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Can small investors exploit the momentum effect?

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  • Antonios Siganos

Abstract

This study uses UK data and investigates whether small investors can exploit the continuation effect in share prices. Individual traders are not in a financial position to buy and sell short hundreds of firms, as suggested by existing academic research, and thus this study uses extreme performance companies to implement the strategy. We find that strong momentum gains appear when extreme winners and losers are employed. These returns remain strong even after considering the transaction costs of implementing such strategies, including commissions, stamp duty, selling-short costs, and bid-ask spread. Overall, we show that a relatively large number of small investors can enjoy momentum gains, providing some evidence against stock market efficiency. Copyright Swiss Society for Financial Market Research 2010

Suggested Citation

  • Antonios Siganos, 2010. "Can small investors exploit the momentum effect?," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 24(2), pages 171-192, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:fmktpm:v:24:y:2010:i:2:p:171-192
    DOI: 10.1007/s11408-009-0120-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    10. Narasimhan Jegadeesh & Sheridan Titman, 2001. "Profitability of Momentum Strategies: An Evaluation of Alternative Explanations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(2), pages 699-720, April.
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    13. John M. Griffin & Xiuqing Ji & J. Spencer Martin, 2003. "Momentum Investing and Business Cycle Risk: Evidence from Pole to Pole," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(6), pages 2515-2547, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ryan G. Chacon & Thibaut G. Morillon & Ruixiang Wang, 2023. "Will the reddit rebellion take you to the moon? Evidence from WallStreetBets," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 37(1), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Varvara V. Nazarova & Sergei I. Leshchev, 2023. "Study of the Momentum Effect in the Price Dynamics of Highly Liquid Shares on the Russian Securities Market," Finansovyj žhurnal — Financial Journal, Financial Research Institute, Moscow 125375, Russia, issue 1, pages 58-73, February.
    3. Bryan Foltice & Thomas Langer, 2015. "Profitable momentum trading strategies for individual investors," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 29(2), pages 85-113, May.
    4. Hans-Peter Burghof & Felix Prothmann, 2011. "The 52-week high strategy and information uncertainty," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 25(4), pages 345-378, December.
    5. Teplova, Tamara & Mikova, Evgeniya & Nazarov, Nikolai, 2017. "Stop losses momentum strategy: From profit maximization to risk control under White’s Bootstrap Reality Check," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 240-258.
    6. Kwaku Opong & Antonios Siganos, 2013. "Compositional changes in the FTSE100 index from the standpoint of an arbitrageur," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(2), pages 120-132, April.
    7. Nicholas Rueilin Lee, 2012. "Firm ratings, momentum strategies, and crises: evidence from the US and Taiwanese stock markets," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 26(4), pages 449-468, December.
    8. Laura Andreu & Laurens Swinkels & Liam Tjong-A-Tjoe, 2013. "Can exchange traded funds be used to exploit industry and country momentum?," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 27(2), pages 127-148, June.
    9. Martin H. Schmidt, 2017. "Trading strategies based on past returns: evidence from Germany," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 31(2), pages 201-256, May.
    10. Cormac O’ Keeffe & Liam A. Gallagher, 2017. "The winner-loser anomaly: recent evidence from Greece," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(47), pages 4718-4728, October.
    11. Simarjeet Singh & Nidhi Walia, 2022. "Momentum investing: a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 87-113, February.
    12. Nandkumar Nayar & Ajai Singh & Wen Yu, 2011. "Unraveling a puzzle: the case of value line timeliness rank upgrades," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 25(4), pages 379-409, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Stock market efficiency; Momentum effect; Transaction cost; G14; G11;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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