Investors usually frame investment market anomalies as some unusual patterns in the market that may increase returns on investments. In a formal sense, anomalies are events that do not fit into an efficient market hypothesis, which says that investors cannot outperform a pure buy-and-hold strategy because the assets’ price reflects all available information. However, the efficient market hypothesis does not take into account anomalies, one of which is called the January effect. Its main meaning is that stocks that underperformed in December will perform better in January. Many inexperienced investors may judge that is some illogical commonality, while there is a quite rational explanation. The reason is that investors sell underperforming stocks at the end of the calendar year for tax purposes. It means that this ‘anomaly’ is actually a valid one.
Another well-known stock market anomaly is called the size effect. In simple terms, it means that small firms usually outperform big ones. It happens because it requires less money to invest in small companies to achieve growth. At the same time, large corporations will seek a tremendous amount of money to raise just several percent. Nevertheless, investment in small companies is a riskier practice in comparison to market giants. One should not be misled to think that this anomaly works every time. It leads to the conclusion that one should always monitor the major market media outlets for additional knowledge to understand current anomalies and obtain more information on market changes. Examples of them are Bloomberg, MSNBC, CNN, Yahoo Finance, and many others. The market price does not provide all the necessary information, so different market anomalies, fallacies, and behavioral issues are valid factors in the stock trade.