A new research paper finds that trading stocks at night is more profitable than during the day.

University of Utah business professor Mike Cooper says that's probably because of active after-hours trading by hedge funds.

Cooper and two professors from other schools examined stock market returns from 1993 to 2006.

They say the lesson for casual investors is that there's nothing wrong with waiting until the markets close to start trading.

The worst time to trade is at the start of each day, when in the first hour or so stocks generally decline.

Cooper co-authored the study with Michael Cliff of Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business and Huseyin Gulen of Purdue University's Krannert Graduate School of Management.

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On the Net:

David Eccles School of Business: http://www.business.utah.edu/

Mike Cooper: http://www.business.utah.edu/display.php?module=facultyDetails&perso nId=1165&orgId=270

Pamplin College of Business: http://www.pamplin.vt.edu/

Purdue University's Krannert School of Management: http://www.krannert.purdue.edu/