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Kothari, Lewellen, and Warner (2006) document that aggregate earnings changes in the United States are negatively related to contemporaneous market returns. In this study we show that this negative aggregate earnings-returns relation is unique to the United States. In 28 non-U.S. markets, aggregate earnings changes are positively associated with contemporaneous market returns. Further evidence shows that the aggregate earnings-returns relation becomes less positive in countries with more transparent financial disclosure that helps investors forecast earnings more precisely. Our result supports Sadka and Sadka's (2009) argument that predictability of aggregate earnings leads to the negative relation between aggregate earnings and market returns in the United States.

Using daily hedonic housing price index for five Australian capital cities, we document a negative relationship between prior COVID-19 cases and daily housing returns. Specifically, the daily housing return drops by 0.35 basis points or 1.26 percentage points annually for every doubling of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in a state. We also examine the effect of government lockdown orders on housing returns and find insignificant results. These findings are robust under alternative pandemic proxies such as total active COVID-19 cases and other model specifications. Overall, our paper contributes to the literature on the geographic spread of pandemics and real estate prices.