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This study characterizes institutional trading in international stocks from 37 countries during 1997 to 1998 and 2001. We find that the underlying market condition is a major determinant of the price impact and, more importantly, of the asymmetry between price impacts of institutional buy and sell orders. In bullish markets, institutional purchases have a bigger price impact than sells; however, in the bearish markets, sells have a higher price impact. This differs from previous findings on price impact asymmetry. Our study further suggests that price impact varies depending on order characteristics, firm-specific factors, and cross-country differences.CROSS-BORDER INVESTMENT has increased dramatically during the past 20 years and has become a crucial element in modern portfolios of investors worldwide. While individual investors typically diversify their portfolios through mutual funds and American Depository Receipts, large institutional investors such as mutual funds and pension funds often transact directly in international markets for their portfolio needs. Investing directly in international stocks involves unique risks, challenges, and costs. 1 Whereas the tradeoffs between these unique risks and returns from international investments have been widely studied, the transaction costs, particularly price impact costs, can potentially be another critical component of a successful international portfolio strategy. This is especially important for active institutional investors who frequently transact in foreign stocks. Understanding the determinants of price impact can be helpful in designing trading strategies that lower transaction costs and maximize net returns from an institutional portfolio.Despite the significant impact of transaction costs on portfolio performance and successful international diversification, only a few studies have examined the trading costs across different countries. The notable papers are Perold

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We study after-hours trading (AHT), price contributions, and price discovery following quarterly earnings announcements released outside of the normal trading hours. For Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index stocks from 2004-2008, AHT is heightened on announcement days. A significant portion of the price change and price discovery occurs immediately after the earnings releases. Prices in AHT show a large degree of informational efficiency, further demonstrating the importance of price discovery in AHT. We also provide evidence suggesting that firms prefer after-hours earnings announcements, as trades are mainly from informed traders, and those trades are relied upon to convey information to the general public.

This study examines the impact of Regulation Fair Disclosure (FD) on liquidity, information asymmetry, and institutional and retail investors trading behavior. Our main findings suggest three conclusions. First, Regulation FD has been effective in improving liquidity and in decreasing the level of information asymmetry. Second, retail trading activity increases dramatically after earnings announcements but there is a significant decline in institutional trading surrounding earnings announcements, particularly in the pre-announcement period. Last, the