We find that firms that timed their external financing more in the past (i.e., that issued more capital when market conditions were good) have a lower expected cost of equity than those that timed their issuance less. This result is economically significant, and holds for numerous specifications. The benefits of market-timing activity are more pronounced for equity than for debt. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the gains from future market-timing activity are priced by current investors, and suggest that investors in the secondary market believe in the ability of firms to successfully time the market. We also find that the benefits of timing activity are enhanced for firms with a higher fraction of shares held by dedicated long-term investors, and are reduced for firms with shareholders that are more likely to time their own trades.
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