Pricing Options on Defaultable Stocks*

? ?. This work was inspired by the SAMSI workshops on Financial Mathematics, Statistics and Econometrics (Fall 2005, Spring 2006 North Carolina). The author wishes to thank the organizers for the travel grant to participate in this stimulating event. I also would like to thank Bo Yang for his research assistance and the two anonymous referees and an anonymous associate editor for their valuable suggestions. Stock option price approximations are developed for a model which takes both the risk of default and the stochastic volatility into account. The intensity of defaults is assumed to be influenced by the volatility. It is shown that it might be possible to infer the risk neutral default intensity from the stock option prices. The proposed option price approximation has a rich implied volatility surface structure and fits the data implied volatility well. A calibration exercise shows that an effective hazard rate from bonds issued by a company can be used to explain the impliedvolatility skew of the option prices issued by the same company. It is also observed that the implied yield spread obtained from calibrating all the model parameters to the option prices matches the observed yield spread.     

动态随机弹性在期权定价中的应用

给出动态随机弹性的概念及运算性质,讨论了动态随机弹性在期权定价模型中的应用.主要结果有:(1)在波动率为常数时,期权价格对的弹性,得到了动态随机弹性服从运动,并给出了相应的经济解释;(2)由于波动率一般不是常数,也是随机过程,因此本文进一步研究了期权价格对波动率的弹性,就股票价格的波动情况给出了数学描述和金融意义上的解释.     

Options on Realized Variance in Log-OU Models

Abstract

We study the pricing of options on realized variance in a general class of Log-OU (Ornstein–Ühlenbeck) stochastic volatility models. The class includes several important models proposed in the literature. Having as common feature the log-normal law of instantaneous variance, the application of standard Fourier–Laplace transform methods is not feasible. We derive extensions of Asian pricing methods, to obtain bounds, in particular, a very tight lower bound for options on realized variance.     

Asymptotic Solutions for Australian Options with Low Volatility

Abstract

In this paper we derive asymptotic expansions for Australian options in the case of low volatility using the method of matched asymptotics. The expansion is performed on a volatility scaled parameter. We obtain a solution that is of up to the third order. In case that there is no drift in the underlying, the solution provided is in closed form, for a non-zero drift, all except one of the components of the solutions are in closed form. Additionally, we show that in some non-zero drift cases, the solution can be further simplified and in fact written in closed form as well. Numerical experiments show that the asymptotic solutions derived here are quite accurate for low volatility.     

彩虹障碍期权的定价问题

采用偏微分方程方法研究了彩虹障碍期权的定价问题,推导出它满足的偏微分方程,通过求解这个偏微分方程得出了八种彩虹障碍期权的定价公式及四个看涨——看跌平价公式.     

High-Order Methods for Exotic Options and Greeks Under Regime-Switching Jump-Diffusion Models

This paper aims to develop high-order numerical methods for solving the system partial differential equations (PDEs) and partial integro-differential equations (PIDEs) arising in exotic option pricing under regime-switching models and regime-switching jump-diffusion models, respectively. Using cubic Hermite polynomials, the high-order collocation methods are proposed to solve the system PDEs and PIDEs. This collocation scheme has the second-order convergence rates in time and fourth-order rates in space. The computation of the Greeks for the options is also studied. Numerical examples are carried out to verify the high-order convergence and show the efficiency for computing the Greeks.     

分数布朗运动和泊松过程共同驱动下的择好期权定价

本文讨论两资产择好期权的定价问题。在风险中性假设下,建立了两资产价格过程遵循分数布朗运动和带非时齐Poisson跳跃—扩散过程的择好期权定价模型,应用期权的保险精算法,给出了相应的择好期权的定价公式。     

Robust Approximations for Pricing Asian Options and Volatility Swaps Under Stochastic Volatility

Abstract

We show that if the discounted Stock price process is a continuous martingale, then there is a simple relationship linking the variance of the terminal Stock price and the variance of its arithmetic average. We use this to establish a model-independent upper bound for the price of a continuously sampled fixed-strike arithmetic Asian call option, in the presence of non-zero time-dependent interest rates (Theorem 1.2). We also propose a model-independent lognormal moment-matching procedure for approximating the price of an Asian call, and we show how to apply these approximations under the Black–Scholes and Heston models (subsection 1.3). We then apply a similar analysis to a time-dependent Heston stochastic volatility model, and we show how to construct a time-dependent mean reversion and volatility-of-variance function, so as to be consistent with the observed variance swap curve and a pre-specified term structure for the variance of the integrated variance (Theorem 2.1). We characterize the small-time asymptotics of the first and second moments of the integrated variance (Proposition 2.2) and derive an approximation for the price of a volatility swap under the time-dependent Heston model ( Equation (52)), using the Brockhaus–Long approximation (Brockhaus, and Long, 2000 Brockhaus, O. and Long, D. 2000. Volatility Swaps made simple. Risk, 13(1) January: 92–96.  [Google Scholar]). We also outline a bootstrapping procedure for calibrating a piecewise-linear mean reversion level and volatility-of-volatility function (Subsection 2.3.2).     

基于近似对冲跳跃风险的美式看跌期权定价及数值解法研究

考虑了基于近似对冲跳跃风险的美式看跌期权定价问题。首先,运用近似对冲跳跃风险、广义It 公式及无套利原理,得到了跳-扩散过程下的期权定价模型及期权价格所满足的偏微分方程。然后建立了美式看跌期权定价模型的隐式差分近似格式,并且证明了该差分格式具有的相容性、适定性、稳定性和收敛性。最后,数值实验表明,用本文方法为跳-扩散模型中的美式期权定价是可行的和有效的。     

Exact and approximate solutions for options with time-dependent stochastic volatility

In this paper it is shown how symmetry methods can be used to find exact solutions for European option pricing under a time-dependent 3/2-stochastic volatility model $\mathit{dv}=\mathit{kv}(A(t)-v)\mathit{dt}+{\mathit{bv}}^{\frac{3}{2}}\mathit{dZ}$. This model with $A(t)$ constant has been proven by many authors to outperform the Heston model in its ability to capture the behaviour of volatility and fit option prices. Further, singular perturbation techniques are used to derive a simple analytic approximation suitable for pricing options with short tenor, a common feature of most options traded in the market.     

Pricing Options Under a Generalized Markov-Modulated Jump-Diffusion Model

Abstract

We consider the pricing of options when the dynamics of the risky underlying asset are driven by a Markov-modulated jump-diffusion model. We suppose that the market interest rate, the drift and the volatility of the underlying risky asset switch over time according to the state of an economy, which is modelled by a continuous-time Markov chain. The measure process is defined to be a generalized mixture of Poisson random measure and encompasses a general class of processes, for example, a generalized gamma process, which includes the weighted gamma process and the inverse Gaussian process. Another interesting feature of the measure process is that jump times and jump sizes can be correlated in general. The model considered here can provide market practitioners with flexibility in modelling the dynamics of the underlying risky asset. We employ the generalized regime-switching Esscher transform to determine an equivalent martingale measure in the incomplete market setting. A system of coupled partial-differential-integral equations satisfied by the European option prices is derived. We also derive a decomposition result for an American put option into its European counterpart and early exercise premium. Simulation results of the model have been presented and discussed.     

Efficient pricing of discrete Asian options

Asian options are popular path-dependent financial derivatives. This paper uses lattices to price fixed-strike European-style Asian options that are discretely monitored. The algorithm proposed can also be applied to floating-strike Asian options as well because fixed-strike and floating-strike Asian options are related through an equation. The discretely monitored version is usually found in practice instead of the continuously monitored version usually encountered in the literature. This paper presents the first provably quadratic-time convergent lattice algorithm for pricing fixed-strike European-style discretely monitored Asian options. It is the most efficient lattice algorithm with convergence guarantees. The algorithm relies on the Lagrange multipliers to choose the number of states for each node of the lattice. Extensive numerical experiments and comparisons with many existing numerical methods confirm the performance claims and the competitiveness of our algorithm. This result places fixed-strike European-style discretely monitored Asian options in the same complexity class as vanilla options.     

Two Exotic Lookback Options

This paper formally analyses two exotic options with lookback features, referred to as extreme spread lookback options and look‐barrier options, first introduced by Bermin. The holder of such options receives partial protection from large price movements in the underlying, but at roughly the cost of a plain vanilla contract. This is achieved by increasing the leverage through either floating the strike price (for the case of extreme spread options) or introducing a partial barrier window (for the case of look‐barrier options). We show how to statically replicate the prices of these hybrid exotic derivatives with more elementary European binary options and their images, using new methods first introduced by Buchen and Konstandatos. These methods allow considerable simplification in the analysis, leading to closed‐form representations in the Black–Scholes framework.     

股票价格服从指数O-U过程的再装期权定价

期权及其定价理论是目前金融管理,金融工程研究的前沿与热点问题.本文在标的资产的价格服从指数O-U过和模型假设下,运用G irsanov定理获得了该过程的唯一等价鞅测度.用期权定价的鞅方法,得出了再装期权的定价公式.     

国内外利率为随机的双币种重置型期权定价

双币种重置期权的特征是指在终端期T时的收益依赖于预先设定的t<,0>时刻标的资产的价格与执行价K>0(事先给定)的大小关系重新设置期权的执行价从而给出其定价,这种期权是投资于外国资产的一种合约,其风险不仅依赖外国资产价格的变化,还受外国货币的汇率以及国内外两种利率波动的影响,所以在实际应用方面十分广泛.本文首先就标的资...     

基于CEV过程带交易费的脆弱期权定价的数值算法

主要研究基于CEV过程且支付交易费的脆弱期权定价的数值计算问题.首先通过构造无风险投资组合,导出了基于CEV过程且支付交易费用的脆弱期权定价的偏微分方程模型;其次应用有限差分方法将定价模型离散化,并设计数值算法;最后以看跌期权为例进行数值试验,分析各定价参数对看跌期权价值的影响.     

Mixing Monte-Carlo and Partial Differential Equations for Pricing Options

There is a need for very fast option pricers when the financial objects are modeled by complex systems of stochastic differential equations. Here the authors investigate option pricers based on mixed Monte-Carlo partial differential solvers for stochastic volatility models such as Heston’s. It is found that orders of magnitude in speed are gained on full Monte-Carlo algorithms by solving all equations but one by a Monte-Carlo method, and pricing the underlying asset by a partial differential equation with random coefficients, derived by Itô calculus. This strategy is investigated for vanilla options, barrier options and American options with stochastic volatilities and jumps optionally.     

Analysis of VIX Markets with a Time-Spread Portfolio

This paper explores the relationship between option markets for the S&P500 (SPX) and Chicago Board Options Exchange’s CBOE’s Volatility Index (VIX). Results are obtained by using the so-called time-spread portfolio to replicate a future contract on the squared VIX. The time-spread portfolio is interesting because it provides a model-free link between derivative prices for SPX and VIX. Time spreads can be computed from SPX put options with different maturities, which results in a term structure for squared volatility. This term structure can be compared to the VIX-squared term structure that is backed-out from VIX call options. The time-spread portfolio is also used to measure volatility-of-volatility (vol-of-vol) and the volatility leverage effect. There may emerge small differences in these measurements, depending on whether time spreads are computed with options on SPX or options on VIX. A study of 2012 daily options data shows that vol-of-vol estimates utilizing SPX data will reflect the volatility leverage effect, whereas estimates that exclusively utilize VIX options will predominantly reflect the premia in the VIX-future term structure.     

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.     

Implied Volatility of Leveraged ETF Options

Abstract

This paper studies the problem of understanding implied volatilities from options written on leveraged exchanged-traded funds (LETFs), with an emphasis on the relations between LETF options with different leverage ratios. We first examine from empirical data the implied volatility skews for LETF options based on the S&P 500. In order to enhance their comparison with non-leveraged ETFs, we introduce the concept of moneyness scaling and provide a new formula that links option implied volatilities between leveraged and unleveraged ETFs. Under a multiscale stochastic volatility framework, we apply asymptotic techniques to derive an approximation for both the LETF option price and implied volatility. The approximation formula reflects the role of the leverage ratio, and thus allows us to link implied volatilities of options on an ETF and its leveraged counterparts. We apply our result to quantify matches and mismatches in the level and slope of the implied volatility skews for various LETF options using data from the underlying ETF option prices. This reveals some apparent biases in the leverage implied by the market prices of different products, long and short with leverage ratios two times and three times.