This study investigates the lead-lag relationship between the price movements of VIX futures and VIX index levels. As a proxy for the futures, the front month VIX futures contract is used. A Johansen cointegration approach with a vector error correction model and Granger causality analysis are...

This paper shows that generalizing the heterogeneous autoregressive model (HAR) with realized (co)variances and semi-(co)variances from the index leads to more accurate volatility forecasts. To circumvent the effects of the market microstructure noise arising from using high sampling...

We develop a methodology for index tracking and risk exposure control using financial derivatives. Under a continuous-time diffusion framework for price evolution, we present a pathwise approach to construct dynamic portfolios of derivatives in order to gain exposure to an index and/or market...

Equity index collar strategies are often perceived as a way for investors, at little to no cost, to exchange some upside exposure for reduced losses on the downside. That perception may be accurate if one considers only the net dollar cost of the strategy's initial option trades, but it fails to...

This paper investigates the information content of options prior to the S&P 500 Index inclusion and exclusion announcements. These announcements are unique events since they are not announced by the firm and, as stated by S&P, they should convey no new information. In addition, the large...

We perform an empirical analysis of trading strategies based on the systematic selling of delta hedged options, aiming at capturing the so-called volatility risk premium. We compare the performance across different strikes and maturities, and perform a breakdown of the drivers of performance. We...

This paper analyzes why the S&P 500 Index is not a self-financed or a tradable portfolio and why it cannot be replaced by a mimicking portfolio such as the SPDR or the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund, when applying the standard arbitrage pricing theory. In particular, we show that the nonlinear and...

The optimal portfolio of a utility-maximizing investor trading in the S&P 500 index and cash, subject to proportional transaction costs, becomes stochastically dominated when overlaid with a zero-net-cost portfolio of S&P 500 options bought at their ask and written at their bid price in most...

This article develops a Hedging Algebraic Model (HAM) for equity index portfolios with stock index futures as an alternative to econometric models (OLS, ECM, and GARCH) and assesses the efficacy of the model when applied to the IBEX 35 for the period 2007-2015. The model is initially formulated...

We analyze the joint cross-section of monthly S&P500 stock index options and monthly CBOE Volatility Index options by constructing and evaluating option combinations that appear undervalued for all permissible values of the latent parameters of the unifying option pricing model and the joint...