Equities

Replication of Reference-Dependent Preferences and the Risk-Return Trade-Off in the Chinese Market ArXiv ID: 2505.20608 “View on arXiv” Authors: Penggan Xu Abstract This study replicates the findings of Wang et al. (2017) on reference-dependent preferences and their impact on the risk-return trade-off in the Chinese stock market, a unique context characterized by high retail investor participation, speculative trading behavior, and regulatory complexities. Capital Gains Overhang (CGO), a proxy for unrealized gains or losses, is employed to explore how behavioral biases shape cross-sectional stock returns in an emerging market setting. Utilizing data from 1995 to 2024 and econometric techniques such as Dependent Double Sorting and Fama-MacBeth regressions, this research investigates the interaction between CGO and five risk proxies: Beta, Return Volatility (RETVOL), Idiosyncratic Volatility (IVOL), Firm Age (AGE), and Cash Flow Volatility (CFVOL). Key findings reveal a weaker or absent positive risk-return relationship among high-CGO firms and stronger positive relationships among low-CGO firms, diverging from U.S. market results, and the interaction effects between CGO and risk proxies, significant and positive in the U.S., are predominantly negative in the Chinese market, reflecting structural and behavioral differences, such as speculative trading and diminished reliance on reference points. The results suggest that reference-dependent preferences play a less pronounced role in the Chinese market, emphasizing the need for tailored investment strategies in emerging economies. ...

Comparative analysis of financial data differentiation techniques using LSTM neural network ArXiv ID: 2505.19243 “View on arXiv” Authors: Dominik Stempień, Janusz Gajda Abstract We compare traditional approach of computing logarithmic returns with the fractional differencing method and its tempered extension as methods of data preparation before their usage in advanced machine learning models. Differencing parameters are estimated using multiple techniques. The empirical investigation is conducted on data from four major stock indices covering the most recent 10-year period. The set of explanatory variables is additionally extended with technical indicators. The effectiveness of the differencing methods is evaluated using both forecast error metrics and risk-adjusted return trading performance metrics. The findings suggest that fractional differentiation methods provide a suitable data transformation technique, improving the predictive model forecasting performance. Furthermore, the generated predictions appeared to be effective in constructing profitable trading strategies for both individual assets and a portfolio of stock indices. These results underline the importance of appropriate data transformation techniques in financial time series forecasting, supporting the application of memory-preserving techniques. ...

Machine learning approach to stock price crash risk ArXiv ID: 2505.16287 “View on arXiv” Authors: Abdullah Karasan, Ozge Sezgin Alp, Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber Abstract In this study, we propose a novel machine-learning-based measure for stock price crash risk, utilizing the minimum covariance determinant methodology. Employing this newly introduced dependent variable, we predict stock price crash risk through cross-sectional regression analysis. The findings confirm that the proposed method effectively captures stock price crash risk, with the model demonstrating strong performance in terms of both statistical significance and economic relevance. Furthermore, leveraging a newly developed firm-specific investor sentiment index, the analysis identifies a positive correlation between stock price crash risk and firm-specific investor sentiment. Specifically, higher levels of sentiment are associated with an increased likelihood of stock price crash risk. This relationship remains robust across different firm sizes and when using the detoned version of the firm-specific investor sentiment index, further validating the reliability of the proposed approach. ...

Towards Competent AI for Fundamental Analysis in Finance: A Benchmark Dataset and Evaluation ArXiv ID: 2506.07315 “View on arXiv” Authors: Zonghan Wu, Congyuan Zou, Junlin Wang, Chenhan Wang, Hangjing Yang, Yilei Shao Abstract Generative AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), is beginning to transform the financial industry by automating tasks and helping to make sense of complex financial information. One especially promising use case is the automatic creation of fundamental analysis reports, which are essential for making informed investment decisions, evaluating credit risks, guiding corporate mergers, etc. While LLMs attempt to generate these reports from a single prompt, the risks of inaccuracy are significant. Poor analysis can lead to misguided investments, regulatory issues, and loss of trust. Existing financial benchmarks mainly evaluate how well LLMs answer financial questions but do not reflect performance in real-world tasks like generating financial analysis reports. In this paper, we propose FinAR-Bench, a solid benchmark dataset focusing on financial statement analysis, a core competence of fundamental analysis. To make the evaluation more precise and reliable, we break this task into three measurable steps: extracting key information, calculating financial indicators, and applying logical reasoning. This structured approach allows us to objectively assess how well LLMs perform each step of the process. Our findings offer a clear understanding of LLMs current strengths and limitations in fundamental analysis and provide a more practical way to benchmark their performance in real-world financial settings. ...

Quantile Predictions for Equity Premium using Penalized Quantile Regression with Consistent Variable Selection across Multiple Quantiles ArXiv ID: 2505.16019 “View on arXiv” Authors: Shaobo Li, Ben Sherwood Abstract This paper considers equity premium prediction, for which mean regression can be problematic due to heteroscedasticity and heavy-tails of the error. We show advantages of quantile predictions using a novel penalized quantile regression that offers a model for a full spectrum analysis on the equity premium distribution. To enhance model interpretability and address the well-known issue of crossing quantile predictions in quantile regression, we propose a model that enforces the selection of a common set of variables across all quantiles. Such a selection consistency is achieved by simultaneously estimating all quantiles with a group penalty that ensures sparsity pattern is the same for all quantiles. Consistency results are provided that allow the number of predictors to increase with the sample size. A Huberized quantile loss function and an augmented data approach are implemented for computational efficiency. Simulation studies show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Empirical results show that the proposed method outperforms several benchmark methods. Moreover, we find some important predictors reverse their relationship to the excess return from lower to upper quantiles, potentially offering interesting insights to the domain experts. Our proposed method can be applied to other fields. ...

R&D-Agent-Quant: A Multi-Agent Framework for Data-Centric Factors and Model Joint Optimization ArXiv ID: 2505.15155 “View on arXiv” Authors: Yuante Li, Xu Yang, Xiao Yang, Minrui Xu, Xisen Wang, Weiqing Liu, Jiang Bian Abstract Financial markets pose fundamental challenges for asset return prediction due to their high dimensionality, non-stationarity, and persistent volatility. Despite advances in large language models and multi-agent systems, current quantitative research pipelines suffer from limited automation, weak interpretability, and fragmented coordination across key components such as factor mining and model innovation. In this paper, we propose R&D-Agent for Quantitative Finance, in short RD-Agent(Q), the first data-centric multi-agent framework designed to automate the full-stack research and development of quantitative strategies via coordinated factor-model co-optimization. RD-Agent(Q) decomposes the quant process into two iterative stages: a Research stage that dynamically sets goal-aligned prompts, formulates hypotheses based on domain priors, and maps them to concrete tasks, and a Development stage that employs a code-generation agent, Co-STEER, to implement task-specific code, which is then executed in real-market backtests. The two stages are connected through a feedback stage that thoroughly evaluates experimental outcomes and informs subsequent iterations, with a multi-armed bandit scheduler for adaptive direction selection. Empirically, RD-Agent(Q) achieves up to 2X higher annualized returns than classical factor libraries using 70% fewer factors, and outperforms state-of-the-art deep time-series models on real markets. Its joint factor-model optimization delivers a strong balance between predictive accuracy and strategy robustness. Our code is available at: https://github.com/microsoft/RD-Agent. ...

Shortermism and excessive risk taking in optimal execution with a target performance ArXiv ID: 2505.15611 “View on arXiv” Authors: Emilio Barucci, Yuheng Lan Abstract We deal with the optimal execution problem when the broker’s goal is to reach a performance barrier avoiding a downside barrier. The performance is provided by the wealth accumulated by trading in the market, the shares detained by the broker evaluated at the market price plus a slippage cost yielding a quadratic inventory cost. Over a short horizon, this type of remuneration leads, at the same time, to a more aggressive and less risky strategy compared to the classical one, and over a long horizon the performance turns to be poorer and more dispersed. ...

Quantum Reservoir Computing for Realized Volatility Forecasting ArXiv ID: 2505.13933 “View on arXiv” Authors: Qingyu Li, Chiranjib Mukhopadhyay, Abolfazl Bayat, Ali Habibnia Abstract Recent advances in quantum computing have demonstrated its potential to significantly enhance the analysis and forecasting of complex classical data. Among these, quantum reservoir computing has emerged as a particularly powerful approach, combining quantum computation with machine learning for modeling nonlinear temporal dependencies in high-dimensional time series. As with many data-driven disciplines, quantitative finance and econometrics can hugely benefit from emerging quantum technologies. In this work, we investigate the application of quantum reservoir computing for realized volatility forecasting. Our model employs a fully connected transverse-field Ising Hamiltonian as the reservoir with distinct input and memory qubits to capture temporal dependencies. The quantum reservoir computing approach is benchmarked against several econometric models and standard machine learning algorithms. The models are evaluated using multiple error metrics and the model confidence set procedures. To enhance interpretability and mitigate current quantum hardware limitations, we utilize wrapper-based forward selection for feature selection, identifying optimal subsets, and quantifying feature importance via Shapley values. Our results indicate that the proposed quantum reservoir approach consistently outperforms benchmark models across various metrics, highlighting its potential for financial forecasting despite existing quantum hardware constraints. This work serves as a proof-of-concept for the applicability of quantum computing in econometrics and financial analysis, paving the way for further research into quantum-enhanced predictive modeling as quantum hardware capabilities continue to advance. ...

SAE-FiRE: Enhancing Earnings Surprise Predictions Through Sparse Autoencoder Feature Selection ArXiv ID: 2505.14420 “View on arXiv” Authors: Huopu Zhang, Yanguang Liu, Miao Zhang, Zirui He, Mengnan Du Abstract Predicting earnings surprises from financial documents, such as earnings conference calls, regulatory filings, and financial news, has become increasingly important in financial economics. However, these financial documents present significant analytical challenges, typically containing over 5,000 words with substantial redundancy and industry-specific terminology that creates obstacles for language models. In this work, we propose the SAE-FiRE (Sparse Autoencoder for Financial Representation Enhancement) framework to address these limitations by extracting key information while eliminating redundancy. SAE-FiRE employs Sparse Autoencoders (SAEs) to decompose dense neural representations from large language models into interpretable sparse components, then applies statistical feature selection methods, including ANOVA F-tests and tree-based importance scoring, to identify the top-k most discriminative dimensions for classification. By systematically filtering out noise that might otherwise lead to overfitting, we enable more robust and generalizable predictions. Experimental results across three financial datasets demonstrate that SAE-FiRE significantly outperforms baseline approaches. ...

The Evolution of Alpha in Finance Harnessing Human Insight and LLM Agents ArXiv ID: 2505.14727 “View on arXiv” Authors: Mohammad Rubyet Islam Abstract The pursuit of alpha returns that exceed market benchmarks has undergone a profound transformation, evolving from intuition-driven investing to autonomous, AI powered systems. This paper introduces a comprehensive five stage taxonomy that traces this progression across manual strategies, statistical models, classical machine learning, deep learning, and agentic architectures powered by large language models (LLMs). Unlike prior surveys focused narrowly on modeling techniques, this review adopts a system level lens, integrating advances in representation learning, multimodal data fusion, and tool augmented LLM agents. The strategic shift from static predictors to contextaware financial agents capable of real time reasoning, scenario simulation, and cross modal decision making is emphasized. Key challenges in interpretability, data fragility, governance, and regulatory compliance areas critical to production deployment are examined. The proposed taxonomy offers a unified framework for evaluating maturity, aligning infrastructure, and guiding the responsible development of next generation alpha systems. ...