We describe a novel currency investment strategy, the ‘dollar carry trade,’ which delivers large excess returns, uncorrelated with the returns on well-known carry trade strategies. Using a no-arbitrage model of exchange rates we show that these excess returns compensate U.S. investors for...

Using index options and returns from 1996 to 2009, I estimate discrete-time models where asset returns follow a Brownian increment and a Lévy jump. Time variations in these models are generated with an affine GARCH, which facilitates the empirical implementation. I find that the risk premium...

This paper examines the impact of central clearing on the credit default swap (CDS) market using a sample of voluntarily cleared single-name contracts. Consistent with central clearing reducing counterparty risk, CDS spreads increase around the commencement of central clearing and are lower than...

Recently a market in options based on consumer price index inflation (inflation caps and floors) has emerged in the US. This paper uses quotes on these derivatives to construct probability densities for inflation. We study how these probability density functions respond to news announcements and...

We present a model with leverage and margin constraints that vary across investors and time. We find evidence consistent with each of the model's five central predictions: (1) Because constrained investors bid up high-beta assets, high beta is associated with low alpha, as we find empirically...

How does the speed by which information diffuses affect its value to a stock market investor? In a structural model solved in closed-form, this speed has two opposing effects on the empirically dominant term of the value of information. Faster-diffusing information means quicker and less noisy...

We show that macroeconomic growth at the end of the year (fourth quarter or December) strongly influences expected returns on risky financial assets, whereas economic growth during the rest of the year does not. We find this pattern for many different asset classes, across different time...

Yield curve fluctuations across different currencies are highly correlated. This paper investigates this phenomenon by exploring the channels through which macroeconomic shocks are transmitted across borders. Macroeconomic shocks affect current and expected future short-term rates as central...

This paper studies the equilibrium term structure of nominal and real interest rates and the time-varying bond risk premia implied by a stochastic endogenous growth model with imperfect price adjustment and monetary policy shocks. The production and price-setting decisions of firms drive...

Survey evidence suggests that many investors form beliefs about future stock market returns by extrapolating past returns. Such beliefs are hard to reconcile with existing models of the aggregate stock market. We study a consumption-based asset pricing model in which some investors form beliefs...