On the Peculiar Distribution of the U.S. Stock Indexes' Digits

1996/11/01 by Eduardo Ley · 5 citations
Mathematics · Computer Science · #Benford’s Law and Fraud Detection #Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms #Probability and Statistical Research

paper · doi:10.1080/00031305.1996.10473558

Abstract

Abstract Recent research has focused on studying the patterns in the digits of closely followed stock market indexes. In this paper we find that the series of 1-day returns on the Dow-Jones Industrial Average Index (DJIA) and the Standard and Poor's Index (S&P) reasonably agrees with Benford's law and therefore belongs to the family of anomalous or outlaw numbers. Key Words: Benford's lawDow-Jones IndexStandard and Poor's.

Cited by

• Breaking the (Benford) Law
• Benford's law from 1881 to 2006
• The Uneven Distribution of Numbers in Nature
• Testing for Benford's Law in very small samples: Simulation study and a new test proposal. [europepmc]
• Does the bankrupt cheat? Impact of accounting manipulations on the effectiveness of a bankruptcy prediction. [europepmc]

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