We present an algorithm for hedging option portfolios and custom-tailored derivative securities, which uses options to manage volatility risk. The algorithm uses a volatility band to model heteroskedasticity and a non- linear partial differential equation to evaluate worst-case volatility...

We construct a statistical model for the term-structure of implied volatilities of currency options based on daily historical data for 13 currency pairs over a 19-month period. We examine the joint evolution of 1 month, 2 month, 3 month, 6 month and 1 year at-the-money (50 δ) options in all the...

Sufficient conditions for existence and a closed form probabilistic representation are obtained for solutions of nonlinear parabolic equations with gauge function term. In particular, the result applies to the generalized Leland equationwhere BSn is the n-dimensional Black-Scholes operator, Ai...

A framework for calibrating a pricing model to a prescribed set of options prices quoted in the market is presented. Our algorithm yields an arbitrage-free diffusion process that minimizes the Kullback-Leibler relative entropy distance to a prior diffusion. It consists in solving a constrained...

Extensions to the Black-Scholes model have been suggested recently that permit one to calculate worst-case prices for a portfolio of vanilla options or for exotic options when no a priori distribution for the forward volatility is known. The Uncertain Volatility Model (UVM) by Avellaneda and...

The paper contains a phenomenological description of the whole US forward rate curve (FRC), based on data in the period 1990-1996. It is found that the average deviation of the FRC from the spot rate grows as the square-root of the maturity, with a prefactor which is comparable to the spot rate...