Inform and Deform. Do financial analysts mean what they say?

The book deals with the role of financial analysts as information providers in financial markets. Chapter one introduces the debate between behavioral finance and traditional finance with regard to market efficiency, in the light of recent financial scandals. Chapter two uses a mix of behavioral finance and linguistic analysis to analyze the reports of financial analysts on the S&P 500 to discern if they are able to anticipate shocks and crises. Chapter three compares studies related to the potential conflicts of interest faced by analysts, the market reaction to changes in recommendations, and the investment value of portfolio strategies based on analysts' consensus. Chapter four deals with analysts' distorted valuations of internet stocks during the dotcom bubble and comparing it with recent evidences on IPOs in the hi-tech sector. The book is the result of the collaboration of the authors and of their researches in the last ten years, starting from the papers of the last five years and ending up with the most recent evidence.