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What are the implications of risk aversion for security prices and rates of return? The answer is that, other things held constant, the higher a security’s risk, the lower its price and the higher its required return. To see how risk aversion affects security prices, look back at Figure 3-2 and consider again U.S. Water and Martin Products stocks. Suppose each stock sold for $100 per share and each had an expected rate of return of 15 percent. Investors are averse to risk, so under these conditions there would be a general preference for U.S. Water. People with money to invest would bid for U.S. Water rather than Martin stock, and Martin’s stockholders would start selling their stock and using the money to buy U.S. Water. Buying pressure would drive up U.S. Water’s stock, and selling pressure would simultaneously cause Martin’s price to decline.

These price changes, in turn, would cause changes in the expected rates of return on the two securities. Suppose, for example, that U.S. Water’s stock price was bid up from $100 to $150, whereas Martin’s stock price declined from $100 to $75. This would cause U.S. Water’s expected return to fall to 10 percent, while Martin’s expected return would rise to 20 percent. The difference in returns, 20%  10%
10%, is a risk premium, RP, which represents the additional compensation investors require for assuming the additional risk of Martin stock.