We construct synthetic variance swap returns from prices of traded options to investigate the pricing of systematic variance risk in the equity options market. Cross sectional tests reveal no evidence of a negative market variance risk premium. Furthermore, we show that a class of linear factor...

This paper examines whether investor sentiment about the stock market affects prices of the Samp;P 500 options. I find that the index option volatility smile is steeper (flatter) and the risk-neutralskewness of monthly index return is more (less) negative when market sentiment becomes more...

We propose a direct and robust method for quantifying the variance risk premium on financial assets. We theoretically and numerically show that the risk-neutral expected value of the return variance, also known as the variance swap rate, is well approximated by the value of a particular...

Volatility movements are known to be negatively correlated with stock index returns. Hence, investing in volatility appears to be attractive for investors seeking risk diversification. The most common instruments for investing in pure volatility are variance swaps, which now enjoy an active...

This paper studies the behavior of corporate bond indices. We find that a 2-factor model with unobservable factors is adequate in capturing the variation of corporate bond portfolio returns, however we cannot identify any linear regression model with observable variables that would be able to do...

Levy processes can capture the behaviors of return innovations on a full range of financial securities. Applying stochastic time changes to the Levy processes randomizes the clock on which the processes run, thus generating stochastic volatilities and stochastic higher return moments. Therefore,...

There are a number of circumstances in finance where it is useful to estimate diffusion processes conditional on some event. In this paper, we develop the theoretical and numerical tools necessary to perform conditional estimation of diffusion processes within a generalized method of moments...

This article presents a framework for studying the role of recovery on defaultable debt prices (for a wide class of processes describing recovery rates and default probability). These debt models have the ability to differentiate the impact of recovery rates and default probability, and can be...

In 1993, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) introduced the CBOE Volatility Index. This index has become the de facto benchmark for stock market volatility. On September 22, 2003, the CBOE revamped the definition and calculation of the volatility index, and back-calculated the new index...

Put-call parity is used to study the early exercise premium for currency options traded on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Using 564 pairs of call and put options evidence is provided that the early exercise premia is on average 5.71% for put options and 6.88% for call options. The premiums for...