We estimate the process underlying the pricing of American options by using higher-order lattices combined with a multigrid method. This paper also tests whether the risk-neutral densities given from American options provide a good forecasting tool. We use a nonparametric test of the densities...

The guaranteed lending progams of the Small Business Administration (SBA) are large and growing rapidly. The SBA's fiscal year 2009 Performance Budget call for 28 billion (Dollar) in guaranteed loans for small businesses - a new record for the agency. Some critics of SBA programs suggest they do...