The volatility of the price of the underlying security that is implied by the market price of an option based on an option pricing model.
3
votes
1answer
60 views
When the Inverse Correlation between the SPX and VIX breaks down
As we all know the S&P and its implied vol, the VIX, generally move in opposite direction. To a large extent, the correlations makes sense. IV is one of the main drivers of the price of options, ...
1
vote
0answers
82 views
Interpolate option volatility in delta space in R
I have a bunch of deltas and option implied vols at those deltas. I would like to interpolate them in R. Interpolating them in delta space seems difficult, since normally you would like the ATM calls ...
5
votes
3answers
199 views
Implied Volatility Calculation
We all know if you back out of the BS option pricing model you can derive and solve what the options is "implying" as its volatility. However, what is the formula used to derive IV (can anyone direct ...
1
vote
2answers
276 views
What is the instantaneous P&L of a Variance Swap?
What is the instantaneous P&L of a variance swap.
Is it $(\sigma^{2}_{t}-\sigma^{2}_{implied})dt$?
5
votes
3answers
728 views
What really drives option implied volatility?
A common and oft repeated belief regarding options volatility is that implied volatility increases due to people bidding up a contract, usually related to anticipation of the outcome of an expected ...
0
votes
2answers
199 views
Why the implied volatilities calculated are so different
I Calculated facebook option(expired in 12/4/13) Implied Volatility with the Bisection Method. The program will be attached at the end. The results for different strike prices are so different:
...
3
votes
0answers
112 views
compute time from FX forward, how use DEPO rates?
assume I have following delta-term vol data from broker:
...
0
votes
1answer
67 views
volatility Table and BS formula
assume I have implied FX volatility Delta-Term table from broker. I have time noticed as 2M, 3M. what do I have to put into BS formula, is it 2/12 or "count the business days"/"daycount basis"?
I am ...
5
votes
5answers
2k views
How do you explain the volatility smile in the Black-Scholes framework?
Does anyone have an explanation for the currently naturally forming volatility smile (and the variations) in the market?
0
votes
1answer
118 views
Numerical difficulties in fitting option prices
In [1], the authors state that "Although some studies apply the curve-fitting method directly to option prices, the severely nonlinear relationship between option price and strike price often leads to ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
Volatility Index Weighting Scheme
Among the several weighting schemes used for constructing volatility indices, which ones are the best for forecasting (realized) volatility? I've constructed a volatility index for emerging markets ...
2
votes
4answers
297 views
Why is short term implied volatility typically higher?
Why do short term implieds move more than long term?
7
votes
2answers
713 views
What does the VIX formula measure and how does it work?
I have read the CBOE's white paper on the VIX and a lot of other things, but I need to honestly say, I don't really get it, or I am missing something important.
In semi-layman's terms, is the VIX ...
2
votes
1answer
163 views
Implied Volatility for Asian option
I am new to the topic of Asian options. Assume I want to price an Asian put (fixed strike, discrete average) in the Black Scholes world. I know implementations to calculate the value but what is the ...
3
votes
2answers
122 views
self-consistent parametric form for equity implied volatility
I recall reading a paper, but can't remember where I found it. In short, there was a parametric form for volatility smile/skew that fit both index and single stock vol slices and had intuitive ...
10
votes
7answers
2k views
Why does implied volatility show an inverse relation with strike price when examining option chains?
When looking at option chains, I often notice that the (broker calculated) implied volatility has an inverse relation to the strike price. This seems true both for calls and puts.
As a current ...
6
votes
3answers
281 views
What is an acceptable error on implied volatility?
Given an implied volatility surface (on equity indexes) and a calibrated model, what is the range of error on implied volatility a trader would accept ?
This obviously depends on the model used to ...
4
votes
2answers
154 views
Indexes/stocks with flat implied volatilities
After the 1987 crash, the S&P500 index implied volatility changed from nearly flat to negatively sloped. According to Rubinstein the Black-Scholes model was not so wrong when applied to the ...
3
votes
1answer
287 views
Interpreting QuantLlib implied volatility numbers
I am using QuantLib to calculate implied volatilities.
I am trying to understand the calculated figures (especially, when compared to historical volatility). The calculated implied volatility numbers ...
5
votes
2answers
785 views
Implied Volatility from American options (binomial)
I am trying to get the implied volatility from options on commodity futures and I know it's possible to get it from the binomial american options (on an non-dividend paying stock).
I believe it is ...
4
votes
2answers
455 views
SKEW and VIX relations?
My question is about the CBOE published index VIX and SKEW.
To start with, I consider working on the variance dynamics. I calibrate the market data (such as VIX and VIX futures) into the Heston ...
5
votes
2answers
558 views
Recommendation for a library to calculate the local volatility surface?
I'd like a library to calculate the options local volatility surface, i.e. the options implied volatility surface for a collection of strikes and their bid/ask prices.
Here are the libraries I've ...
3
votes
1answer
207 views
Why does Skew measure remain more-or-less constant for Listed Expiries?
I have looked at the Variance Swap Papers published by GS-VarSwap and JPM-VarSWap where they talk about approximation to VarSwap strike using ATMF vol and Skew (slope of the volatility skew for 90-110 ...
9
votes
5answers
2k views
What is the implied volatility skew?
I often hear people talking about the skew of the volatility surface, model, etc... but it appears to me that a clear standard definition is not unanimously in place among practitioners.
So here is ...
1
vote
1answer
371 views
What precision do I need to calculate implied volatility?
I'm developing a software to calculate the implied volatility of an option using the Black & Scholes formula and a trial-and-error method. The implied volatility values I get are correct, but I ...
5
votes
2answers
579 views
Constructing an approximation of the S&P 500 volatility smile with publicly available data
Besides of the VIX there is another vol datum publicly available for the S&P 500: the SKEW.
Do you know a procedure with which one can extrapolate other implied vols of the S&P 500 smile with ...
7
votes
2answers
644 views
How to calculate the most realistic historical option prices with additional publicly available parameters
This is a follow up question of this one.
My aim is to create the most realistic historical option prices possible with publicly available data. I want to do this for backtesting purposes.
The ...
3
votes
0answers
128 views
How companies choose earnings release dates, & effect on Implied Volatility
A company's earnings release date significantly affects weekly or monthly option prices/implied volatility. For companies that typically release earnings on the cusp of monthly options expiration, ...
4
votes
1answer
282 views
Modified bisection formula for deriving implied volatility for a dividend paying american option
I am trying to work out the formula for calculating the implied volatility of an american option on a stock paying dividends (discrete payments or annualized yield).
On page 171 of Haug
The ...
2
votes
2answers
470 views
How to calculate COMPOSITE underlying implied volatility from ATM (near month) option prices?
I am trying to calculate the implied volatility of an underlying given observed prices of call and puts. There are two scenarios:
The ATM strike is pinned by the market (i.e. underlying level == ...
8
votes
3answers
3k views
How should I calculate the implied volatility of an American option in a real-time production environment?
There are many models available for calculating the implied volatility of an American option. The most popular method, employed by OptionMetrics and others, is probably the Cox-Ross-Rubinstein model. ...
4
votes
1answer
297 views
What's the connection between implied vol curve of SPX and SPY?
I think there should be an obvious connection of the two implied vol curves from the SPX and SPY markets since the underlying of SPX is SP500, while the underlying of SPY is a ETF which tracks sp500 ...
7
votes
5answers
698 views
What functional form describes the implied volatility curve?
It is often convenient to parametrize the implied volatility curve to allow easy interpolation of volatility for any strike or maturity. What functional form describes the implied volatility curve for ...
8
votes
1answer
273 views
What drives changes in implied volatility on ETFs/ETNs?
I thought implied volatility, as well as the VIX, primarily increase due to increases in the underlying asset's volatility, as well as the options themselves being bid up because more people were ...
0
votes
1answer
477 views
what is the best way to calculate the probability of an equity option ending in the money?
Given historical implied volatility and all other know variables (stock price, option strike price, option expiration date, dividend rate, interest rate) what is the best way to calculate the ...
6
votes
1answer
236 views
How sensitive are vertical spreads to changes in implied volatility?
How sensitive are vertical spreads to changes in volatility / implied volatility in the money, at the money, and out of the money?
I'm thinking for 1 point spreads this would be very small / neutral ...
3
votes
0answers
116 views
What is the relation between return volatility and return rank volatility, and how can I control the latter?
I have no experience in finance, but I've been playing around with a virtual portfolio.
I'm trying to control the "rank volatility" distribution - that is, the volatility of a stock's daily rank in ...
9
votes
1answer
1k views
How do I compare implied and historic volatility?
what would you suggest are the starting points for comparing, in an easy, visual way, implied and delivered volatility surfaces? I'd like to see what the differences are between the historic surfaces, ...
0
votes
1answer
148 views
Does an option's price “ratio” with the underlying security price?
I'm trying to understand option pricing better.
Let's say security ABC is \$40, and a 38 PUT option with 40% implied volatility (and 90 days till expiration) is priced at X. If security ABC then ...
8
votes
1answer
271 views
Option Portfolio Risk - Volatility/Skew - practical implementation
I'm trying to improve my methods for calculating real-time US Equity option portfolio risk.
My main problem is volatility "stability" across all strikes in an option series.
The current ...
5
votes
2answers
786 views
How to extrapolate implied volatility for out of the money options?
Estimation of model-free implied volatility is highly dependent upon the extrapolation procedure for non-traded options at extreme out-of-the-money points.
Jiang and Tian (2007) propose that the ...
0
votes
0answers
110 views
Getting the actual distribution of a stock price at time T using implied volatility [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to derive the implied probability distribution from B-S volatilities?
Let's assume a stock price S, with volatility $\sigma$ constant, no dividend, and risk free ...
9
votes
1answer
383 views
Can VIX be interpreted as a proxy for instantaneous volatility?
BJO06 (Table 2) estimate the following Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model for market variance, $\sigma^2_t$:
$\mathrm{d}\sigma^2_t = (\alpha_0 + \alpha_1\sigma^2_t)\mathrm{d}t + ...
4
votes
1answer
378 views
Can anyone give me a practical example of pricing and calculating IV on equity index options? (i.e. using real market data)
I have been trading (mostly equity and equity index) options for a while now and I want to apply a slightly more quantitative approach to my trading - specifically, by calculating IV and incorporating ...
4
votes
1answer
599 views
If VIX is the Implied Volatility of SPX, 30 days in the future, how many days into the future does VIX vol look?
Question: if VIX is the Implied Volatility of SPX, 30 days in the future, how many days into the future does VIX vol look? +60 or +30?
Lets see if I'm on the right track:
Premise 1: VIX is the ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
How to derive the implied probability distribution from B-S volatilities?
The general problem I have is visualization of the implied distribution of returns of a currency pair.
I usually use QQplots for historical returns, so for example versus the normal distribution:
...
3
votes
1answer
148 views
Is it possible to estimate the correlation between an equity and its IV, purely from its IV skew?
If we know the options Implied Volatility (IV) skew for an equity, is it possible to calculate the probability of the equity moving, given a move in the IV?
We can define IV skew as the difference ...
3
votes
0answers
126 views
Could the Implied Volatility distribution change again? [closed]
It is well documented that following the stock market crash in 1987 the prices of options started to demonstrate skew and smile in the distribution of implied volatilities. This feature has been ...
6
votes
3answers
306 views
Parameters for pricing option on EDF
Ladies and Gents,
Im writing a quick routine to calculate implied vols for options on EUR$ futures with Bloomberg data. My question concerns the part where I have all my inputs and am ready to pass ...
4
votes
2answers
554 views
Lib for Arbitrage-Free Smoothing of Implied Volatility Surface?
I'm looking for an implementation of Arbitrage-Free Smoothing of the Implied Volatility Surface - Matthias R. Fengler.
Does anyone know of any existing libraries that have implemented this paper? Any ...
