Following the recent financial crisis, increasing the transparency of credit default swap (CDS) markets has been a popular goal among regulators. We examine how changes in the transparency of the CDS market can impact liquidity in the corresponding equity market. We first extend a model of...

This paper derives an analytic expression for the distribution of the average volatility in the stochastic volatility model of Hull and White. This result answers a longstanding question, posed by Hull and White (Journal of Finance 42, 1987), whether such an analytic form exists. Our findings...

We elaborate economic explanations for the time-varying risk of month, quarter and year base load electricity forward contracts traded on the Nord Pool Energy Exchange from January 2006 to March 2010. Daily risk quantities are generated by decomposing realized volatility in its continuous and...

The recent financial crisis renewed concerns about a possible destabilizing impact of derivatives trading. Despite a very active research, the question whether or not derivatives tend to destabilize financial markets has not yet been answered to satisfaction. This contribution aims to revise the...

This paper provides an empirical study on the predictability of implied volatility using dataset collected from the London over-the-counter currency option market. The present work is motivated by the lack of empirical studies that address implied volatility characteristics across various...

We propose two new risk measures (i-beta and i-gamma) for a stock, which aim to distinguish between noise and information. Noise allows the stock price evolution to happen along a continuous path. Market wide economic information is transmitted via price jumps. Noise is idiosyncratic and does...

This paper focuses on the effects of political uncertainty and the political process on implied stock market volatility during U.S. presidential election cycles. Using monthly Iowa Electronic Markets data over five elections, we document that stock market uncertainty, as measured by the VIX...

This article describes the primary uses of the VIX index in the financial literature, offering for the first time a joint view of its successes and failures in key financial areas. VIX is a model-free volatility index that measures the investor "fear" gauge due to its significant and negative...

Prior research documents that volatility spreads predict stock returns. If the trading activity of informed investors is an important driver of volatility spreads, then the predictability of stock returns should be more pronounced during major information events. This paper investigates whether...

By employing the modified net buying pressure as a measure of informed option trading, this study tested whether option trading around quarterly earnings announcements is either directionally motivated and/or volatility motivated. We found evidence that is consistent with the idea that option...