IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finmar/v59y2022ipbs1386418121000616.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Predictive information in corporate bond yields

Author

Listed:
  • Guo, Xu
  • Lin, Hai
  • Wu, Chunchi
  • Zhou, Guofu

Abstract

We document strong evidence of the cross-sectional predictability of corporate bond returns based on a set of yield predictors that capture the information in the yields of past 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 months. Return predictability is economically and statistically significant, and is robust to various controls. The uncovered predictability presents the most pronounced anomaly in the corporate bond literature that challenges rational pricing models.

Suggested Citation

  • Guo, Xu & Lin, Hai & Wu, Chunchi & Zhou, Guofu, 2022. "Predictive information in corporate bond yields," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:59:y:2022:i:pb:s1386418121000616
    DOI: 10.1016/j.finmar.2021.100687
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386418121000616
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.finmar.2021.100687?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jean‐Philippe Bouchaud & Philipp Krüger & Augustin Landier & David Thesmar, 2019. "Sticky Expectations and the Profitability Anomaly," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(2), pages 639-674, April.
    2. Hirshleifer, David & Li, Jun & Yu, Jianfeng, 2015. "Asset pricing in production economies with extrapolative expectations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 87-106.
    3. Ho, Hwai-Chung & Wang, Hsiao-Chuan, 2018. "Momentum lost and found in corporate bond returns," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 60-82.
    4. Kent Daniel & David Hirshleifer & Lin Sun, 2020. "Short- and Long-Horizon Behavioral Factors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 1673-1736.
    5. Kozak, Serhiy & Nagel, Stefan & Santosh, Shrihari, 2020. "Shrinking the cross-section," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 271-292.
    6. Scott Joslin & Marcel Priebsch & Kenneth J. Singleton, 2014. "Risk Premiums in Dynamic Term Structure Models with Unspanned Macro Risks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(3), pages 1197-1233, June.
    7. Asquith, Paul & Au, Andrea S. & Covert, Thomas & Pathak, Parag A., 2013. "The market for borrowing corporate bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 155-182.
    8. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    9. Avramov, Doron & Chordia, Tarun & Jostova, Gergana & Philipov, Alexander, 2013. "Anomalies and financial distress," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 139-159.
    10. Gurkaynak, Refet S. & Sack, Brian & Wright, Jonathan H., 2007. "The U.S. Treasury yield curve: 1961 to the present," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(8), pages 2291-2304, November.
    11. Bai, Jennie & Bali, Turan G. & Wen, Quan, 2019. "Common risk factors in the cross-section of corporate bond returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 619-642.
    12. Demir Bektić & Tobias Regele, 2018. "Exploiting uncertainty with market timing in corporate bond markets," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(2), pages 79-92, March.
    13. Gebhardt, William R. & Hvidkjaer, Soeren & Swaminathan, Bhaskaran, 2005. "The cross-section of expected corporate bond returns: Betas or characteristics?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 85-114, January.
    14. Robin Greenwood & Samuel G. Hanson, 2013. "Issuer Quality and Corporate Bond Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(6), pages 1483-1525.
    15. Young Ho Eom, 2004. "Structural Models of Corporate Bond Pricing: An Empirical Analysis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 499-544.
    16. Lin, Hai & Wang, Junbo & Wu, Chunchi, 2014. "Predictions of corporate bond excess returns," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 123-152.
    17. Treynor, Jack L & Ferguson, Robert, 1985. "In Defense of Technical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(3), pages 757-773, July.
    18. Christopher J. Neely & David E. Rapach & Jun Tu & Guofu Zhou, 2014. "Forecasting the Equity Risk Premium: The Role of Technical Indicators," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(7), pages 1772-1791, July.
    19. Doron Avramov & Tarun Chordia & Gergana Jostova & Alexander Philipov, 2007. "Momentum and Credit Rating," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(5), pages 2503-2520, October.
    20. Chauvet, Marcelle, 1998. "An Econometric Characterization of Business Cycle Dynamics with Factor Structure and Regime Switching," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(4), pages 969-996, November.
    21. Kent Daniel & David Hirshleifer & Lin Sun, 2020. "Short- and Long-Horizon Behavioral Factors," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1673-1736.
    22. Jack Bao & Jun Pan & Jiang Wang, 2011. "The Illiquidity of Corporate Bonds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(3), pages 911-946, June.
    23. Chordia, Tarun & Goyal, Amit & Nozawa, Yoshio & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar & Tong, Qing, 2017. "Are Capital Market Anomalies Common to Equity and Corporate Bond Markets? An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 1301-1342, August.
    24. Bali, Turan G. & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar & Wen, Quan, 2021. "Long-term reversals in the corporate bond market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(2), pages 656-677.
    25. Gergana Jostova & Stanislava Nikolova & Alexander Philipov & Christof W. Stahel, 2013. "Momentum in Corporate Bond Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(7), pages 1649-1693.
    26. Grundy, Bruce D & Martin, J Spencer, 2001. "Understanding the Nature of the Risks and the," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(1), pages 29-78.
    27. Keim, Donald B. & Stambaugh, Robert F., 1986. "Predicting returns in the stock and bond markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 357-390, December.
    28. Gebhardt, William R. & Hvidkjaer, Soeren & Swaminathan, Bhaskaran, 2005. "Stock and bond market interaction: Does momentum spill over?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 651-690, March.
    29. Andrew W. Lo & Harry Mamaysky & Jiang Wang, 2000. "Foundations of Technical Analysis: Computational Algorithms, Statistical Inference, and Empirical Implementation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1705-1765, August.
    30. Amihud, Yakov, 2002. "Illiquidity and stock returns: cross-section and time-series effects," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 31-56, January.
    31. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2015. "A five-factor asset pricing model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 1-22.
    32. De Bondt, Werner F M & Thaler, Richard, 1985. "Does the Stock Market Overreact?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(3), pages 793-805, July.
    33. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1989. "Business conditions and expected returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 23-49, November.
    34. Kewei Hou & Chen Xue & Lu Zhang, 2020. "Replicating Anomalies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(5), pages 2019-2133.
    35. Han, Yufeng & Zhou, Guofu & Zhu, Yingzi, 2016. "A trend factor: Any economic gains from using information over investment horizons?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 352-375.
    36. Dick-Nielsen, Jens & Feldhütter, Peter & Lando, David, 2012. "Corporate bond liquidity before and after the onset of the subprime crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 471-492.
    37. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    38. Barroso, Pedro & Santa-Clara, Pedro, 2015. "Momentum has its moments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 111-120.
    39. Robin Greenwood & Andrei Shleifer, 2014. "Expectations of Returns and Expected Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 714-746.
    40. Choi, Jaewon & Kim, Yongjun, 2018. "Anomalies and market (dis)integration," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 16-34.
    41. Bektic, D. & Regele, T., 2018. "Exploiting Uncertainty with Market Timing in Corporate Bond Markets," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 92506, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    42. Hai Lin & Chunchi Wu & Guofu Zhou, 2018. "Forecasting Corporate Bond Returns with a Large Set of Predictors: An Iterated Combination Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(9), pages 4218-4238, September.
    43. Gibbons, Michael R & Ross, Stephen A & Shanken, Jay, 1989. "A Test of the Efficiency of a Given Portfolio," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(5), pages 1121-1152, September.
    44. David E. Rapach & Jack K. Strauss & Guofu Zhou, 2013. "International Stock Return Predictability: What Is the Role of the United States?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1633-1662, August.
    45. Long Chen & David A. Lesmond & Jason Wei, 2007. "Corporate Yield Spreads and Bond Liquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 119-149, February.
    46. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    47. Hui Zou & Trevor Hastie, 2005. "Addendum: Regularization and variable selection via the elastic net," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 67(5), pages 768-768, November.
    48. David E. Rapach & Jack K. Strauss & Guofu Zhou, 2010. "Out-of-Sample Equity Premium Prediction: Combination Forecasts and Links to the Real Economy," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(2), pages 821-862, February.
    49. Amy K. Edwards & Lawrence E. Harris & Michael S. Piwowar, 2007. "Corporate Bond Market Transaction Costs and Transparency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1421-1451, June.
    50. Hui Zou & Trevor Hastie, 2005. "Regularization and variable selection via the elastic net," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 67(2), pages 301-320, April.
    51. Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Titman, Sheridan, 1993. "Returns to Buying Winners and Selling Losers: Implications for Stock Market Efficiency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(1), pages 65-91, March.
    52. Brock, William & Lakonishok, Josef & LeBaron, Blake, 1992. "Simple Technical Trading Rules and the Stochastic Properties of Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1731-1764, December.
    53. Jing-Zhi Huang & Zhan Shi, 2021. "What Do We Know About Corporate Bond Returns?," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 363-399, November.
    54. Amit Goyal & Narasimhan Jegadeesh, 2018. "Cross-Sectional and Time-Series Tests of Return Predictability: What Is the Difference?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 1784-1824.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Isakin, Maksim & Pu, Xiaoling, 2023. "Dispersion in news sentiment and corporate bond returns," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Chen, Ding & Guo, Biao & Zhou, Guofu, 2023. "Firm fundamentals and the cross-section of implied volatility shapes," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    3. Rocío Maehara & Luis Benites & Alvaro Talavera & Alejandro Aybar-Flores & Miguel Muñoz, 2024. "Predicting Financial Inclusion in Peru: Application of Machine Learning Algorithms," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Doron Avramov & Guy Kaplanski & Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2022. "Postfundamentals Price Drift in Capital Markets: A Regression Regularization Perspective," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7658-7681, October.
    2. Bai, Jennie & Bali, Turan G. & Wen, Quan, 2021. "Is there a risk-return tradeoff in the corporate bond market? Time-series and cross-sectional evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1017-1037.
    3. Adam Zaremba & Jacob Koby Shemer, 2018. "Price-Based Investment Strategies," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-91530-2, July.
    4. Hai Lin & Pengfei Liu & Cheng Zhang, 2023. "The trend premium around the world: Evidence from the stock market," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 317-358, June.
    5. Zhang, Heming & Wang, Guanying, 2021. "Reversal effect and corporate bond pricing in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Söhnke M. Bartram & Harald Lohre & Peter F. Pope & Ananthalakshmi Ranganathan, 2021. "Navigating the factor zoo around the world: an institutional investor perspective," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(5), pages 655-703, July.
    7. Ma, Yao & Yang, Baochen & Su, Yunpeng, 2021. "Stock return predictability: Evidence from moving averages of trading volume," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Stephanie Heck, 2022. "Corporate bond yields and returns: a survey," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 36(2), pages 179-201, June.
    9. Bai, Jennie & Bali, Turan G. & Wen, Quan, 2019. "Common risk factors in the cross-section of corporate bond returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 619-642.
    10. van Zundert, Jeroen, 2018. "Empirical studies on the cross-section of corporate bond and stock markets," Other publications TiSEM 338205fc-a031-4e06-a636-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Xin Chen & Wei He & Libin Tao & Jianfeng Yu, 2023. "Attention and Underreaction-Related Anomalies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 636-659, January.
    12. Han, Yufeng & Zhou, Guofu & Zhu, Yingzi, 2016. "A trend factor: Any economic gains from using information over investment horizons?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 352-375.
    13. Campbell, T. Colin & Chichernea, Doina C. & Petkevich, Alex, 2016. "Dissecting the bond profitability premium," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 102-131.
    14. Bali, Turan G. & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar & Wen, Quan, 2021. "Long-term reversals in the corporate bond market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(2), pages 656-677.
    15. Yang, Huan & Cai, Jun & Huang, Lin & Marcus, Alan J., 2021. "Bank stocks, risk factors, and tail behavior," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 203-229.
    16. Söhnke M. Bartram & Mark Grinblatt & Yoshio Nozawa, 2020. "Book-to-Market, Mispricing, and the Cross-Section of Corporate Bond Returns," NBER Working Papers 27655, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Blitz, David & Hanauer, Matthias X. & Vidojevic, Milan, 2020. "The idiosyncratic momentum anomaly," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 932-957.
    18. Huang, Tao & Jiang, Liang & Li, Junye, 2023. "Downside variance premium, firm fundamentals, and expected corporate bond returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    19. Cederburg, Scott & O’Doherty, Michael S. & Wang, Feifei & Yan, Xuemin (Sterling), 2020. "On the performance of volatility-managed portfolios," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(1), pages 95-117.
    20. Tobias Wiest, 2023. "Momentum: what do we know 30 years after Jegadeesh and Titman’s seminal paper?," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 37(1), pages 95-114, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Yield signals; Moving averages; Cross-sectional predictability; Corporate bond returns;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:59:y:2022:i:pb:s1386418121000616. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/finmar .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.