Rare Shock,Two-Factor Stochastic Volatility and Currency Option Pricing

Abstract

In this paper, we develop an option valuation model where the dynamics of the spot foreign exchange rate is governed by a two-factor Markov-modulated jump-diffusion process. The short-term fluctuation of stochastic volatility is driven by a Cox–Ingersoll–Ross (CIR) process and the long-term variation of stochastic volatility is driven by a continuous-time Markov chain which can be interpreted as economy states. Rare events are governed by a compound Poisson process with log-normal jump amplitude and stochastic jump intensity is modulated by a common continuous-time Markov chain. Since the market is incomplete under regime-switching assumptions, we determine a risk-neutral martingale measure via the Esscher transform and then give a pricing formula of currency options. Numerical results are presented for investigating the impact of the long-term volatility and the annual jump intensity on option prices.     

Optimal investment problem with stochastic interest rate and stochastic volatility: Maximizing a power utility

In this paper, we assume that an investor can invest his/her wealth in a bond and a stock. In our wealth model, the stochastic interest rate is described by a Cox–Ingersoll–Ross (CIR) model, and the volatility of the stock is proportional to another CIR process. We obtain a closed‐form expression of the optimal policy that maximizes a power utility. Moreover, a verification theorem without the usual Lipschitz assumptions is proved, and the relationships between the optimal policy and various parameters are given. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Volatility skews and extensions of the Libor market model

The paper considers extensions of the Libor market model to markets with volatility skews in observable option prices. The family of forward rate processes is expanded to include diffusions with non-linear forward rate dependence, and efficient techniques for calibration to quoted prices of caps and swaptions are discussed. Special emphasis is put on generalized CEV processes for which closed-form expressions for cap and swaption prices are derived. Modifications of the CEV process which exhibit more appealing growth and boundary characteristics are also discussed. The proposed models are investigated numerically through Crank–Nicholson finite difference schemes and Monte Carlo simulations.     

American Options in the Heston Model with Stochastic Interest Rate and Its Generalizations

Abstract

We consider the Heston model with the stochastic interest rate of Cox–Ingersoll–Ross (CIR) type and more general models with stochastic volatility and interest rates depending on two CIR-factors; the price, volatility and interest rate may correlate. Time-derivative and infinitesimal generator of the process for factors that determine the dynamics of the interest rate and/or volatility are discretized. The result is a sequence of embedded perpetual options arising in the time discretization of a Markov-modulated Lévy model. Options in this sequence are solved using an iteration method based on the Wiener–Hopf factorization. Typical shapes of the early exercise boundary are shown, and good agreement of option prices with prices calculated with the Longstaff–Schwartz method and Medvedev–Scaillet asymptotic method is demonstrated.     

A Feynman-Kac type formula for a fixed delay CIR model

Stochastic delay differential equations (SDDE’s) have been used for financial modeling. In this article, we study a SDDE obtained by the equation of a CIR process, with an additional fixed delay term in drift; in particular, we prove that there exists a unique strong solution (positive and integrable) which we call fixed delay CIR process. Moreover, for the fixed delay CIR process, we derive a Feynman-Kac type formula, leading to a generalized exponential-affine formula, which is used to determine a bond pricing formula when the interest rate follows the delay’s equation. It turns out that, for each maturity time T, the instantaneous forward rate is an affine function (with time dependent coefficients) of the rate process and of an auxiliary process (also depending on T). The coefficients satisfy a system of deterministic differential equations.     

Small-noise limit of the quasi-Gaussian log-normal HJM model

Quasi-Gaussian HJM models are a popular approach for modeling the dynamics of the yield curve. This is due to their low dimensional Markovian representation, which greatly simplifies their numerical implementation. We present a qualitative study of the solutions of the quasi-Gaussian log-normal HJM model. Using a small-noise deterministic limit we show that the short rate may explode to infinity in finite time. This implies the explosion of the Eurodollar futures prices in this model. We derive explicit explosion criteria under mild assumptions on the shape of the yield curve.     

具有复合泊松损失和随机利率的巨灾期权定价

分析了带有复合泊松损失过程和随机利率的巨灾看跌期权的定价问题.资产价格通过跳扩散过程刻画,该过程与损失过程相关.当利率过程服从CIR模型时,获得了期权定价的显式解,并给出相关证明.通过一个实例,讨论了资产价格与期权价格的关系.     

Markov interest rate models

A general procedure for creating Markovian interest rate models is presented. The models created by this procedure automatically fit within the HJM framework and fit the initial term structure exactly. Therefore they are arbitrage free. Because the models created by this procedure have only one state variable per factor, twoand even three-factor models can be computed efficiently, without resorting to Monte Carlo techniques. This computational efficiency makes calibration of the new models to market prices straightforward. Extended Hull- White, extended CIR, Black-Karasinski, Jamshidian's Brownian path independent models, and Flesaker and Hughston's rational log normal models are one-state variable models which fit naturally within this theoretical framework. The ‘separable’ n-factor models of Cheyette and Li, Ritchken, and Sankarasubramanian - which require n(n + 3)/2 state variables - are degenerate members of the new class of models with n(n + 3)/2 factors. The procedure is used to create a new class of one-factor models, the ‘β-η models.’ These models can match the implied volatility smiles of swaptions and caplets, and thus enable one to eliminate smile error. The β-η models are also exactly solvable in that their transition densities can be written explicitly. For these models accurate - but not exact - formulas are presented for caplet and swaption prices, and it is indicated how these closed form expressions can be used to efficiently calibrate the models to market prices.     

A Vasicek-Type Short Rate Model With Memory Effect

We introduce a Vasicek-type short rate model which has two additional parameters representing memory effect. This model presents better results in yield curve fitting than the classical Vasicek model. We derive closed-form expressions for the prices of bonds and bond options. Although the model is non-Markov, there exists an associated Markov process that allows one to apply usual numerical methods to the model. We derive analogs of an affine term structure and term structure equations for the model, and, using them, we present a numerical method to evaluate contingent claims.     

Arbitrary Initial Term Structure within the CIR Model: A Perturbative Solution

Single‐factor interest rate models with constant coefficients are not consistent with arbitrary initial term structures. An extension which allows both arbitrary initial term structure and analytical tractability has been provided only in the Gaussian case. In this paper, within the context of the HJM methodology, an extension of the CIR model is provided which admits arbitrary initial term structure. It is shown how to calculate bond prices via a perturbative approach, and closed formulas are provided at every order. Since the parameter selected for the expansion is typically estimated to be small, the perturbative approach turns out to be adequate to our purpose. Using results on affine models, the extended CIR model is estimated via maximum likelihood on a time series of daily interest rate yields. Results show that the CIR model has to be rejected with respect to the proposed extension, and it is pointed out that the extended CIR model provides a more flexible characterization of the link between risk neutral and natural probability.     

Valuation of Two-Factor Interest Rate Contingent Claims Using Green's Theorem

Abstract

Over the years a number of two-factor interest rate models have been proposed that have formed the basis for the valuation of interest rate contingent claims. This valuation equation often takes the form of a partial differential equation that is solved using the finite difference approach. In the case of two-factor models this has resulted in solving two second-order partial derivatives leading to boundary errors, as well as numerous first-order derivatives. In this article we demonstrate that using Green's theorem, second-order derivatives can be reduced to first-order derivatives that can be easily discretized; consequently, two-factor partial differential equations are easier to discretize than one-factor partial differential equations. We illustrate our approach by applying it to value contingent claims based on the two-factor CIR model. We provide numerical examples that illustrate that our approach shows excellent agreement with analytical prices and the popular Crank–Nicolson method.     

The Minimal Entropy Martingale Measure and Numerical Option Pricing for the Barndorff–Nielsen–Shephard Stochastic Volatility Model

Abstract

We develop and apply a numerical scheme for pricing options in the stochastic volatility model proposed by Barndorff–Nielsen and Shephard. This non-Gaussian Ornstein–Uhlenbeck type of volatility model gives rise to an incomplete market, and we consider the option prices under the minimal entropy martingale measure. To numerically price options with respect to this risk neutral measure, one needs to consider a Black and Scholes type of partial differential equation, with an integro-term arising from the volatility process. We suggest finite difference schemes to solve this parabolic integro-partial differential equation, and derive appropriate boundary conditions for the finite difference method. As an application of our algorithm, we consider price deviations from the Black and Scholes formula for call options, and the implications of the stochastic volatility on the shape of the volatility smile.     

Risk management of a bond portfolio using options

In this paper, we elaborate a formula for determining the optimal strike price for a bond put option, used to hedge a position in a bond. This strike price is optimal in the sense that it minimizes, for a given budget, either Value-at-Risk or Tail Value-at-Risk. Formulas are derived for both zero-coupon and coupon bonds, which can also be understood as a portfolio of bonds. These formulas are valid for any short rate model that implies an affine term structure model and in particular that implies a lognormal distribution of future zero-coupon bond prices. As an application, we focus on the Hull-White one-factor model, which is calibrated to a set of cap prices. We illustrate our procedure by hedging a Belgian government bond, and take into account the possibility of divergence between theoretical option prices and real option prices. This paper can be seen as an extension of the work of Ahn and co-workers [Ahn, D., Boudoukh, J., Richardson, M., Whitelaw, R., 1999. Optimal risk management using options. J. Financ. 54, 359-375], who consider the same problem for an investment in a share.     

A Control Variate Method for Monte Carlo Simulations of Heath–Jarrow–Morton Models with Jumps

This paper examines the pricing of interest rate derivatives when the interest rate dynamics experience infrequent jump shocks modelled as a Poisson process. The pricing framework adapted was developed by Chiarella and Nikitopoulos to provide an extension of the Heath, Jarrow and Morton model to jump‐diffusions and achieves Markovian structures under certain volatility specifications. Fourier Transform solutions for the price of a bond option under deterministic volatility specifications are derived and a control variate numerical method is developed under a more general state dependent volatility structure, a case in which closed form solutions are generally not possible. In doing so, a novel perspective is provided on control variate methods by going outside a given complex model to a simpler more tractable setting to provide the control variates.     

Pricing and Hedging of Lookback Options in Hyper-exponential Jump Diffusion Models

ABSTRACT

In this article, we consider the problem of pricing lookback options in certain exponential Lévy market models. While in the classic Black-Scholes models the price of such options can be calculated in closed form, for more general asset price model, one typically has to rely on (rather time-intense) Monte-Carlo or partial (integro)-differential equation (P(I)DE) methods. However, for Lévy processes with double exponentially distributed jumps, the lookback option price can be expressed as one-dimensional Laplace transform (cf. Kou, S. G., Petrella, G., & Wang, H. (2005). Pricing path-dependent options with jump risk via Laplace transforms. The Kyoto Economic Review, 74(9), 1–23.). The key ingredient to derive this representation is the explicit availability of the first passage time distribution for this particular Lévy process, which is well-known also for the more general class of hyper-exponential jump diffusions (HEJDs). In fact, Jeannin and Pistorius (Jeannin, M., & Pistorius, M. (2010). A transform approach to calculate prices and Greeks of barrier options driven by a class of Lévy processes. Quntitative Finance, 10(6), 629–644.) were able to derive formulae for the Laplace transformed price of certain barrier options in market models described by HEJD processes. Here, we similarly derive the Laplace transforms of floating and fixed strike lookback option prices and propose a numerical inversion scheme, which allows, like Fourier inversion methods for European vanilla options, the calculation of lookback options with different strikes in one shot. Additionally, we give semi-analytical formulae for several Greeks of the option price and discuss a method of extending the proposed method to generalized hyper-exponential (as e.g. NIG or CGMY) models by fitting a suitable HEJD process. Finally, we illustrate the theoretical findings by some numerical experiments.     

Pricing and hedging barrier options

European options are a significant financial product. Barrier options, in turn, are European options with a barrier constraint. The investor may pay less buying the barrier option obtaining the same result as that of the European option whenever the barrier is not breached. Otherwise, the option's payoff cancels. In this paper, we obtain closed‐form expressions of the exact no‐arbitrage prices, delta hedges, and gammas of a call option with a moving barrier that tracks the prices of the risk‐free asset. Besides the interest in its own right, this class of options constitutes the core element to obtain, via an original and simple technique, the closed‐form expressions for the estimates of the prices of call options with barriers of arbitrary shape. Equally important is the fact that a bound for the worst associated error is provided, so the investor can evaluate beforehand if the accuracy provided is according to his/her needs or not. Discrete monitored barrier provisions are also allowed in the estimates. Simulations are performed illustrating the accuracy of the estimates. A quality of the aforementioned procedures is that the time consumed in computations is very small. In turn, we observe that the approximate prices, delta hedges, and gammas of the barrier option associated to the risk‐free asset, obtained via a PDE approach in conjunction with a good finite difference method, converge to the closed‐form expressions of the prices, hedges, and gammas of the option. This attests the correctness of the analytical results.     

Embedding the Vasicek model into the Cox–Ingersoll–Ross model

The Cox–Ingersoll–Ross (CIR) model and the Vasicek model are two well‐known single factor models of the interest spot rate. In this paper, we construct a mapping by means of which the price of a zero‐coupon bond in the CIR model may be obtained from a corresponding price in the Vasicek model. We use symmetry analysis to construct this mapping and verify it by transforming three arbitrary solutions of the pricing equation in the Vasicek model into solutions of the corresponding equation in the CIR model. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Risk Minimizing Option Pricing for a Class of Exotic Options in a Markov-Modulated Market

We address risk minimizing option pricing in a regime switching market where the floating interest rate depends on a finite state Markov process. The growth rate and the volatility of the stock also depend on the Markov process. Using the minimal martingale measure, we show that the locally risk minimizing prices for certain exotic options satisfy a system of Black-Scholes partial differential equations with appropriate boundary conditions. We find the corresponding hedging strategies and the residual risk. We develop suitable numerical methods to compute option prices.     

Modelling Credit Risk in the Jump Threshold Framework

ABSTRACT

The jump threshold framework for credit risk modelling developed by Garreau and Kercheval enjoys the advantages of both structural- and reduced-form models. In their article, the focus is on multidimensional default dependence, under the assumptions that stock prices follow an exponential Lévy process (i.i.d. log returns) and that interest rates and stock volatility are constant. Explicit formulas for default time distributions and basket credit default swap (CDS) prices are obtained when the default threshold is deterministic, but only in terms of expectations when the default threshold is stochastic. In this article, we restrict attention to the one-dimensional, single-name case in order to obtain explicit closed-form solutions for the default time distribution when the default threshold, interest rate and volatility are all stochastic. When the interest rate and volatility processes are affine diffusions and the stochastic default threshold is properly chosen, we provide explicit formulas for the default time distribution, prices of defaultable bonds and CDS premia. The main idea is to make use of the Duffie–Pan–Singleton method of evaluating expectations of exponential integrals of affine diffusions.     

A Hybrid Model for Pricing and Hedging of Long-dated Bonds

Abstract

Long-dated fixed income securities play an important role in asset-liability management, in life insurance and in annuity businesses. This paper applies the benchmark approach, where the growth optimal portfolio (GOP) is employed as numéraire together with the real-world probability measure for pricing and hedging of long-dated bonds. It employs a time-dependent constant elasticity of variance model for the discounted GOP and takes stochastic interest rate risk into account. This results in a hybrid framework that models the stochastic dynamics of the GOP and the short rate simultaneously. We estimate and compare a variety of continuous-time models for short-term interest rates using non-parametric kernel-based estimation. The hybrid models remain highly tractable and fit reasonably well the observed dynamics of proxies of the GOP and interest rates. Our results involve closed-form expressions for bond prices and hedge ratios. Across all models under consideration we find that the hybrid model with the 3/2 dynamics for the interest rate provides the best fit to the data with respect to lowest prices and least expensive hedges.