Forecasting Stock Market Momentum in Nepal: Application of Fuzzy Logic Model

Background: Stock market experts analyse various indicators to estimate the stock market, including historical prices, economic analysis, industry analysis and company analysis, but this study uses historical prices for the NEPSE index, making forecasting more precise. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore short-term stock market momentum using fuzzy logic. The study also aims to establish a suitable fuzzy model to predict stock momentum, reduce the risk, and make the right investment decision. Methodology/Design: This study employed exploratory research design to understand the problem of chaotic decision making in the stock market. The mathematical method employed in this study is membership functions, which are part of fuzzy logic. This includes only the commercial banks, as it has the highest market capitalization, 53.11% of total market capitalization. Using 14-day past data as a base, the suggested fuzzy model determines the stock index’s momentum over the next 5 days. Findings: The forecasted trend value for the Nabil, Civil, and Prime Commercial bank is 0.92, 0.92, and 0.80, which shows a bullish trend. Compared to previously collected data, the findings closely reflect the expected real-world values.

Growth options, dividend payout ratios and stock returns

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of the dividend payout ratio on future stock returns and momentum strategies. Design/methodology/approach The author uses the portfolio sorting approach used in the momentum literature to examine this impact. Findings First, the author shows that the returns for the winner stocks tend to be the largest if no dividends are paid and then decrease with the dividend payout ratio; the returns for the loser stocks tend to have an inverted U-shaped relationship with the dividend payout ratio, but the zero-dividend loser stocks have the smallest return; and the returns for the stocks between the winners and the losers tend to remain similar, regardless of the dividend payout ratio. Second, the author shows that momentum profit is the largest for the stocks that do not make dividend payment but appear similar for the stocks that pay dividends. The author's empirical findings imply that stock price momentum is a function of the dividend payout ratio, growth stock momentum tends to be much stronger than value stock momentum and no-dividend stock momentum beats dividend stock momentum. In fact, when the dividend payout ratio is considered, momentum profit can be improved by up to 63 per cent. Originality/value This paper is the first one to examine the impact of dividend payout ratios on future stock returns and momentum profit, and it obtained many interesting empirical results. In addition, unlike most studies in the momentum literature that use behavioral theory to explain empirical findings, this paper uses the growth option idea to present a rational explanation for the empirical results in this paper.