Premium Essay

Sec Stock Picking Skills

In:

Submitted By maryahinr
Words 16330
Pages 66
Stock Picking Skills of SEC Employees
Shivaram Rajgopal Schaefer Chaired Professor of Accounting Goizueta Business School Emory University 1300 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30030 Email: shivaram.rajgopal@emory.edu Roger M. White PhD Student in Accounting J. Mack Robinson School of Business Georgia State University Email: rwhite42@gsu.edu Preliminary and incomplete Comments welcome This draft: February 18, 2014

Abstract:
We use a new data set obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request to investigate the trading strategies of the employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We find that a hedge portfolio that goes long on SEC employees’ buys and short on SEC employees’ sells earns positive and economically significant abnormal returns of (i) about 4% per year for all securities in general; and (ii) about 8.5% in U.S. common stocks in particular. The abnormal returns stem not from the buys but from the sale of stock ahead of a decline in stock prices. We find that at least some of these SEC employee trading profits are information based, as they tend to divest (i) in the run-up to SEC enforcement actions; and (ii) in the interim period between a corporate insider’s paper-based filing of the sale of restricted stock with the SEC and the appearance of the electronic record of such sale online on EDGAR. These results raise questions about potential rent seeking activities of the regulator’s employees.

We acknowledge financial assistance from our respective schools. We thank Jivas Chakravarthy, Stephen Deason, Stephen Fuller, Lisa LaViers, Mike Lewis, Earl Stice, Han Stice, and Jack White for comments that improved this manuscript. We are also grateful to Teal Bratten of Thomson-Reuters for her invaluable help in explaining the institutional details of the Form 144 reporting environment. Finally, we thank Frank Mandic, a FOIA research specialist

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Fall in Us Securities Exchange

...Mary Schapiro's job was to fix the SEC. She didn't stop there. Meet the tenacious regulator who had a remarkable four-year run THE STRATEGIST02 SEP 2013 By LYNDA DUGDALE Mary Schapiro was appointed the 29th chairman of THE SEC and its first female chair | Photo: Andrew Goldie The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was reeling in the wake of harsh but justified criticism for failing to predict, control or even contain the global financial crisis. Under its watch, fraudster Bernard Madoff managed to operate the largest Ponzi scheme in history and Wall Street stalwart Lehman Brothers collapsed, taking billions of dollars, business confidence and reputations down with it. It was a heady time with traders investing in schemes they, let alone the regulators, didn’t understand and whose behaviour they couldn’t predict.   Related: SEC skirmishes over standards   The SEC, along with many of the world’s financial regulators, was starkly exposed as ill-equipped to deal with the chaos erupting across the globe. The US Government snapped into crisis mode and took the extraordinary move of handing the financial sector a multibillion-dollar bailout. But still the economy shook. Enter Mary Schapiro, a career regulator, to rescue a languishing SEC. Her job was to assess what went wrong and to ensure it didn’t happen again. Schapiro was appointed by US President Barak Obama as the 29th chairman of the SEC and its first female chair – though that fact, she says, got lost...

Words: 2127 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Stock Market Risk

...STOCK MARKET: Stock Exchange (also called Stock Market or Share Market) is one important constituent of capital market. Stock Exchange is an organized market for the purchase and sale of industrial and financial security. It is convenient place where trading in securities is conducted in systematic manner i.e. as per certain rules and regulations. It performs various functions and offers useful services to investors and borrowing companies. It is an investment intermediary and facilitates economic and industrial development of a country. Stock exchange is an organized market for buying and selling corporate and other securities. Here, securities are purchased and sold out as per certain well-defined rules and regulations. It provides a convenient and secured mechanism or platform for transactions in different securities. Such securities include shares and debentures issued by public companies which are duly listed at the stock exchange, and bonds and debentures issued by government, public corporations and municipal and port trust bodies. STOCK MARKET OF BANGLADESH: Bangladesh has two Stock Exchanges, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), where trading is conducted by Computerized Automated Trading System and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), which is also conducted by Computerized Automated Trading System . All exchanges are self-regulated, private sector entities which must have their operating rules approved by the SEC. The Chairman and Members of the Commission are appointed by...

Words: 4245 - Pages: 17

Free Essay

Comparative Analysis of Four Stock Broking Company

...free of complaints. The main reason to undertake this study is doing “comparative study of four stock broking companies of gandhinagar with reference to SSJ FINANCE”. The other three companies include ANGELBROKING,SWASTIKA INVESTMART & SHAREKHAN. The comparision include SWOT analysis of these four companies & also interms of services,activation charges,amc etc. In present booming situation all people are by one way or by other thinks about the developmental changes that occurred in recent past month in this situation those who are really remains in touch with per second activity are the broker who knows where people are investing they offers outstanding services like SSJ Finance & security pvt ltd ,angel broking etc at less brokerage don’t you thing all these are wonders! Yes, it is because risk management they have in well regulated market economy. One prudent investor can also get a secure investment with his financial planning and well diversified portfolio investment in this report you will realize certain best judgmental, analytical, and risk awarse nature from both risk management and portfolio investment threw equity derivatives. Savings form an important part of the economy of any nation. With the savings invested in various options available to the people, the money acts as the driver for growth of the country. Broking firms like SSJ Finance & sec pvt ltd, angel, sharekhan scene too presents a plethora of avenues to the investors. Though certainly...

Words: 9502 - Pages: 39

Premium Essay

Stock Investing for Dummies

...Stock Investing FOR DUMmIES 2ND by Paul Mladjenovic ‰ EDITION Stock Investing FOR DUMmIES 2ND ‰ EDITION Stock Investing FOR DUMmIES 2ND by Paul Mladjenovic ‰ EDITION Stock Investing For Dummies® 2nd Edition , Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the...

Words: 125643 - Pages: 503

Premium Essay

Career Guide to Hedge Funds

...The media’s watching Vault! Here’s a sampling of our coverage. “For those hoping to climb the ladder of success, [Vault’s] insights are priceless.” – Money magazine “The best place on the web to prepare for a job search.” – Fortune “[Vault guides] make for excellent starting points for job hunters and should be purchased by academic libraries for their career sections [and] university career centers.” – Library Journal “The granddaddy of worker sites.” – US News and World Report “A killer app.” – New York Times One of Forbes’ 33 “Favorite Sites” – Forbes “To get the unvarnished scoop, check out Vault.” – Smart Money Magazine “Vault has a wealth of information about major employers and jobsearching strategies as well as comments from workers about their experiences at specific companies.” – The Washington Post “A key reference for those who want to know what it takes to get hired by a law firm and what to expect once they get there.” – New York Law Journal “Vault [provides] the skinny on working conditions at all kinds of companies from current and former employees.” – USA Today HEDG FUND CARE VAULT CAREER GUIDE TO HEDGE FUNDS © 2007 Vault, Inc. HEDG FUND VAULT CAREER GUIDE TO HEDGE FUNDS ADITI A. DAVARE, HOLLY GOODRICH, MICHAEL MARTINEZ AND THE STAFF OF VAULT © 2007 Vault, Inc. Copyright © 2007 by Vault Inc. All rights reserved. All information in this book is subject to change without notice. Vault makes no claims...

Words: 59940 - Pages: 240

Premium Essay

Saudi Electricity Company

...Environmental Analysis 8 Industry Analysis: Five Forces Model 9 Internal Analysis 10 Value Chain Analysis 10 Appendix 15 Appendix 1.0 15 Appendix 1.1 16 Appendix 1.2 16 Appendix 1.3 17 Company Background As the major electricity provider serving almost 6 million customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, SEC is responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity throughout the Kingdom. Wholly owned by shareholders, the SEC also sets the price of electricity sold to consumers and industry under rules set by the Saudi government based on the cost of production, distribution and services. On 05/04/2000, Saudi Electricity Company was established as a Saudi joint stock company. This stipulated the merger of all Saudi electricity companies in the Central, Eastern, Western and Southern Regions in addition to the ten small companies operating in the north of the Kingdom as well as all other electricity operations managed by The General Electricity Corporation, into a single joint stock company which is now known as Saudi Electricity Company. It is a Riyadh-based utility, with 80% state-owned and 20% listed shares. Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) is one of the largest utility companies in the GCC, both by market capitalization ($ 12,572M), and in terms of its installed power generation capacity (40.697GW). The company owns 85% generation and 100% transmission, distribution and retail of electricity in region. It generates 37GW of electricity from 45 oil...

Words: 7045 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

Mutual Fund

...[pic] A RESEARCH PAPER On Opportunities in indian market of mutual funds investment PIONEER (Since 1996) Submitted to Submitted By Prof. Dr. V K Jain Ravendra Kushwaha Prof. Nidhi Kothari MBA 3rd sem Roll. No. 09010118 DECLERATION I hereby declare that this Research Paper entitled “OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIAN MARKET OF MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTMENT” submitted for the extra co curriculum activities fulfillment of the requirement of Master of Business Administration (MBA) of PIONEER INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES INDORE is based on secondary data found by me in various Companies fact sheets, books, magazines and websites & Collected by me in under guidance of Prof. Nidhi Kothari. DATE: Ravendra Kushwaha ...

Words: 4306 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Accounting Frauds

...ypeng@fordham.edu *Corresponding author We thank workshop participants at the AAA annual meeting, City University of New York, CUNY Baruch College Emory University, and the editor for their helpful comments. We are grateful for the data provided by an anonymous reviewer and research assistance of Aili Weng and Xiaolan Wang. We appreciate funding from Fordham University. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2202393 An Analysis of Accounting Frauds and the Timing of Analyst Coverage Decisions and Recommendation Revisions: Evidence From the US Abstract: This paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the types of accounting fraud committed by firms over the period 1995 – 2009. Using detailed data from US SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases (AAER), we examine the likelihood and timing of analyst coverage decisions and recommendation revisions related to fraud firms versus firms without accounting fraud. We find that analysts have a higher probability of taking the more severe action of dropping coverage rather than only revising down recommendations for firms with any type of accounting fraud and also for specific egregious types of accounting fraud. Through the use of competing hazards models, we also find that accounting frauds and their egregiousness are positively (negatively) associated with the timeliness of the analysts’ action to drop coverage (revise only). Overall, we find that analysts’ actions may be useful in determining...

Words: 17008 - Pages: 69

Free Essay

Goldman Sachs

...Melisa Schellhamer, April 13, 2010 Melisa Schellhamer, April 13, 2010 SEC files a fraud case against Goldman Sachs, an industry leader, is now being investigated for unfair investing scandal. SEC files a fraud case against Goldman Sachs, an industry leader, is now being investigated for unfair investing scandal. Goldman Sach’s Case # 5 AC805 Advanced Management Accounting Control Systems Goldman Sach’s Case # 5 AC805 Advanced Management Accounting Control Systems The Goldman Sachs fraud case opened by the Securities and Exchange is one of the items that were highlighted by the down turn of the economy in the last few years. Goldman Sachs has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, but the case against them seems fairly tight if the information currently provided is accurate. At the center of all of this Fabrice Tourre. Tourre is an employee of Goldman Sachs that has been charged with fraud. The nature of the charge is that as an employee of Goldman Sachs he helped create a Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) that was not disclosed to potential investors. More damning than anything however that seized email correspondence is seems to point to the fact that he was fully aware of what he was doing. How this all ties in is that a CDO is an investment vehicle whose performance is directly related to a set of assets. In regards to this case the CDO was a family of securities that were backed by subprime residential mortgages. As this is considered risky...

Words: 4309 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Investment Bank

...Careers in Investment Banking WetFeet Insider Guide 2005 Edition The WetFeet Research Methodology You hold in your hands a copy of the best-quality research available for job seekers. We have designed this Insider Guide to save you time doing your job research and to provide highly accurate information written precisely for the needs of the job-seeking public. (We also hope that you’ll enjoy reading it, because, believe it or not, the job search doesn’t have to be a pain in the neck.) Each WetFeet Insider Guide represents hundreds of hours of careful research and writing. We start with a review of the public information available. (Our writers are also experts in reading between the lines.) We augment this information with dozens of in-depth interviews of people who actually work for each company or industry we cover. And, although we keep the identity of the rank-and-file employees anonymous to encourage candor, we also interview the company’s recruiting staff extensively, to make sure that we give you, the reader, accurate information about recruiting, process, compensation, hiring targets, and so on. (WetFeet retains all editorial control of the product.) We also regularly survey our members and customers to learn about their experiences in the recruiting process. Finally, each Insider Guide goes through an editorial review and fact-checking process to make sure that the information and writing live up to our exacting standards before it goes out the door. Are we perfect...

Words: 33719 - Pages: 135

Premium Essay

Akiz Group

...Company Overview Akij Group History of Akij Group stretches back to later part of the forties. In its infancy, the Group started in humble way with jute trading which was known as the golden fiber of the country, earning highest amount of foreign exchange. Akij Group's ceaseless efforts with dynamic management and support from our numerous clients have led our Group in diversifying its business activities. In the second phase, the Group went into manufacturing handmade cigarettes popularly known as bidis. This sector gave a real boost to the revenue earning of the Group as well as making a substantial contribution to government exchequer. With the passage of time, the Group undertook new ventures and presently there are 15 units of industries under its umbrella like cigarettes, handmade cigarettes, printing & packaging, textiles, hand board, pharmaceutical, leather processing and real-estate business are in operation, catering jobs for more that 32,000 people in various categories. The Group has plans for setting up more projects. The projects are already in pipeline. Foreign investors have shown keen interest in joining with us for joint ventures. The matter is under our active consideration and will hopefully soon mature. This will also help the nation's economy growth and will create job opportunities to various professionals. Akij Group is also involved in socio-cultural activities. The Group has been operating a sizeable orphanage free of charge in district town...

Words: 14023 - Pages: 57

Premium Essay

Dac1

...Porter's Five Forces Supplier Power: Here you assess how easy it is for suppliers to drive up prices. This is driven by the number of suppliers of each key input, the uniqueness of their product or service, their strength and control over you, the cost of switching from one to another, and so on. The fewer the supplier choices you have, and the more you need suppliers' help, the more powerful your suppliers are. Buyer Power: Here you ask yourself how easy it is for buyers to drive prices down. Again, this is driven by the number of buyers, the importance of each individual buyer to your business, the cost to them of switching from your products and services to those of someone else, and so on. If you deal with few, powerful buyers, then they are often able to dictate terms to you. Competitive Rivalry: What is important here is the number and capability of your competitors. If you have many competitors, and they offer equally attractive products and services, then you'll most likely have little power in the situation, because suppliers and buyers will go elsewhere if they don't get a good deal from you. On the other hand, if no-one else can do what you do, then you can often have tremendous strength. Threat of Substitution: This is affected by the ability of your customers to find a different way of doing what you do - for example, if you supply a unique software product that automates an important process, people may substitute by doing the process manually or by outsourcing...

Words: 4647 - Pages: 19

Premium Essay

Capital Market of Bangladesh

...UNIVERSITY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCES Department of School of Business Term Paper On Topic: Bond Market In Bangladesh . Course Code :FIN-361. Course Title :Corporate Finance . Submitted To : MD.Nazmul Hasan. Faculty, School of Business, University of Information Technology & Sciences Submitted By : NAME ID Nazibur Rahman : 08410105 Abdullah- al Zihad : 08510061 Qazi Ismat Ahmed Rushe’d Chowdhery : 08410106 Date of Submission : 14th December, 2010. Executive Summary The bond market is a financial market where participants buy and sell debt securities, usually in the form of bonds. Like emerging-market countries around the world, Bangladesh could benefit from having a local-currency, fixed-income securities market. At present, its main fixed-income financial products are bank deposits, bank loans, government savings certificates, term loans, treasury bills, and government bonds and corporate debt (syndicated loans, private placement, and debentures). But in general the corporate debt market is still very small compared with the equity market. Numerous factors in Bangladesh today suggest that Bangladesh will not be able to develop an active, local-currency fixed-income market. In this paper, we will discuss the current situation of our bond market, what the drawbacks...

Words: 17477 - Pages: 70

Premium Essay

Brief History of Accounting

...More Than a Numbers Game A Brief Histor y of Accounting Thomas A. King John Wiley & Sons, Inc. More Than a Numbers Game More Than a Numbers Game A Brief Histor y of Accounting Thomas A. King John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 2006 by Thomas A. King. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability...

Words: 65244 - Pages: 261

Premium Essay

Enron

...Enron and World Finance A Case Study in Ethics Edited by Paul H. Dembinski, Carole Lager, Andrew Cornford and Jean-Michel Bonvin Enron and World Finance Also by Observatoire de la Finance From Bretton Woods to Basel Finance & the Common Good/Bien Commun, no. 21, Spring 2005 Ethics of Taxation and Banking Secrecy Finance & the Common Good/Bien Commun, no. 12, Autumn 2002 Will the Euro Shape Europe? Finance & the Common Good/Bien Commun, no. 9, Winter 2001–2 Dommen, E. (ed.) Debt Beyond Contract Finance & the Common Good/Bien Commun, Supplement no. 2, 2001 Bonvin, J.-M. Debt and the Jubilee: Pacing the Economy Finance & the Common Good/Bien Commun, Supplement no. 1, 1999 Dembinski, P. H. (leading contributor) Economic and Financial Globalization: What the Numbers Say United Nations, Geneva, 2003 Enron and World Finance A Case Study in Ethics Edited by Paul H. Dembinski Carole Lager Andrew Cornford and Jean-Michel Bonvin in association with the Observatoire de la Finance Selection, editorial matter and Chapters 1, 2 and 16 © Observatoire de la Finance Remaining chapters © contributors 2006 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence ...

Words: 118357 - Pages: 474