Texas Christian University

About: Texas Christian University is a education organization based out in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 3245 authors who have published 8258 publications receiving 282216 citations. The organization is also known as: TCU & Texas Christian University, TCU.

Asset Allocation and the Performance of Real Estate Mutual Funds

Abstract: We examine the performance of real estate mutual funds during January 1991–December 1997. As a group, the sampled funds outperformed the Wilshire Real Estate Securities Index on a risk-adjusted basis by more than 5 percentage points annually. We attempt to explain these surprising findings by examining the fund's asset allocations across stocks, bonds and real estate property types using Sharpe's (1992) effective-mix test. We find that all of the superior performance is attributable to fund managers' decisions to overweight outperforming property types (apartments and health care) relative to the Wilshire Real Estate Securities Index weights. Performance of the funds matches a multiple-property-type benchmark that takes account of the fund's exposure to each property type. Therefore, real estate funds demonstrated superior allocation across property types, but neither superior nor inferior selection within property type, during 1991–1997. Our findings emphasize the importance of asset allocation for real estate mutual-fund performance.

Porous Silicon Nanotube Arrays as Anode Material for Li-Ion Batteries.

Abstract: We report the electrochemical performance of Si nanotube vertical arrays possessing thin porous sidewalls for Li-ion batteries. Porous Si nanotubes were fabricated on stainless steel substrates using a sacrificial ZnO nanowire template method. These porous Si nanotubes are stable at multiple C-rates. A second discharge capacity of 3095 mAh g–1 with a Coulombic efficiency of 63% is attained at a rate of C/20 and a stable gravimetric capacity of 1670 mAh g–1 obtained after 30 cycles. The high capacity values are attributed to the large surface area offered by the porosity of the 3D nanostructures, thereby promoting lithium-ion storage according to a pseudocapacitive mechanism.

Instructional approaches that significantly increase reading comprehension

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of the most widely used literacy instructional approaches on the reading comprehension of Grade 2-6 students. Participants (N = 660) were enrolled in 4 districts in the United States; 53% were male (n = 348) and 47% were female (n = 312); 51 % were Caucasian (n = 338),23% were African American (n = 149),21% were Hispanic (n = 138), and 5% represented other ethnic backgrounds (n = 35). Sixty-two percent came from low to low-middle socioeconomic status schools, and 38% came from middle to high socioeconomic status schools, The study was a quantified experimental versus controlled group comparison. Analyses of variance were used to determine the differences between literacy scores. Two-level hierarchical linear modeling analyses were used to examine the effects of school variables on academic achievement. The highest comprehension scores for all populations occurred through three approaches. When struggling readers received 20 min of instruction with 1 of these 3 approaches, their literacy growth was equal to or greater than that of their peers. Implications are that treatments using classroom books produced significantly higher comprehension scores than workbook practice or extending basal treatments

Performance Characteristics of Emerging Capital Markets

Abstract: Capital markets in developing countries have become an important asset class. These emerging markets are commonly associated with high returns, high volatility, and diversification benefits for investors in developed markets. We used the Emerging Markets Data Base provided by the International Finance Corporation to examine the risk and return characteristics of emerging markets. Contrary to the results often presented in the popular press, we found that these markets have not produced high levels of compound returns relative to U.S. stock markets for the 20-year time period ending in June 1995. They have experienced a high level of volatility, but they also have consistently provided diversification benefits when combined with developed market portfolios.

Delayed Security Price Adjustments to Financial Analysts' Forecasts of Annual Earnings

Abstract: This paper documents that the weighting of analysts' annual earnings forecasts implicit in security prices is lower than the historical relation between financial analysts' forecasts and realized earnings. Short positions in securities in the bottom decile and long positions in the top decile of the cross-sectional distribution of analysts' early-in-the-year earnings forecasts generate significant hedge-portfolio returns in the year after portfolio formation. This delayed price response is more pronounced for firms with relatively low analyst coverage, consistent with the premise that low financial analyst coverage is associated with a variety of factors that impede the information efficiency of the security market. The hedge-portfolio returns concentrate in the months of subsequent quarterly earnings announcements, suggesting that the delayed security price adjustments reflect the market's failure to incorporate information in analysts' forecasts about future earnings, rather than deficiencies in our conditional expectations of security returns.