“I contend that rational expectations theory totally misinterprets how financial markets operate. Although rational expectations theory is no longer taken seriously outside academic circles, the idea that financial markets are self-correcting and tend towards equilibrium remains the prevailing...

We introduce the beta stochastic volatility model and discuss empirical features of this model and its calibration. This model is appealing because, first, its parameters can be easily understood and calibrated and, second, it produces steeper forward skews, compared to traditional stochastic...

The paper is an empirical research work wherein the principle of Modern Portfolio Theory along with aspects of geographical diversification have been subjected to test. The validation of the said theory has been made via hypothesis testing in light of the financial market data. The paper has...

Conventional financial advice is that net present value (NPV) is a superior investment criterion to internal rate of return (IRR) because IRR has pitfalls. Despite the pitfalls, evidence shows most practitioners continue to employ IRR as an investment criterion. Such behavior is puzzling. This...

We propose two structural models for stochastic losses given default which allow to model the credit losses of a portfolio of defaultable financial instruments. The credit losses are integrated into a structural model of default events accounting for correlations between the default events and...

The motivation for this paper is to apply a statistical arbitrage technique of pairs trading to high-frequency equity data and compare its profit potential to the standard sampling frequency of daily closing prices. We use a simple trading strategy to evaluate the profit potential of the data...

The motivation for this paper is to find out whether exchange traded funds (ETFs) are more suitable financial instruments for a pair trading strategy than stocks. The main advantage of pair trading ETFs is that ETFs cannot go bankrupt, which is not the case for shares. Thus, one of the greatest...

In this paper we provide several applications of Gram-Charlier expansions in financial derivative pricing. We first give an exposition on how to calculate swaption prices under a two-factor Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR2) model. Then we apply this method to an extended version of the model (CIR2 ). We...

Traditional portfolio optimization models specify placement of capital as rather irrevocably and fully at risk through investment horizon(s) or continuously. Under this constraint, asset class allocation typically serves as primary mode of diversification, pursuing risk moderation by seeking to...