Chapter 1
Introduction

1.1

Brief Description of the Over-the-Counter Stocks' Rates of Return Statistical Databank

This databank consists of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual rates of return for each individual stock listed on Over-the-Counter Securities Exchange. Historical data can be traced back to 1996.

The rates of return have been calculated with adjustments for Ex-Cash Dividend and Ex-Right. Chapter 2 presents the formulas for the calculations.

Data updated monthly (at the time when Over-the-Counter Securities Exchange provides us with Ex-Cash Dividend and Ex-Right statistics).

1.2 Composition of Retrieval Codes

Each individual stock has 5 rates of return: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual. The retrieval codes are composed as:

OTC + Company Code No. + @ + Modifier

OTC is the standard beginning letter for all series (standing for Over-The-Counter). The company code no. is a 4-digit number specified by the Over-the-Counter Securities Exchange and used in actual trading to represent the company. The 5 modifiers are: DRR, WRR, MRR, QRR, ARR (with the first letter indicating the frequency).

For example, 4201 is the company code no. for "Shin Tai Industry Co., Ltd.", then the retrieval codes of the 5 series for "Shin Tai Industry Co., Ltd." are:

OTC4201@DRR-- daily rate of return
OTC4201@WRR-- weekly rate of return
OTC4201@MRR-- monthly rate of return
OTC4201@QRR-- quarterly rate of return
OTC4201@ARR-- annual rate of return

Likewise, you can construct retrieval codes for other companies as soon as you know the company code no. In Chapter 3, we will have a complete list of all company code no.