A barrier option is a financial derivative which includes an activation (or deactivation) clause within a standard vanilla option. For instance, a copper mining company could secure to sell in at least K dollars each ton of copper during the next year, by buying M European put options. However,...

This article is a supplement to previously published paper [1]. It represents a theoretical example that demonstrates a strategy based on exploiting of found market inefficiency. It is fundamental. Thus, what markets without this inefficiency should be is an open question. It is connected to...

As is well known, the classic Black­Scholes option pricing model assumes that returns follow Brownian motion. It is widely recognized that return processes differ from this benchmark in at least three important ways. First, asset prices jump, leading to non­normal return innovations. Second,...

We propose a direct and robust method for quantifying the variance risk premium on financial assets. We theoretically and numerically show that the risk-neutral expected value of the return variance, also known as the variance swap rate, is well approximated by the value of a particular...

A restriction to nonnegative wealth is sufficient to preclude all arbitrage opportunities in financial models that have risk neutral probabilities that are valid for all simple strategies. Imposing nonnegative wealth does not constrain agents from making the choice they would make under the...

We consider a general discrete-time dynamic nancial market with three assets: a riskless bond, a security and a derivative. The market is incomplete (apriori) and at equilibrium. We assume also that the agents of the economy have short-sales constraints on the stock and that the payo at the...

We assess the predictive accuracy of a large number of multivariate volatility models in terms of pricing options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We measure the value of model sophistication in terms of dollar losses by considering a set 248 multivariate models that differ in their...

We propose a new approach to the pricing and hedging of contingent claims under transaction costs in a general incomplete market in discrete time. Under the assumptions of a bounded mean-variance tradeoff, substantial risk and a nondegeneracy condition on the conditional variances of asset...

This paper proposes a new explanation for the smile and skewness effects in implied volatilities. Starting from a microeconomic equilibrium approach, we develop a diffusion model for stock prices explicitly incorporating the technical demand induced by hedging strategies. This leads to a...

The Black Scholes Model (BSM) is one of the most important concepts in modern financial theory both in terms of approach and applicability. The BSM is considered the standard model for valuing options; a model of price variation over time of financial instruments such as stocks that can, among...