A Markov chain with an expanding non-uniform grid matching risk neutral marginal distributions is constructed. Conditional distributions of the chain are in the variance gamma class with prespecified skewness and excess kurtosis. Time change and space scale volatilities are calibrated from...

This study formalizes the departure between risk-neutral and physical index return volatilities, termed volatility spreads. Theoretically, the departure between risk neutral and physical index volatility is connected to the higher-order physical return moments and the parameters of the pricing...

Prudent upper and lower valuations from the literature on arbitrage free two price economies provide risk characteristics driving required returns. The risk characteristics assess the risk of price fluctuations. The difference between the upper and lower prudent valuations can be viewed as a...

For mean reverting base probabilities option pricing models are developed using an explicit measure change induced by the selection of a terminal time and a terminal random variable. The models employed are the square root process and an OU equation driven by centered variance gamma shocks. VIX...

When the pricing kernel is U-shaped, then expected returns of claims with payout on the upside are negative for strikes beyond a threshold, determined by the slope of the U-shaped kernel in its increasing region, and have negative partial derivative with respect to strike in the increasing...

Portfolios are designed to maximize a conservative market value or bid price for the portfolio. Theoretically this bid price is modeled as reflecting a convex cone of acceptable risks supporting an arbitrage free equilibrium of a two price economy. When risk acceptability is completely defined...

Daily asset returns are modeled using self decomposable limit laws and the structure is used to estimate the density of the uncentered data. Estimates of mean returns are a byproduct of the density estimate. Estimates of mean returns via density estimation have significantly lower standard...

Prices in financial markets must move continuously and surprisingly to support their levels with returns. Consequently the function announcing the arrival rate of moves of different sizes becomes the equilibrium object, necessitating a reformulation of risk reward concepts in these terms. It is...

Asset price dynamics are taken to be accumulations of surprise jumps in the logarithm of prices. A Markov pure jump model is formulated on making variance gamma parameters deterministic functions of the price level. Estimation is done by matrix exponentiation of the transition rate matrix for a...

Observing that pure discount curves are now based on a variety of tenors giving rise to tenor specific zero coupon bond prices, the question is raised on how to construct tenor specific prices for all financial contracts. Noting that in conic finance one has the law of two prices, bid and ask,...