We employ a large dataset of physical inventory data on 21 different commodities for the period 1993–2011 to empirically analyze the behavior of commodity prices and their volatility as predicted by the theory of storage. We examine two main issues. First, we analyze the relationship between...

This study applies the contingent claim approach to evaluate retirement benefits with the options of choosing the maximum defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans. A least-squares Monte Carlo simulation values complex retirement benefits that feature the properties of multiple...

After the huge rise and fall of agricultural commodity spot and futures prices between 2007 and 2008, the potential reasons for and the impact of the strong rise in volatility provoked an intensive debate in the media as well as in the academic literature. However, owing to the increasing...

This paper analyzes the relationship between the spot and futures prices of energy commodities from a new perspective. Taking data from the Dow Jones UBS Commodity Index, we first test for a long-run relationship between spot and futures prices. As a second step, smooth transition models are...

The computation of the bilateral counterparty valuation adjustment for a credit default swap (CDS) contract is in effect the modeling of the default dependence among the investor, the protection seller, and the reference entity. We present a contagion model, where defaults of three parties are...

Energy markets and the associated energy futures markets play a crucial role in global economies. It is of great theoretical and practical significance to gain a deeper understanding of extreme value statistics of the volatility of energy futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange...

This paper demonstrates how to convert a path-dependent optimal stopping time problem into a path-independent problem using a transformation analysis method. We test this method to deal with several problems, especially those in stochastic volatility environments. We introduce stochastic state...

The relations between institutional investors' behavior and futures returns are examined in this study. Evidence suggests that net trading volume by foreign investors and investment trust have forecasting power for futures returns. In addition, the study applies a time-varying parameter vector...

In this study we examine three widely used realized correlation estimators for natural gas, gasoil, and crude oil futures using data from IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). The objective is to illustrate sensitivities of estimation methods on the resulting realized correlation estimates. The...

This paper examines calendar anomalies (day-of-the-week and monthly seasonal effects) in cash and stock index futures returns. We consider daily data from FTSE100 (UK), FTSE/ASE-20 (Greece), S&P500 (US) and Nasdaq100 (US) spot and future indexes over the period 2004–2011. We employ a...