• It is not widely emphasized in the literature that derivatives are complex random quantities which should, by custom, be characterized by their probability density functions. • It is understood that Black-Scholes style of derivatives pricing represents an expected value, i.e. the...

The price of a European option can be computed as the expected value of the payoff function under the risk-neutral measure. For American options and path-dependent options in general, this principle cannot be applied. In this paper, we derive a model-free analytical formula for the implied...

Most of the empirical studies on stochastic volatility dynamics favor the 3/2 specification over the square-root (CIR) process in the Heston model. In the context of option pricing, the 3/2 stochastic volatility model is reported to be able to capture the volatility skew evolution better than...

The traditional derivation of risk-neutral probability in the binomial option pricing framework used in introductory mathematical finance courses is straightforward, but employs several different concepts and is is not algebraically simple. In order to overcome this drawback of the standard...

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...

We study the real-time characteristics and drivers of jumps in option prices. To this end, we employ high frequency data from the 24-hour E-mini S&P 500 options market. We find that option prices do not jump simultaneously across strikes and maturities and are uncorrelated with jumps in the...

We investigate the effect of including variance derivatives as calibration and hedging instruments for pricing and hedging exotic structures. This is studied empirically using market data for SPX and VIX derivatives applied in a stochastic volatility jump diffusion model

Financial markets exhibit high levels of volatility. Volatile markets are usually associated with high risks and uncertain investment returns. Financial institutions therefore, usually opt to hedge their investment portfolios against the high volatility using a suitable hedging structure. One...