NUMERICAL ANALYSIS ON BINOMIAL TREE METHODS FOR AMERICAN LOOKBACK OPTIONS

1　IntroductionLookback options are path-dependent options whose payoffs depend on the maximumor the minimum of the underlying asset price during the life of the options( see[6] [1 0 ][1 4] ) .Here the maximum or minimum realized asset price may be monitored either con-tinuously or discretely.An American lookback call( put) option allows to be exercised atany time prior to expiry and gives the holder the rightto buy( sell) atthe historical mini-mum( maximum) of the underlying asset price on ex…     

Reversible stopping (“switching”) implies super contact

This note shows that the second derivative of the value function exists (across a stopping threshold, short “super contact”) if reversibly stopping and entering involves no cost, called “switching”. This holds for discrete (real option) as well as for continuous stochastic control problems and proves particularly suitable in real option set ups since it provides the lacking boundary condition. However, super contact does not hold in dynamic games. A simple example documents the applicability of this condition. This paper was written during my visit of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and I am grateful for the hospitality of and the stimulus at the School of Finance and Economics, in particular to Carl Chiarella. I also acknowledge many helpful discussions with Thomas Dangl on related issues, valuable suggestions from a referee and last but not least encouragement by Josef Kallrath     

基于模糊集合论的实物期权定价方法

实物期权的定价在风险投资决策过程中具有重要意义.传统的实物期权定价方法忽略标的资产价值和投资成本的模糊性,从而可能导致错误的投资决策.本文主要研究了具有模糊标的的资产价值和投资成本情形时的实物期权定价模型.文中将这些模糊因素分别视为模糊数和模糊变量,然后运用模糊集合论,结合B-S期权定价理论,对实物期权进行定价,得到了基于模糊集合论的实物期权定价模型.     

具限制投资组合和交易费用的博弈未定权益的保值

博弈期权是由kifer(2000)提出的,但就其本质而言,仍是美式期权的一种,只是增加了卖方中止合约的权利.本文主要对连续市场模型中具交易费用和限制投资组合的博弈未定权益的保值问题进行了研究,给出了买卖双方的保值价格和一个无套利区间.     

Bayesian parameter inference for models of the Black and Scholes type

In this paper, we describe a general method for constructing the posterior distribution of the mean and volatility of the return of an asset satisfying dS=SdX for some simple models of X. Our framework takes as inputs the prior distributions of the parameters of the stochastic process followed by the underlying, as well as the likelihood function implied by the observed price history for the underlying. As an application of our framework, we compute the value at risk (VaR) and conditional VaR (CVaR) measures for the changes in the price of an option implied by the posterior distribution of the volatility of the underlying. The implied VaR and CVaR are more conservative than their classical counterpart, since it takes into account the estimation risk that arises due to parameter uncertainty. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

具有跳扩散的美式期权二叉树计算格式的收敛速率

American put option with jump-diffusion can be modelled as a vari- ational inequality problem with an integral term.Under the stability condition (σ~2Δt)/(Δx~2)≤1,whereΔx=ln(S_n 1)/(S_n),the convergence rate O((Δx)~(2/3) (Δt)~(1/3))of the explicit finite scheme for this problem is obtained by using penalization technique. The binomial tree scheme of this model,which is equivalent to the explicit scheme, is convergent by the same rate.     

Regret aversion and annuity risk in defined contribution pension plans

The high value of the implicit option to choose a retirement date at which interest rates are particularly high and life annuities relatively cheap, leads to the possibility to introduce regret aversion in the retirement investment decision of defined contribution plan participants. As a remedy for regret aversion in retirement investment decisions, this paper develops and prices a lookback option on a life annuity contract. We determine a closed-form option value under the restriction that the option holder invests risklessly during the time to maturity of the option and without the guarantee that the exact amount of retirement wealth is converted into a life annuity at retirement. Thereafter the investment restriction is relaxed and the guarantee of exact conversion is imposed and the option is priced via Monte Carlo simulations in an economic environment with a stochastic discount factor. Option price sensitivities are determined via the pricing of alternative options. We find that the price of a lookback option, with a maturity of three years, amounts to 8%–9% of the wealth at the option issuance date. The option price is highly sensitive to the exercise price of the option, i.e. pricing alternative options (e.g. Asian) substantially lowers the price. Time to maturity and interest rate volatility are other important option price drivers. Asset allocation decisions and initial interest rates hardly affect the option price.     

美式期权定价问题的变网格差分方法

本文提出一种求解美式期权定价自由边值问题的变网格差分方法.通过建立一个自由边界所满足的方程,利用变网格技术可同时求出期权的差分解和最佳执行边界.本文分别讨论了显式和隐式变网格差分格式,并给出了差分解的收敛性和稳定性分析.数值实验表明本文算法是一个非常有效的期权定价算法.     

Pricing American Asian options with higher moments in the underlying distribution

We develop a modified Edgeworth binomial model with higher moment consideration for pricing American Asian options. With lognormal underlying distribution for benchmark comparison, our algorithm is as precise as that of Chalasani et al. [P. Chalasani, S. Jha, F. Egriboyun, A. Varikooty, A refined binomial lattice for pricing American Asian options, Rev. Derivatives Res. 3 (1) (1999) 85–105] if the number of the time steps increases. If the underlying distribution displays negative skewness and leptokurtosis as often observed for stock index returns, our estimates can work better than those in Chalasani et al. [P. Chalasani, S. Jha, F. Egriboyun, A. Varikooty, A refined binomial lattice for pricing American Asian options, Rev. Derivatives Res. 3 (1) (1999) 85–105] and are very similar to the benchmarks in Hull and White [J. Hull, A. White, Efficient procedures for valuing European and American path-dependent options, J. Derivatives 1 (Fall) (1993) 21–31]. The numerical analysis shows that our modified Edgeworth binomial model can value American Asian options with greater accuracy and speed given higher moments in their underlying distribution.