The power and origin of uncertainty shocks
Uncertainty shocks are changes in beliefs about probabilities. They are perhaps the most powerful driver of financial markets. Uncertainty comes in various forms, such...
Identifying asset price bubbles
A new paper proposes a practical method for identifying asset price bubbles. First, one estimates deviations of prices from fundamentals based on three different...
Tracking investor expectations with ETF data
Retail investors' return expectations affect market momentum and risk premia. The rise of ETFs with varying and inverse leverage offers an opportunity to estimate...
FX carry trade crashes
A global historical analysis of FX carry trades shows positive long-term performance but a negative skew of returns. Large drawdowns have been associated with...
The dangerous disregard for fat tails in quantitative finance
The statistical term ‘fat tails’ refers to probability distributions with relatively high probability of extreme outcomes. Fat tails also imply strong influence of extreme...
Basic theory of momentum strategies
Systematic momentum trading is a major alternative risk premium strategy across asset classes. Time series momentum motivates trend following; cross section momentum gives rise...
Crowded trades: measure and effect
One measure of the crowdedness of trades in a portfolio is centrality. Centrality is a concept of network analysis that measures how similar one...
Endogenous market risk: updated primer
Endogenous risk arises from the interaction of financial market participants, as opposed to traded assets’ fundamental value. It often manifests as feedback loops after...
How to use financial conditions indices
There are two ways to use financial conditions indicators for macro trading. First, the tightening of aggregate financial conditions helps forecasting macroeconomic dynamics and...
Lessons from long-term global equity performance
A truly global and long-term (116 years) data set for both successful and failed financial markets shows that equity has delivered positive long-term performance...