Linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests are used to examine the dynamic relation between daily Dow Jones stock returns and percentage changes in New York Stock Exchange trading volume. We find evidence of significant bidirectional nonlinear causality between returns and volume. We also examine whether the nonlinear causality from volume to returns can be explained by volume serving as a proxy for information flow in the stochastic process generating stock return variance as suggested by Clark's (1973) latent common-factor model. After controlling for volatility persistence in returns, we continue to find evidence of nonlinear causality from volume to returns. THIS ARTICLE USES LINEAR and nonlinear Granger causality tests to examine the dynamic relation between daily aggregate stock prices and trading volume. Causality tests can provide useful information on whether knowledge.of past stock price movements improves short-run forecasts of current and future movements in trading volume, and vice versa. We provide empirical support for the argument made by Gallant, Rossi, and Tauchen (1992) that more can be learned about the stock market through studying the joint dynamics of stock prices and trading volume than by focusing only on the univariate dynamics of stock prices. In addition, our analysis produces stylized facts about how daily aggregate stock prices and trading volume are intertemporally related, which may prove useful to future theoretical and empirical work on the stock market.

Linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests are used to examine the dynamic relation between daily Dow Jones stock returns and percentage changes in New York Stock Exchange trading volume. We find evidence of significant bidirectional nonlinear causality between returns and volume. We also examine whether the nonlinear causality from volume to returns can be explained by volume serving as a proxy for information flow in the stochastic process generating stock return variance as suggested by Clark's (1973) latent common‐factor model. After controlling for volatility persistence in returns, we continue to find evidence of nonlinear causality from volume to returns.

Using Shared National Credit (SNC) Program data from 1995 to 2000, we extend previous empirical work on bank loan syndications. First, we examine recent trends in the volume and examiner-based credit quality of loans syndicated through the banking system. Second, we estimate a panel regression model to explain changes in an agent bank's retained share of a syndicated loan in terms of information asymmetries, loan credit quality, capital constraints, and loan age and maturity. We find that these variables are significant determinants of the proportion of a SNC loan retained by an agent bank for its portfolio over time. 2005 The Southern Finance Association and the Southwestern Finance Association.

This paper examines responses from a survey of 2,000 randomly selected mutual fund investors who purchased shares from six different distribution channels. The survey provides data on the demographic, financial, and fund ownership characteristics of mutual fund investors. It also provides data on investors’ knowledge of the costs and investment risks of mutual funds and the information sources these investors use to learn about these costs and risks. Our survey results strongly suggest there is room for improvement in the level of financial literacy of mutual fund investors. © 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Using data on 560 firm-commitment initial public offerings of common stock for the 1982-1983 period, we find that the cross-sectional distribution of one-day returns is modeled better as a mixture of two distributions, with the parameter estimates of one distribution being consistent with underpricing and the other with price stabilization. Further, the evidence that early IPO returns are drawn from a mixture distribution persists for at least four weeks. The implications of these results for the analysis of IPO returns are illustrated by examining the inf luence of a measure of ex ante price uncertainty on IPO pricing.