Option Valuation using Fourier Space Time Stepping

It is well known that the Black-Scholes-Merton model suffers from several deficiencies. Jump-diffusion and Levy models have been widely used to partially alleviate some of the biases inherent in this classical model. Unfortunately, the resulting pricing problem requires solving a more difficult partial-integro differential equation (PIDE) and although several approaches for solving the PIDE have been suggested in the literature, none are entirely satisfactory. All treat the integral and diffusive terms asymmetrically and are difficult to extend to higher dimensions. We present a new, efficient algorithm, based on transform methods, which symmetrically treats the diffusive and integrals terms, is applicable to a wide class of path-dependent options (such as Bermudan, barrier, and shout options) and options on multiple assets, and naturally extends to regime-switching Levy models. We present a concise study of the precision and convergence properties of our algorithm for several classes of options and Levy models and demonstrate that the algorithm is second-order in space and first-order in time for path-dependent options

Pricing and Hedging Basket Options with Exact Moment Matching

Theoretical models applied to option pricing should take into account the empirical characteristics of the underlying financial time series. In this paper, we show how to price basket options when assets follow a shifted log-normal process with jumps capable of accommodating negative skewness. Our technique is based on the Hermite polynomial expansion that can match exactly the first m moments of the model implied-probability distribution. This method is shown to provide superior results for basket options not only with respect to pricing but also for hedging.Comment: 35 pages, 10 table

Gibbs sampler with jump diffusion model: application in European call option and annuity

In this paper, we are presenting a method for estimation of market parameters modeled by jump diffusion process. The method proposed is based on Gibbs sampler, while the market parameters are the drift, the volatility, the jump intensity and its rate of occurrence. Demonstration on how to use these parameters to estimate the fair price of European call option and annuity will be shown, for the situation where the market is modeled by jump diffusion process with different intensity and occurrence. The results is compared to conventional options to observe the impact of jump effects.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to IJTA

Fast Estimation of True Bounds on Bermudan Option Prices under Jump-diffusion Processes

Fast pricing of American-style options has been a difficult problem since it was first introduced to financial markets in 1970s, especially when the underlying stocks' prices follow some jump-diffusion processes. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to generate tight upper bounds on the Bermudan option price without nested simulation, under the jump-diffusion setting. By exploiting the martingale representation theorem for jump processes on the dual martingale, we are able to explore the unique structure of the optimal dual martingale and construct an approximation that preserves the martingale property. The resulting upper bound estimator avoids the nested Monte Carlo simulation suffered by the original primal-dual algorithm, therefore significantly improves the computational efficiency. Theoretical analysis is provided to guarantee the quality of the martingale approximation. Numerical experiments are conducted to verify the efficiency of our proposed algorithm

Exchange Options Under Jump-Diffusion Dynamics

Margrabe provides a pricing formula for an exchange option where the distributions of both stock prices are log-normal with correlated Wiener components. Merton has provided a formula for the price of a European call option on a single stock where the stock price process contains a continuous Poisson jump component, in addition to a continuous log-normally distributed component. We use Merton’s analysis to extend Margrabe’s results to the case of exchange options where both stock price processes also contain compound Poisson jump components. A Radon-Nikod´ym derivative process that induces the change of measure from the market measure to an equivalent martingale measure is introduced. The choice of parameters in the Radon-Nikod´ym derivative allows us to price the option under different financial-economic scenarios. We also consider American style exchange options and provide a probabilistic intepretation of the early exercise premium.American options; exchange options; compound Poisson processes; equivalent martingale measure

Reduced Order Models for Pricing European and American Options under Stochastic Volatility and Jump-Diffusion Models

European options can be priced by solving parabolic partial(-integro) differential equations under stochastic volatility and jump-diffusion models like Heston, Merton, and Bates models. American option prices can be obtained by solving linear complementary problems (LCPs) with the same operators. A finite difference discretization leads to a so-called full order model (FOM). Reduced order models (ROMs) are derived employing proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The early exercise constraint of American options is enforced by a penalty on subset of grid points. The presented numerical experiments demonstrate that pricing with ROMs can be orders of magnitude faster within a given model parameter variation range

The History of the Quantitative Methods in Finance Conference Series. 1992-2007

This report charts the history of the Quantitative Methods in Finance (QMF) conference from its beginning in 1993 to the 15th conference in 2007. It lists alphabetically the 1037 speakers who presented at all 15 conferences and the titles of their papers.

A Review of Volatility and Option Pricing

The literature on volatility modelling and option pricing is a large and diverse area due to its importance and applications. This paper provides a review of the most significant volatility models and option pricing methods, beginning with constant volatility models up to stochastic volatility. We also survey less commonly known models e.g. hybrid models. We explain various volatility types (e.g. realised and implied volatility) and discuss the empirical properties

On the value of being American

The virtue of an American option is that it can be exercised at any time. This right is particularly valuable when there is model uncertainty. Yet almost all the extensive literature on American options assumes away model uncertainty. This paper quantifies the potential value of this flexibility by identifying the supremum on the price of an American option when no model is imposed on the data, but rather any model is required to be consistent with a family of European call prices. The bound is enforced by a hedging strategy involving these call options which is robust to model error

Option prices with call prices

There exist several methods how more general options can be priced with call prices. In this article, we extend these results to cover a wider class of options and market models. In particular, we introduce a new pricing formula which can be used to price more general options if prices for call options and digital options are known for every strike price. Moreover, we derive similar results for barrier type options. As a consequence, we obtain a static hedging for general options in the general class of models. Our result can be utilised in several significant applications. As a simple example, we derive an upper bound for the value of a general American option with convex payoff and characterise conditions under which the value of this option equals to the value of the corresponding European option.Comment: 10 page