FN ISI Export Format VR 1.0 PT J TI Do investors put their money where their mouth is? Stock market expectations and investing behavior AF Merkle, Christoph Weber, Martin AU Merkle, C Weber, M SO Journal of Banking & Finance SN 0378-4266 VL 46 BP 372 EP 386 PY 2014 DE Beliefs;Expectations;Portfolio choice;Return;Risk;Trading behavior AB To understand how real investors use their beliefs and preferences in investing decisions, we examine a panel survey of self-directed online investors at a UK bank. The survey asks for return expectations, risk expectations, and risk tolerance of these investors in three-month intervals between 2008 and 2010. We combine the survey data with investors’ actual trading data and portfolio holdings. We find that investor beliefs have little predictive power for immediate trading behavior. The exception is a positive effect of increases in return expectation on buying activity. Portfolio risk levels and changes are more systematically related to return and risk expectations. In line with financial theory, risk taking increases with return expectations and decreases with risk expectations. In response to their expectations, investors also adjust the riskiness of assets they trade. DI 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2014.03.042 ER