Penny Stocks, Market Microstructure, And Analyst Forecasts

Abstract

The first essay of this dissertation deals with the relationship between previous earnings, earnings forecasts, and future returns. I found that stocks with the worst previous earnings and the worst earnings forecasts outperform the ones with more optimistic outlooks. Value stocks also tend to outperform glamour stocks. I also found that previous earnings are the dominating factor in determining subsequent returns. The second essay deals with the Bid-Ask Spread (BAS) behavior of penny stocks throughout trading sessions. I ran the analysis by using different days of the week, months of the year, and analyst coverage. Finally, I regressed the minute-to-minute BAS against activity, risk, and information variables.