The Profitability of the Moving Average Strategy in the French Stock Market

Abstract:This paper studies the cross-sectional profitability of moving average timing portfolios in the French stock market over the period from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2012. The results provide strong evidence that the moving average timing outperforms the buy-and-hold strategy with higher returns and less risk exposure. On average, moving average portfolios generate an abnormal return of 3.72% per annum and always perform better than buy-and-hold benchmark portfolios across different lag length and volatility portfolios. Moreover, our results prevail after we control for transaction costs.