Insider information trading analysis of Defense companies prior to   major contract awards
By:  Richard David Alexander
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 54
Description: The purpose of this thesis is to examine government contractor stock activity prior to contract award announcements to determine if insider information inequalities may have occurred. The stock price data of four defense companies for the 30 days prior to a contract award is analyzed. The Capital Asset Pricing Model was utilized to determine if abnormal returns were present. When abnormal returns are found, all available news related items were investigated to find possible explanations. Abnormal returns were not found in two of the four companies analyzed. The abnormal returns of the other two companies appeared correlated to a surprise positive earnings announcement and a strong sector rally rather than directly to the contract award. The contract award process within the defense industry appears to be effective in these cases with no apparent flaws within the information flow. The current regulations regarding trading based on insider information monitored by the Securities and Exchange Commission also appears to be effective.
Notes: Thesis advisor(s): Patrick  J. Parker ; Thomas H. Hoivik.

"December 1993."

Thesis (M.S. in Management) Naval Postgraduate School, December 1993.

Bibliography: p. 51-53.

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

Also available online.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.

US Marine Corps (USMC) author.