Option prices seem to behave in ways inconsistent with the Black-Scholes model. Implied volatility varies with the strike price in a parabolic shape that is often called the volatility 'smile.' My objective in this paper is to identify implied probability distributions that might explain this...

The Enron Corporation went from a $65 billion dollar market capitalization to bankruptcy in just 16 months. Using statistical techniques for extracting the implied probability distributions built into option prices, I examine the market's expectation of Enron's risk of collapse. I find that the...

This paper analyzes the market microstructure of the European Climate Exchange, the largest EU ETS trading venue. The ECX captures 2/3 of the screen traded market in EUA and more than 90% in CER. Trading volumes are active, with EUA volume doubling in 2009. Spreads range from € 0.02 to €...

This paper analyzes the market architecture and common factors of emission reduction instruments in Europe and North America. Spot and futures prices across exchanges in Europe are cointegrated, but the futures curve beyond the calendar year evolves independently. Despite narrower spreads,...

I analyze the jump frequency in the ABX index of subprime home equity credit default swaps and CME housing futures. Jumps begin to appear prior to 2007, but are more pronounced in the housing futures than the ABX. I can explain nearly 85% of the jumps from news and the housing futures. A 20...

We compare several models for Bear Stearns' credit default swap spreads estimated via a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. The Bayes Factor selects a CKLS model with GARCH-EPD errors as the best model. This model captures the volatility clustering and extreme tail returns of the swaps during...

I analyze the risk in the ABX index of asset backed, subprime, home equity credit default swaps and CME housing futures. Using estimators of the jump and cojump components of security prices, I determine that: (1) jump risk was rising throughout 2006, well before any problems in the mortgage...

Option prices seem to behave in ways inconsistent with the Black-Scholes model. Implied volatility varies with the strike price in a parabolic shape that is often called the volatility "smile." My objective in this paper is to identify implied probability distributions that might explain this...

The Enron Corporation went from a $65 billion dollar market capitalization to bankruptcy in just 16 months. Using statistical techniques for extracting the implied probability distributions built into option prices, I examine the market's expectation of Enron's risk of collapse. I find that the...