New Articles – Finance

Since it was proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto (2008) at the end of 2008, Bitcoin, as an alternative to conventional currencies, has quickly gained wide attention from the media, investors and scholars. This attention is attributed to its transparency, simplicity, increasing popularity, decentralized peer-to-peer system and self-regulation. There is a growing interest in studying the general dynamics of Bitcoin market. For instance, diversification was measured (Brière et al., 2015; Bouri et al., 2017; Urquhart & Zhang, 2019; Chaim & Laurini, 2018; Lahmiri et al., 2018), statistical properties and market efficiency were examined (Bariviera et al., 2017; Carbone et al., 2004; Martinez et al., 2018; McCarthy, 2009; Symitsi & Chalvatzis, 2018), liquidity and microstructure were explored (Koutmos, 2018; Dyhrberg et al., 2018; Donier & Bonart, 2015), speculative bubble and risk were investigated (Osterrieder & Lorenz, 2017; Bouoiyour et al., 2015; Klein et al., 2018), regulation was studied (Dwyer, 2015; Tasca & Liu, 2018; Katsiampa, 2017) whilst optimal trading was scrutinized (Ajaz & Kumar, 2018; Li & Tourin, 2016; Yi et al., 2018).

Cash is one of the key items in the balance sheet, since it is necessary for every transaction. Cash holdings provide the company with flexibility and the ability to meet its own needs, regardless of existing business conditions. It can be significant in terms of the company’s internal financing, thus it is crucial to maintain an optimal level of cash, given that external financing also entails certain costs. An optimal level of cash holdings represents available money to investors and should increase general business efficiency. Achieving an optimal level of cash holdings provides the company with autonomy to explore new opportunities as well as take risks. An insufficient level of cash creates the need for financing from external sources, which is reflected in reduced investments and decreased sale of available assets and securities. However, a large amount of cash enables the company to respond to market trends and take advantage of investment opportunities so as to secure the financial power of the company.

The capability theory is concerned with an individual’s ability and opportunity to act, which grants the freedom to live life as one pleases (Sen, 1993). Based upon this theory, financial capability relates to the ability and opportunity to act (Johnson & Sherraden, 2007). A more detail definition given by Brown (2020) that financial capability is classified as internally focused including knowledge, skills, and behaviour, and those that also acknowledge a person’s external context including systems and structures. Many scholars concur that the concept of financial capability is much broader than the idea of financial literacy (Johnson & Sherraden, 2007; Kempson et al., 2013; Shim et al., 2013; Taylor, 2011). Studies explain that financial capability is a broader term, and financial literacy is just a building block of financial capability. It also includes financial advice and financial inclusion (Johnson & Sherraden, 2007). According to Sen’s (1993) theory, financial capability comes from two sources: internal ability and, second, from external opportunity.

The financial crisis is a manifestation of excessive debt, the so-called balance sheet recession (Krugman, 2014). A typical feature of a balance sheet recession is that the business objectives of most companies have been changed from profit maximization to debt minimization due to increased liabilities, and the decline in credit demand prolonged the recession. The continued accumulation of excessive debt burdens as well as an abrupt drop of debt scale may increase the probability of a financial crisis (Cecchetti et al., 2011; Khoo et al., 2017; Jarmuzek & Rozenov, 2019). The countries like Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland experienced severe debt expansion during the crisis (Koo, 2011). Koo (2015) believes that the global economic recession in 2008 is essentially the same as the Japanese economic recession that began in the early 1990s. These phenomena motivated academics and policymakers to examine the cause and policy mitigation of excessive debt.

This empirical study deals with the short-term prediction of stock prices on the Czech stock market. Stock movements have been of interest to traders for a long time. Using a wide range of analytical methods, it tries to satisfactorily clarify past and present changes in stock prices. Based on these findings, it attempts to predict the future development of stock prices. Early forecasting allows traders to make capital gains. It is necessary to mention that according to Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), stock prices are unpredictable and markets are efficient. This means that the market responds immediately to any new information. This information cannot be predicted, it is randomly sent to the market and therefore the change in the exchange rate is random and the exchange rates perform a so-called ʻrandom walk’. In efficient markets the above-average profits cannot be achieved and according to this theory, other approaches are dysfunctional.