Aggregate Analyst Forecast Errors, Stock Market Liquidity, and the Economy

We examine aggregate analyst forecast errors (AAFE) and find a systematic component, which is predictable using lagged stock market returns and macroeconomic variables. The evidence suggests that analysts do not fully take into account macroeconomic influences on individual firms’ earnings in their forecasts, and that systematic biases in market expectations exist. Since informed investors may exploit over-optimistic (over-pessimistic) analyst earnings forecasts in their sells (buys), their trading affects stock prices, which induces uninformed investors to gradually revise their expectations and leave (enter) the market. As the number of uninformed investors decreases (increases), stock market liquidity deteriorates (improves). Based on this reasoning, we show that – predictable AAFE is a driving force of time-varying stock market liquidity – and also an important channel through which stock market liquidity incorporates macroeconomic information.