawn-on-skin electronics for multifunctional motion artifact-free sensing and point-of-care treatment

An accurate extraction of physiological and physical signals from human skin is crucial for health monitoring, disease prevention, and treatment. Recent advances in wearable bioelectronics directly embedded to the epidermal surface are a promising solution for future epidermal sensing. However, the existing wearable bioelectronics are susceptible to motion artifacts as they lack proper adhesion and conformal interfacing with the skin during motion. Here, we present ultra-conformal, customizable, and deformable drawn-on-skin electronics, which is robust to motion due to strong adhesion and ultra-conformality of the electronic inks drawn directly on skin. Electronic inks, including conductors, semiconductors, and dielectrics, are drawn on-demand in a freeform manner to develop devices, such as transistors, strain sensors, temperature sensors, heaters, skin hydration sensors, and electrophysiological sensors. Electrophysiological signal monitoring during motion shows drawn-on-skin electronics' immunity to motion artifacts. Additionally, electrical stimulation based on drawn-on-skin electronics demonstrates accelerated healing of skin wounds. Designing efficient wearable bioelectronics for health monitoring, disease prevention, and treatment, remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate an ultra-conformal, customizable and deformable drawn-on-skin electronics which is robust to motion artifacts and resistant to physical damage

The role of earnout financing on the valuation effects of global diversification

This article examines the impact of earnout financing on the value of acquiring firms engaged in cross-border acquisitions (CBAs), using a dataset of UK, US, Canadian and Australian firms from 1992 to 2012. The results show that firms initiating international business operations via earnout-financed CBAs enhance their value more than acquirers in (a) domestic acquisitions and (b) remaining CBAs by established multinational corporations (MNCs). Our findings demonstrate the superiority of earnout financing in CBAs announced by acquirers that have no prior international business experience. The results are robust to the firms’ endogenous choice to diversify globally and to the use of earnout financing. We contend that earnouts contribute to the reduction of valuation risk faced by firms acquiring a foreign target firm for the first time. Our empirical findings contribute to the existing debate on the merit of international expansion through CBAs and the role of earnout contingent payment

The day of the week effect on stock market volatility and volume: International evidence

This study investigates the day of the week effect on the volatility of major stock market indexes for the period of 1988 through 2002. Using a conditional variance framework, we find that the day of the week effect is present in both return and volatility equations. The highest volatility occurs on Mondays for Germany and Japan, on Fridays for Canada and the United States, and on Thursdays for the United Kingdom. For most of the markets, the days with the highest volatility also coincide with that market's lowest trading volume. Thus, this paper supports the argument made by Foster and Viswanathan [Rev. Financ. Stud. 3 (1990) 593] that high volatility would be accompanied by low trading volume because of the unwillingness of liquidity traders to trade in periods of high stock market volatility. © 2003 Published by Elsevier Inc

Mutual funds: Management styles, social responsibility, performance and efficiency

The mutual fund industry represents a substantial part of global financial markets with approximately 20 percent invested in mutual funds. Mutual funds offer a simple and easy-to-understand way to invest either into stocks or fixed income products, both for retail and institutional investors. This chapter provides an overview of the literature on the performance of actively and passively managed mutual funds with special emphasis on socially responsible funds. First, the chapter offers insights into the mutual fund industry worldwide and discusses the characteristics of active and passive management. Then the chapter discusses a prominent management style—SRI. The final sections review the efficiency of the mutual fund industry, performance measurements, and sources of returns and outperformance