Quantitative model of price diffusion and market friction based on trading as a mechanistic random process

We model trading and price formation in a market under the assumption that order arrival and cancellations are Poisson random processes. This model makes testable predictions for the most basic properties of markets, such as the diffusion rate of prices (which is the standard measure of financial risk) and the spread and price impact functions (which are the main determinants of transaction cost). Guided by dimensional analysis, simulation, and mean-field theory, we find scaling relations in terms of order flow rates. We show that even under completely random order flow the need to store supply and demand to facilitate trading induces anomalous diffusion and temporal structure in prices.     

Trading model with pair pattern strategies

A simple trading model based on pair pattern strategy space with holding periods is proposed. Power-law behavior is observed for the return variance σ², the price impact H and the predictability K for both models, with linear and square root impact functions. The sum of the traders’ wealth displays a positive value for the model with a square root price impact function, and a qualitative explanation is given based on the observation of the conditional excess demand 〈A|u〉. The cumulative wealth distribution also obeys a power-law behavior with an exponent close to that of real markets. An evolutionary trading model is further proposed. The elimination mechanism effectively changes the behavior of traders, and a power-law behavior is observed in the measure of zero return distribution P(r=0). The trading model with other types of traders, e.g., traders with the MG’s strategies and producers, are also carefully studied.     

Relationship between efficiency and predictability in stock price change

In this study, we evaluate the relationship between efficiency and predictability in the stock market. The efficiency, which is the issue addressed by the weak-form efficient market hypothesis, is calculated using the Hurst exponent and the approximate entropy (ApEn). The predictability corresponds to the hit-rate; this is the rate of consistency between the direction of the actual price change and that of the predicted price change, as calculated via the nearest neighbor prediction method. We determine that the Hurst exponent and the ApEn value are negatively correlated. However, predictability is positively correlated with the Hurst exponent.     

Empirical regularities of opening call auction in Chinese stock market

We study the statistical regularities of an opening call auction using the ultra-high-frequency data of 22 liquid stocks traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2003. The distribution of the relative price, defined as the relative difference between the order price in the opening call auction and the closing price on the last trading day, is asymmetric and that the distribution displays a sharp peak at the zero relative price and a relatively wide peak at the negative relative price. The detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) method is adopted to investigate the long-term memory of relative order prices. We further study the statistical regularities of order sizes in the opening call auction, and observe a phenomenon of number preference, known as order size clustering. The probability density function (PDF) of order sizes could be well fitted by a q-Gamma function, and the long-term memory also exists in order sizes. In addition, both the average volume and the average number of orders decrease exponentially with the price level away from the best bid or ask price level in the limit-order book (LOB) established immediately after the opening call auction, and a price clustering phenomenon is observed.     

The demise of constant price impact functions and single-time step models of speculation

Constant and symmetric price impact functions, most commonly used in agent-based market modelling, are shown to give rise to paradoxical and inconsistent outcomes in the simplest case of arbitrage exploitation when open-hold-close actions are considered. The solution of the paradox lies in the non-constant nature of real-life price impact functions. A simple model that includes explicit position opening, holding, and closing is briefly introduced and its information ecology discussed, shedding new light on the relevance of the Minority Game to the study of financial markets.     

Correlation of coming limit price with order book in stock markets

We examine the correlation of the limit price with the order book, when a limit order comes. We analyzed the Rebuild Order Book of Stock Exchange Electronic Trading Service, which is the centralized order book market of London Stock Exchange. As a result, the limit price is broadly distributed around the best price according to a power-law, and it is not randomly drawn from the distribution, but has a strong correlation with the size of cumulative unexecuted limit orders on the price. It was also found that the limit price, on the coarse-grained price scale, tends to gather around the price which has a large size of cumulative unexecuted limit orders.     

The price impact asymmetry of institutional trading in the Chinese stock market

The asymmetric price impact between the institutional purchases and sales of 32 liquid stocks in the Chinese stock market in 2003 is carefully studied. We analyze the price impact in both drawup and drawdown trends with consecutive positive and negative daily price changes, and test the dependence of the price impact asymmetry on the market condition. For most of the stocks, institutional sales have a larger price impact than institutional purchases, and a larger impact of institutional purchases exists only in a few stocks with primarily increasing tendencies. We further study the mean return of trades surrounding institutional transactions, and find that the asymmetric behavior also exists before and after institutional transactions. A new variable is proposed to investigate the order book structure, and it can partially explain the price impact of institutional transactions. A linear regression for the price impact of institutional transactions further confirms our finding that institutional sales primarily have a larger price impact than institutional purchases in the bearish year 2003.     

Tick size and stock returns

Tick size is an important aspect of the micro-structural level organization of financial markets. It is the smallest institutionally allowed price increment, has a direct bearing on the bid-ask spread, influences the strategy of trading order placement in electronic markets, affects the price formation mechanism, and appears to be related to the long-term memory of volatility clustering. In this paper we investigate the impact of tick size on stock returns. We start with a simple simulation to demonstrate how continuous returns become distorted after confining the price to a discrete grid governed by the tick size. We then move on to a novel experimental set-up that combines decimalization pilot programs and cross-listed stocks in New York and Toronto. This allows us to observe a set of stocks traded simultaneously under two different ticks while holding all security-specific characteristics fixed. We then study the normality of the return distributions and carry out fits to the chosen distribution models. Our empirical findings are somewhat mixed and in some cases appear to challenge the simulation results.     

Ionic pseudopotential for semiconductors without cut-off parameter for core-repulsion with application to Si

An ionic pseudopotential for semiconductors is proposed, which consists of a set of continuous exponential functions. Introduced damping and amplitude parameters into the pseudopotential are to be treated as adjustable. The most important features of the proposed pseudopotential is that (1) it has no sharp cut-off parameter for the core-repulsion and (2) it is continuous and has continuous derivatives to arbitrary order. The proposed pseudopotential is applied to Si and the adjustable parameters are determined so as to be consistent with the Si crystal empirical pseudopotential of high quality by taking a valence electron dielectric screening effect into account. The effectiveness of the proposed ionic pseudopotential is discussed by (1) comparing the calculated ionic energy levels of Si with experiments, (2) checking the consistency between the ionic and crystal pseudopotentials for Si, and so on.     

Mechanical vs. informational components of price impact

We study the problem of what causes prices to change. It is well known that trading impacts prices — orders to buy drive the price up, and orders to sell drive it down. We introduce a means of decomposing the total impact of trading into two components, defining the mechanical impact of a trading order as the change in future prices in the absence of any future changes in decision making, and the informational impact as the remainder of the total impact once mechanical impact is removed. This decomposition is performed using order book data from the London Stock Exchange. The average mechanical impact of a market order decays to zero as a function of time, at an asymptotic rate that is consistent with a power law with an exponent of roughly 1.7. In contrast the average informational impact builds to approach a constant value. Initially the impact is entirely mechanical, and is about half as big as the asymptotic informational impact. The size of the informational impact is positively correlated to mechanical impact. For cases where the mechanical impact is zero for all times, we find that the informational impact is negative, i.e. buy market orders that have no mechanical impact at all generate strong negative price responses.     

Statistical approach to partial equilibrium analysis

A statistical approach to market equilibrium and efficiency analysis is proposed in this paper. One factor that governs the exchange decisions of traders in a market, named willingness price, is highlighted and constitutes the whole theory. The supply and demand functions are formulated as the distributions of corresponding willing exchange over the willingness price. The laws of supply and demand can be derived directly from these distributions. The characteristics of excess demand function are analyzed and the necessary conditions for the existence and uniqueness of equilibrium point of the market are specified. The rationing rates of buyers and sellers are introduced to describe the ratio of realized exchange to willing exchange, and their dependence on the market price is studied in the cases of shortage and surplus. The realized market surplus, which is the criterion of market efficiency, can be written as a function of the distributions of willing exchange and the rationing rates. With this approach we can strictly prove that a market is efficient in the state of equilibrium.     

Observable entities in quantum-optics networks

We consider the quantum analogue of the classical Jones calculus for passive linear optical systems. Those points of the theory where quantum features have to be manifestly included are discussed. The use of different quasidistribution functions and their restrictions to the observable variables only is presented. The consistency of the theory and its usefulness are discussed.Dedicated to H. Walther on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Scaling and long range dependence in option pricing, IV: Pricing European options with transaction costs under the multifractional Black-Scholes model

This paper deals with the problem of discrete time option pricing using the multifractional Black-Scholes model with transaction costs. Using a mean self-financing delta hedging argument in a discrete time setting, a European call option pricing formula is obtained. The minimal price of an option under transaction costs is obtained. In addition, we show that scaling and long range dependence have a significant impact on option pricing.     

Empirical shape function of limit-order books in the Chinese stock market

We have analyzed the statistical probabilities of limit-order book (LOB) shape through building the book using the ultra-high-frequency data from 23 liquid stocks traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2003. We find that the averaged LOB shape has a maximum away from the same best price for both buy and sell sides of the LOB. The LOB shape function has nice exponential form in the right tail. The buy side of the LOB is found to be abnormally thicker for the price levels close to the same best although there are much more sell orders on the book. We also find that the LOB shape functions for both buy and sell sides have periodic peaks with a period of five. The 1-min averaged volumes at fixed tick level follow log-normal distributions except for the left tails which display power-law behaviors, exhibit abnormal intraday patterns with increasing trend, and possess long memory that cannot be explained by the intraday patterns. Academic implications of our empirical results are also briefly discussed.     

QCD sum rules,the spontaneous breakdown of chiral symmetry and short-distance behaviour in lattice gauge theories

We analyze the behaviour that correlation functions ought to have on the lattice in order to reproduce QCD sum rules in the continuum limit. We formulate a set of relations between lattice correlation functions of meson operators at small time separation and the quark condensates responsible for spontaneous breakdown of chiral symmetery. We suggest that the degree to which such relations are satisfied will provide a set of consistency checks on the ability of lattice Monte Carlo simulations to reproduce the correct spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking of the continuum theory.     

Bubbles,crashes and intermittency in agent based market models

We define and study a rather complex market model, inspired from the Santa Fe artificial market and the Minority Game. Agents have different strategies among which they can choose, according to their relative profitability, with the possibility of not participating to the market. The price is updated according to the excess demand, and the wealth of the agents is properly accounted for. Only two parameters play a significant role: one describes the impact of trading on the price, and the other describes the propensity of agents to be trend following or contrarian. We observe three different regimes, depending on the value of these two parameters: an oscillating phase with bubbles and crashes, an intermittent phase and a stable `rational' market phase. The statistics of price changes in the intermittent phase resembles that of real price changes, with small linear correlations, fat tails and long range volatility clustering. We discuss how the time dependence of these two parameters spontaneously drives the system in the intermittent region. We analyze quantitatively the temporal correlation of activity in the intermittent phase, and show that the `random time strategy shift' mechanism that we proposed earlier allows one to understand the observed long ranged correlations. Other mechanisms leading to long ranged correlations are also reviewed. We discuss several other issues, such as the formation of bubbles and crashes, the influence of transaction costs and the distribution of agents wealth. Received 5 July 2002 / Received in final form 9 December 2002 Published online 14 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: irene.giardina@roma1.infn.it     

Complex order fractional Fourier transforms and their use in diffraction theory. Application to optical resonators

The electromagnetic field transfer by diffraction from a spherical emitter to a spherical receiver is expressed by a fractional Fourier transform whose order depends on the distance between the emitter and the receiver and their curvature radii. Special attention is paid to complex order transforms: scaled variables and scaled field amplitudes are defined by complying with mathematical consistency. For a given distance of observation, a simple geometrical condition is set up to determine whether the corresponding transform order is a real or a complex number. The result is applied to check the stability of optical resonators.     

Two-dimensional short-range interacting attractive and repulsive Fermi gases at zero temperature

We study a two-dimensional two-component Fermi gas with attractive or repulsive short-range interactions at zero temperature. We use Diffusion Monte Carlo with Fixed Node approximation in order to calculate the energy per particle and the opposite spin pair distribution functions. We show the relevance of beyond mean field effects and verify the consistency of our approach by using Tan’s Contact relations.     

Generation and measurement of 200 femtosecond optical pulses

Pulses as short as 0.2 ps have been obtained from a passively mode locked dye laser. The technique is simpler than those previously used, but one must pay the price of a loss of tunability. The pulse durations were determined from their second order correlation functions measured with a highly stable interferometer which is described.     

Limit order placement as an utility maximization problem and the origin of power law distribution of limit order prices

I consider the problem of the optimal limit order price of a financial asset in the framework of the maximization of the utility function of the investor. The analytical solution of the problem gives insight on the origin of the recently empirically observed power law distribution of limit order prices. In the framework of the model, the most likely proximate cause of this power law is a power law heterogeneity of traders' investment time horizons.