A Baldrige Portfolio: Does Quality Outperform The Market?

This paper investigates the claim, by the Department of Commerce, that a portfolio of Baldrige National Quality Award winners outperforms the market.  They find that there is a 92 percent return for Baldrige winners as compared to a 33 percent return on the S&P 500 index.  Their results are published and used to promote “quality” in Department of Commerce press releases.  Our findings do not support their claim that investors can handsomely outperform the market by investing in a Baldrige portfolio.  We find that their study is sensitive to risk measurement and that extending the time horizon alone eliminates any advantage.  Our examination of long-run stock price performance of Baldrige firms also does not support their claim of outperforming the market

S&P 500 Index Revisions And Analyst Coverage

This paper examines theimpacts of revisions in the composition of the S&P 500 Index on theinformation environment of sample firms being added to or deleted from theIndex. We use the intensity (number of analysts and number of earningsestimates) and the quality (earnings forecast dispersion and accuracy) ofanalyst coverage to measure the information environment of sample firms. Wefind that firms that are added to the Index experienced significant increase inanalyst coverage while those deleted from the Index suffered reduction inanalyst coverage following the revision in the S&P 500 Index. The findingson the quality of analyst coverage also provide supportive evidence.  There are increases in earnings forecastdispersion for both added and deleted firms, and improvements in forecastaccuracy for sample firms. In addition, further findings indicate a negativecorrelation between the impact of index revision on the information environmentand the intensity of pre-revision analyst coverage on the sample firms. Overall,our results suggest that index revisions have material impacts on the informationenvironment of sample firms that were added to, or deleted from, the S&P500 Index over the sample period of 1990 – 2007

Debt Ipo Waves, Investor Sentiment, Market Conditions, And Issue Quality

We examine the aggregate volume of straight debt initial public offerings (DIPOs) from 1970 to 2010. We find that aggregate DIPO activities display wave patterns. Both the number and total proceeds of DIPOs vary substantially over time. DIPO volume is significantly associated with yield spread, aggregate book‐to‐market ratio, stock return volatility, lagged equity IPO volume, and term spread, suggesting that investor sentiment and capital market conditions play significant roles in explaining time variations in DIPO volume. We also find that speculative‐grade DIPO issues synchronize with the business cycles, while investment‐grade issues display a steady or countercyclical pattern.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102142/1/jfir12018.pd

Underpricing Of Ipos That Follow Private Placement

In this study we examine the underpricing of initial public offerings (IPOs) by firms that have private placements of equity before their IPOs (PP IPO firms). We find that PP IPOs are associated with significantly less underpricing than their peers. Furthermore, PP IPOs are associated with lower underwriting spreads, more reputable underwriting syndicates, and greater postissue analyst coverage as compared to IPOs that are issued by their industry peers under similar market conditions. Consistent with the implications of the information asymmetry explanation for IPO underpricing, our findings suggest that companies could benefit by conveying their quality via successful pre‐IPO private placements that help reduce the cost of going public.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87182/1/j.1475-6803.2011.01297.x.pd

Role Of Underwriters In Restraining Earnings Management In Initial Public Offerings

We investigate the relationship between underwriter reputation and earnings management of IPO firms over the period of 1991-2005. We find that IPO firms engage in less earnings management if they are underwritten by prestigious investment bankers. Furthermore, the role of prestigious underwriters in restraining earnings management of IPO issuers do not change during the Internet Bubble period or after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). The findings support the certification role of underwriters in the IPO process. We also document that firms going public in the post-SOX period engage in less earnings management compared to firms going public in the pre-SOX period. Further findings suggest that the changing objectives of venture capitalists may explain the reduction in the level of earnings management of IPO firms following the passage of SOX

Stock Returns And Disagreement Among Sell-Side Analysts

Asymmetric information, investor optimism, and unbiased prices hypotheses are the main hypotheses proposed for explaining how investors’ difference of opinion may impact stock returns. We use a new measure for divergence in investor beliefs among sell-side analysts to test these three hypotheses.  Our initial findings are not supportive of either the asymmetric information or the investor optimism hypotheses.  However, since these two hypotheses predict opposing effects of divergence in opinion on stock returns, the effects could neutralize their respective impacts on stock prices.  Our further empirical analysis though suggests that this is not the case.  The weight of the evidence presented suggests thatwithin the sell-side, the difference of opinion does not impose a bias on future stock returns

A Prospective Study of Venous Thromboembolic Prophylaxis Using Foot Pumps Following Total Knee Replacement in a Chinese Population

AbstractPurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate foot pumps as mechanical prophylaxis for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) following total knee replacement (TKR) in a Chinese population.MethodsAll consecutive patients following TKR during 2002–2006 received routine duplex ultrasound surveillance for DVT 9 days postoperatively. The demographic data and risk factors were recorded. No medication was given for DVT prophylaxis in all patients.ResultsWe evaluated 91 consecutive TKRs in 85 patients. Although 44 knee replacements (Group 1) done before December 2004 were not given foot pumps, 47 knee replacements (Group 2) done afterwards were given foot pumps. All patients were followed up for more than 6 months. DVT was detected in three cases (6.8%) in Group 1 compared with four knees (8.5%) in Group 2. Proximal thrombosis was observed in two knees (4.5%) in Group 1 compared with two knees (4.3%) in Group 2. No patient had pulmonary embolism. Six out of 59 (10.2%) patients who underwent the operations under general anaesthesia suffered from DVT, whereas one in 28 (3.6%) patients operated under spinal anaesthesia had DVT. All had no statistical significance.ConclusionThe rate of proximal DVT after TKR was low (4.5%) without pharmacological prophylaxis. We advise against the use of pharmacological prophylaxis in Chinese population for TKRs because of the low risk of proximal DVT and its possible bleeding complications. Foot pump did not lower the rate of DVTfurther, and its use for DVT prophylaxis in TKR is not necessary

Moment-To-moment affective dynamics in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Background: Affective disturbances in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may represent a transdiagnostic etiological process as well as a target of intervention. Hypotheses on similarities and differences in various parameters of affective dynamics (intensity, successive/acute changes, variability, and reactivity to stress) between the two disorders were tested.Methods: Experience sampling method was used to assess dynamics of positive and negative affect, 10 times a day over 6 consecutive days. Patients with schizophrenia (n = 46) and patients with bipolar disorder (n = 46) were compared against age-matched healthy controls (n = 46).Results: Compared to controls, the schizophrenia group had significantly more intense momentary negative affect, a lower likelihood of acute changes in positive affect, and reduced within-person variability of positive affect. The bipolar disorder group was not significantly different from either the schizophrenia group or the healthy control group on any affect indexes. Within the schizophrenia group, level of depression was associated with weaker reactivity to stress for negative affect. Within the bipolar disorder group, level of depression was associated with lower positive affect.Conclusions: Patients with schizophrenia endured a more stable and negative affective state than healthy individuals, and were less likely to be uplifted in response to happenings in daily life. There is little evidence that these affective constructs characterize the psychopathology of bipolar disorder; such investigation may have been limited by the heterogeneity within group. Our findings supported the clinical importance of assessing multiple facets of affective dynamics beyond the mean levels of intensity.</p