We develop an ex-ante measure of expected stock returns based on analyst price targets. We then show that ex-ante measures of volatility, skewness, and kurtosis implied from stock option prices are positively related to the cross section of ex-ante expected stock returns. While expected returns...

Motivated by the theory of demand-based option pricing in imperfect markets, we examine the relation between short-sale constraints and equity option returns, conditional on the level of mis-pricing in the underlying stock. We report a monotonic relation between various measures of short-sales...

This paper implements an algorithm that can be used to solve systems of Black-Scholes equations for implied volatility and implied risk-free rate of return. After using a seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) model to obtain point estimates for implied volatility and implied risk-free rate, the...

The value premium is the empirical observation that low market/book “value” stocks have higher returns than high market/book “growth” stocks. In this paper, we investigate and present evidence for an “equity as a call option hypothesis” for the value premium. Volatility decreases the...

The aggregate implied cost of capital (ICC) from analyst estimates finds a variety of applications in finance and is documented to predict the equity premium. Yet, the construction of the analyst-based ICC is data intensive and imposes restrictions on the employed analyst estimates. We suggest a...

Are options on more volatile assets expected to provide higher or lower return? Using analytics, we show the ambiguous nature of the answer when the volatility differential is due to the systematic/priced risk. Here the difference in the expected return of the assets also matters and has an...

An anchoring-adjusted option pricing model is developed in which the volatility of the underlying stock return is used as a starting point that gets adjusted upwards to form expectations about call option volatility. I show that the anchoring price lies within the bounds implied by risk-averse...

Constantinides et al (2013) put forward a number of empirical findings regarding leverage adjusted S&P 500 index option returns. Their findings are puzzling in the context of the Black-Scholes-Merton Option Pricing Model and the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Experimental evidence as well as the...

I show that the inventory risk faced by market-makers has a first-order effect on option prices. I introduce a simple approach that decomposes the price impact of trades into inventory risk and asymmetric information components. While both components are large for option trades, the inventory...

We show that much of the profitability in equity option return strategies, which try to capture option mispricing by taking exposure to underlying volatility, can be explained by an IPCA model. The alpha reduction, relative to competing static factor models, is between 50% and 75% depending on...