In this paper we construct arbitrage-free market models of stochastic volatility type for one stock, one bank account and a finite family of European call options with various strikes and maturities. We first introduce local implied volatilities and price level as market observables which...

In empirical modeling, there have been two strands for pricing in the options literature, namely the parametric and nonparametric models. Often, the support for the nonparametric methods is based on a benchmark such as theBlack-Scholes model with constant volatility. In this paper, we examine...

This paper investigates the impact of heterogeneous beliefs of professional investors on the currency options market. Using a unique data set with detailed information on the foreign-exchange forecasts of about 50 market participants over more than ten years, we construct an empirical proxy for...

In the existing literature on barrier options, much effort has been exerted to ensureconvergence through placing the barrier in close proximity to, or directly onto, thenodes of the tree lattice. In this paper we show that this may not be necessary toachieve accurate option price...

Do you enjoy chores such as mowing the lawn or, as it is called in Canada, shovelling the snow? Below we discuss a simpler method of trimming the hedge, suggested by Barone-Adesi, Engle and Mancini. Assuming the option price is homogeneous our calculation is model independent and provides delta...

We derive a closed-form asymptotic expansion formula for option implied volatility under a two-factor jump-diffusion stochastic volatility model when time-to-maturity is small. Based on numerical experiments we describe the range of time-to-maturity and moneyness for which the approximation is...

This paper concerns the pricing of American options with stochastic stopping time constraints expressed in terms of the states of a Markov process. Following the ideas of Menaldi, Robin, and Sun (1996) we transform the constrained into an unconstrained optimal stopping problem. The...

In this paper we propose analytical approximations for computing implied volatilities when time-to-maturity t is small. The analysis is performed in the framework of a two-factor model with local and stochastic volatility. We describe an algorithm for building the power series approximation of...

Real options investment theory predicts current investment falls asuncertainty about market returns increases. In the case of R&D investment,which is usually considered an irreversible form of investment, this effectshould be quite pronounced. This paper tests the real options predictionabout...

A new algorithm for finding value functions of finite horizon optimal stopping problems in one-dimensional diffusion models is presented. It is based on a time discretization of the corresponding integral equation. The proposed iterative procedure for solving the discretized integral equation...