Any financial asset that is openly traded has a market price. Except for extreme market conditions, market price may be more or less than a “fair” value. Fair value is likely to be some complicated function of the current intrinsic value of tangible or intangible assets underlying the claim and our assessment of the characteristics of the underlying assets with respect to the expected rate of growth, future dividends, volatility, and other relevant market factors. Some of these factors that affect the price can be measured at the time of a transaction with reasonably high accuracy. Most factors, however, relate to expectations about the future and to subjective issues, such as current management, corporate policies and market environment, that could affect the future financial performance of the underlying assets. Models are thus needed to describe the stochastic factors and environment, and their implementations inevitably require computational finance tools.

Provides a comprehensive and updated study of GARCH models and their applications in finance, covering new developments in the discipline This book provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to understanding GARCH time series models and their applications whilst presenting the most advanced results concerning the theory and practical aspects of GARCH. The probability structure of standard GARCH models is studied in detail as well as statistical inference such as identification, estimation, and tests. The book also provides new coverage of several extensions such as multivariate models, looks at financial applications, and explores the very validation of the models used. GARCH Models: Structure, Statistical Inference and Financial Applications, 2nd Edition features a new chapter on Parameter-Driven Volatility Models, which covers Stochastic Volatility Models and Markov Switching Volatility Models. A second new chapter titled Alternative Models for the Conditional Variance contains a section on Stochastic Recurrence Equations and additional material on EGARCH, Log-GARCH, GAS, MIDAS, and intraday volatility models, among others. The book is also updated with a more complete discussion of multivariate GARCH; a new section on Cholesky GARCH; a larger emphasis on the inference of multivariate GARCH models; a new set of corrected problems available online; and an up-to-date list of references. Features up-to-date coverage of the current research in the probability, statistics, and econometric theory of GARCH models Covers significant developments in the field, especially in multivariate models Contains completely renewed chapters with new topics and results Handles both theoretical and applied aspects Applies to researchers in different fields (time series, econometrics, finance) Includes numerous illustrations and applications to real financial series Presents a large collection of exercises with corrections Supplemented by a supporting website featuring R codes, Fortran programs, data sets and Problems with corrections GARCH Models, 2nd Edition is an authoritative, state-of-the-art reference that is ideal for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in business and finance seeking to broaden their skills of understanding of econometric time series models.

Continuous time Markov chain (CTMC) approximation is an intuitive and powerful method for pricing options in general Markovian models. This paper analyzes how grid design affects the convergence behavior of barrier and European options in general diffusion models. Using the spectral method, we obtain sharp estimates for the convergence rate of option price for non-uniform grids. We propose to calculate an option's delta and gamma by taking central difference of option prices on the grid. For this simple method, we prove that, surprisingly, delta and gamma converge at the same rate as option price does. Our analysis allows us to develop principles that are sufficient and necessary for designing nonuniform grids that can achieve second order convergence for option price, delta and gamma. Based on these principles, we propose a novel class of non-uniform grids, which ensures that convergence is not only second order, but also smooth. This further allows extrapolation to be applied to achieve even higher convergence rate. Our grids enable the CTMC approximation method to price and hedge a large number of options with different strikes fast and accurately. Applicability of our results to jump models is discussed through numerical examples.

Numerical methods in finance have emerged as a vital field at the crossroads of probability theory, finance and numerical analysis. Based on presentations given at the workshop Numerical Methods in Finance held at the INRIA Bordeaux (France) on June 1-2, 2010, this book provides an overview of the major new advances in the numerical treatment of instruments with American exercises. Naturally it covers the most recent research on the mathematical theory and the practical applications of optimal stopping problems as they relate to financial applications. By extension, it also provides an original treatment of Monte Carlo methods for the recursive computation of conditional expectations and solutions of BSDEs and generalized multiple optimal stopping problems and their applications to the valuation of energy derivatives and assets. The articles were carefully written in a pedagogical style and a reasonably self-contained manner. The book is geared toward quantitative analysts, probabilists, and applied mathematicians interested in financial applications.

Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedastic (ARCH) processes are used in finance to model asset price volatility over time. This book introduces both the theory and applications of ARCH models and provides the basic theoretical and empirical background, before proceeding to more advanced issues and applications. The Authors provide coverage of the recent developments in ARCH modelling which can be implemented using econometric software, model construction, fitting and forecasting and model evaluation and selection. Key Features: Presents a comprehensive overview of both the theory and the practical applications of ARCH, an increasingly popular financial modelling technique. Assumes no prior knowledge of ARCH models; the basics such as model construction are introduced, before proceeding to more complex applications such as value-at-risk, option pricing and model evaluation. Uses empirical examples to demonstrate how the recent developments in ARCH can be implemented. Provides step-by-step instructive examples, using econometric software, such as Econometric Views and the G@RCH module for the Ox software package, used in Estimating and Forecasting ARCH Models. Accompanied by a CD-ROM containing links to the software as well as the datasets used in the examples. Aimed at readers wishing to gain an aptitude in the applications of financial econometric modelling with a focus on practical implementation, via applications to real data and via examples worked with econometrics packages.

This book illustrates the application of the economic concept of stochastic dominance to option markets and presents an alternative option pricing paradigm to the prevailing no arbitrage simultaneous equilibrium in the frictionless underlying and option markets. This new methodology was developed primarily by the author, working independently or jointly with other co-authors, over the course of more than thirty years. Among others, it yields the fundamental Black-Scholes-Merton option value when markets are complete, presents a new approach to the pricing of rare event risk, and uncovers option mispricing that leads to tradeable strategies in the presence of transaction costs. In the latter case it shows how a utility-maximizing investor trading in the market and a riskless bond, subject to proportional transaction costs, can increase his/her expected utility by overlaying a zero-net-cost portfolio of options bought at their ask price and written at their bid price, irrespective of the specific form of the utility function. The book contains a unified presentation of these methods and results, making it a highly readable supplement for educators and sophisticated professionals working in the popular field of option pricing. It also features a foreword by George Constantinides, the Leo Melamed Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, USA, who was a co-author in several parts of the book.