The conundrum of stock versus bond prices

Sergei Maslov and Bertrand M Roehner

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2004, vol. 335, issue 1, 164-182

Abstract: In a general way, stock and bond prices do not display any significant correlation. Yet, if we concentrate our attention on the specific episodes marked by a crash followed by a rebound, then we observe that stock prices have a strong connection with interest rates on one hand, and with bond yield spreads on the other hand. That second relationship is particularly stable in the course of time having been observed for over 140 years. Throughout the paper we use a quasi-experimental approach. By observing how markets respond to well-defined exogenous shocks (such as the shock of 11 September 2001) we are able to determine how investors organize their “flight to safety”: which safe haven they select, how long their collective panic lasts, and so on. As rebounds come to an end the correlation of stock and bond prices fades away, a clear sign that the collective behavior of investors loses some of its coherence; this observation can be used as an objective criterion for assessing the end of a market rebound. Based on the behavior of investors, we introduce a distinction between “genuine stock market rallies”, as opposed to spurious rallies such as those brought about by the buyback programs implemented by large companies. The paper ends with a discussion of testable predictions.

Keywords: Stock prices; Bond prices; Spreads; Stock crashes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437103011166
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:335:y:2004:i:1:p:164-182

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2003.11.031

Access Statistics for this article

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications is currently edited by K. A. Dawson, J. O. Indekeu, H.E. Stanley and C. Tsallis

More articles in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().