We provide evidence of a strong effect of the underlying stock's illiquidity on option prices by showing that the average absolute difference between historical and implied volatility increases with stock illiquidity. This pattern translates into significant excess returns of option trading...

In this paper we develop the first estimator of the covariance matrix that relies solely on forward-looking information. This estimator only uses price information from a cross-section of plain-vanilla options. In an out-of-sample study for US blue-chip stocks we show that a minimum-variance...

We develop a new family of estimators of the covariance matrix that relies solely on forwardlooking information. It uses only current prices of plain-vanilla options. In an out-of-sample study we show that a minimum-variance strategy based on these fully-implied estimators outperforms several...

In this paper we develop a new family of estimators of the covariance matrix that relies solely on forward-looking information. These estimators only use current price information from a cross-section of plain-vanilla options and employ different higher moments of the implied return...

The introduction of the accounting standards SFAS 123R and IFRS 2 forexecutive stock options has led to an important change. As companies arenow forced to value their stock options at grant date for accounting purposes,the robustness of prices against the choice of certain valuation models...

With the introduction of the accounting standards FAS 123 and IFRS 2 for executive stock options an important change towards fair value accounting' has taken place. As companies are now forced to value their stock options at grant date for accounting purposes, the robustness of prices against...