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Leveraged trading and stock returns: Evidence from international stock markets

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  • Chen, Zhuo
  • Li, Pengfei
  • Wang, Zhengwei
  • Zhang, Bohui

Abstract

Are margin traders as well-informed as short sellers when it comes to leveraged investing? Our paper, utilizing a unique dataset on stock-level short selling and margin trading from three international stock markets, reveals that while short selling has cross-sectional return predictability, margin trading does not. In comparison to short selling, margin-trading activities demonstrate a stronger correlation across stocks and weakly predict firm fundamentals. This suggests that margin traders are less likely to possess a firm-specific information advantage. Our findings at the investor account level also indicate that margin traders are less sophisticated than short sellers.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Zhuo & Li, Pengfei & Wang, Zhengwei & Zhang, Bohui, 2024. "Leveraged trading and stock returns: Evidence from international stock markets," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:69:y:2024:i:c:s1386418124000259
    DOI: 10.1016/j.finmar.2024.100907
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Short selling; Margin trading; Future stock returns; International finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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