We show that the vast majority of investors ignore value-relevant accruals information
when it is first released, but that investors who initiate trades of at least 5,000 shares
tend to transact in the proper direction. These investors trade on accruals information
only when the previously-announced earnings signal is non-negative. Unconditionally,
those investors initiating the smallest trades appear to respond to accruals in the wrong
direction, but further investigation suggests this behavior is explained by their
attraction to attention-grabbing stocks. Finally, we find that those who trade on
accruals information have insufficient market power to mitigate the accruals anomaly.