All Questions

448 views

Simple value of a Forward contract at an intermediate time question

I am taking "Financial Engineering and Risk Management Part I" from Columbia University on coursera and I got a seemingly simple question wrong on the first quiz. This is all based on the no-arbitrage ...
9 views

Force of Interest Compounding at Annual Rate i

I'm working through some actuarial practice and am lost as to what's going on with the differentiation here (it's been a while since I've had calc): Derive an expression for $\delta_t$ if ...
5 views

Two very specific questions (they are more database questions, but need specific knowledge): A same stock could be traded in different currencies in a same exchange? A bond is always traded in his ...
9 views

If you have an index and have measured its beta with respect to the overall market, how would you go about adjusting it against spread dv01 and why would you want this number?
17 views

Sharpe Ratio for strategies with different rebalancing period

Strategies published in journal papers like SMB, HML, UMD have annualized sharpe ratios around 0.5. These long-short portfolios are formed with monthly rebalance. People who backtest some daily ...
4 views

From pag. 27, Table 6: http://www.opengamma.com/sites/default/files/pricing-and-risk-management-credit-default-swaps-opengamma.pdf Why do sensitivities of CDS are slightly negative before the ...
12 views

Definition of sharpe ratio maximising and variance minimising portfolios

In this paper, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2226985, in the derivation of the mean variance efficient portfolio using lagrangians in the appendix, on page 29, the two portfolios ...
7k views

What is the difference between asset management and wealth management?

What is the difference between this two concepts?
250 views

Why does changing the time step size in my Monte Carlo simulation change my result a lot?

I have written some software to price a call option using Monte Carlo simulation. It produces a price which is consistent with the model when I set the time step as recommended in a tutorial that I ...
125 views

Derivation of Stochastic Vol PDE

A couple questions regarding stochastic vol PDE derivation. Following Gatheral, a general stochastic vol model is given by \begin{align*} dS(t) & = \mu(t) S(t) dt + \sqrt{v(t)}S(t) dW_1, \\ dv(t) ...
112 views

Regression model when samples are small and not correlated

I received this question during an onsite interview for a quant job and I'm still scratching my head on how to solve this problem. Any help would be appreciated. Mr Quant thinks that there is a ...
9 views

Sources of index data (MSCI, FTSE, S&P etc.)?

Who are the major suppliers of index data that cover multiple index providers, e.g. MSCI, FTSE, S&P etc? There are a huge number of people sourcing e.g. equity data, but index data is much harder ...
155 views

Deriving the definition of stochastic integrals with respect to Ito processes from first principles

When I first encountered the definition of integrals with respect to Ito processes (Shreve's Stochastic Calculus for Finance Vol II), I didn't think twice. However, I wanted to see if the definition ...
127 views

How to get around flat likelihood function when calibrating GBM parameters?

I want to calibrate jointly the drift mu and volatility sigma of a geometric brownian motion, $$\log(S_t) = \log(S_{t-1}) + (\mu - 0.5*\sigma^2) \Delta t + \sigma*\sqrt{\Delta t}*Z_t$$ where $Z_t$ ...
14 views

Put-Call Parity Arbitrage Exploitation for Binary-Asset-or-Nothing Options

Is the Put-Call-Parity valid for binary (asset-or-nothing) options? If not, is there another formula for such exotic options? I know that for regular options, there are arbitrage opportunities when ...
262 views

How to calculate implied volatility smile of basket using correlations?

For a basket, the realized volatility can be calculated using: $$\sqrt{\sigma_1^2 + \sigma_2^2 + 2 \sigma_1 \sigma_2 \rho}$$ If I have the volatility surface of two underlyings S1,S2 (strike space). ...
71 views

Derivation using Ito's Lemma of price process

define q(t) as the log price minus a linear trend $$q(t) = logP(t) - \mu t$$ assume teh log price process = Equation 1: $$dq(t) = - \Theta q(t) dt + \sigma dW(t)$$ Can you show that the ...
25 views

Projecting cash flows via Monte Carlo Simulation

I am looking to model the cash flows associated with a company as part of a Project finance experiment, where I got the idea from here. I'm looking to project cash flows for an Automotive company in ...
47 views

Range options in BS

I know how barrier options are priced in Black-Scholes scheme. I'm wondering if an analytical formula exists also for range (corridor) digital options i.e. options paying only if the price remains ...
169 views

How to calculate the JdK RS-Ratio

Anyone have a clue how to calculate the JdK RS-Ratio? Let's say I want to compare the Relative strength for these: EWA iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund EWC iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund EWD ...
77 views

Stochastic Calculus Rescale Exercise

I have the following system of SDE's $dA_t = \kappa_A(\bar{A}-A_t)dt + \sigma_A \sqrt{B_t}dW^A_t \\ dB_t = \kappa_B(\bar{B} - B_t)dt + \sigma_B \sqrt{B_t}dW^B_t$ If $\sigma_B > \sigma_A$ I ...
50 views

Portfolio Strategies Project

My first assignment for my Quantitative Finance Masters is to design a portfolio that theoretically makes money under any market movement. I am also asked to state all necessary assumptions. What ...
22 views

Historical calibration of Hull-White model

I have a question concerning 1-factor Hull-White model. For my master project I need to calibrate it to compute Counterparty credit risk metrics. I know that the model might be calibrated either for ...
38 views

Approximate asian geometric option with Heston

I am trying to implement Theorem 1 from this Journal in RStudio. The journal says the it is possible to find a approximate price of a geometric asian option in a Heston setup this way: ...
26 views

How to calculate the estimation error of portfolio variance using propagation results?

I am trying to find a conservative approximation for the propagated estimation error of a investment portfolio's variance (comprising two assets), given we know the estimation error for the variance ...
16 views

Calculate and compare IRR among products and companies

I am trying to calculate return on investment for a couple of companies and their respective products. I have two main products: credit card installment loan Owners would like to be able to ...
44 views

does there need to be risk-neutral agents in the market to enforce risk-neutral pricing?

I'm trying to understand a fundamental link between mathematical finance and economics. I understand that risk-neutral pricing is free of arbitrage with replicating portfolio. Does risk-neutral ...
47 views

CAPM Model Required Return Calculations [on hold]

In a CAPM model how would one calculate p given sigma, beta, and required return? How would one calculate beta given sigma and p. and how would one calculate required return only given sigma and p?
42 views

Why is the value of debt modeled as a short put option in Merton's model?

Can someone give me an intuitive understanding of why the Merton model models the value of the debt from the lender's point of view as a short put with a risk free bond? I'm not well versed in this ...
172 views

How to interpret negative asset volatility numerical results in Merton model?

I am currently working on my thesis where I discuss the Merton default probability model. I have a huge sample of US firms for the period 1990-2010. I use both numerical and complex iterative approach ...
37 views

calculating share price from dividend discount model

I am trying to calculate dividend as per dividend discount model for titan company limited (india). Calculations: Cost of Equity: Now, As I have done calculation as shown above (formula on top ...
121 views

Thesis using Momentum strategies in R, tips on good books, guidelines etc on how to do the programming?

I am quite new to R and will be doing an empirical analysis of momentum strategies in R using a dataset from the index OSEAX from 1980 to 2014. The momentum strategy will for the most part resemble ...
126 views

Why can't you arb skew by buying options with low implied vol and selling high implied vol in the same month and dynamically hedging?

there's something I've been trying to understand for a while now and I just can't quite understand with regards to skew. In the same month, why can't you buy a option that have low implied vol on the ...
103 views

Best simplified way to model volatility in returns of an investment in a risky fixed income asset

I am currently working on a project where I have analyzed a certain category of fixd income instruments, and I now have the gross aggregate yield as well as the theoretical gross-aggregate ...
2k views

Is node.js being used in systematic trading software?

I have a project where I would like to track some tick data and create some indicators to follow it. I am thinking of using Node.js for this project, but I would like to know from those in industry if ...
11 views

How to find optimal noise covariance matrices Q & R

I am trying to use the discrete Kalman filter for forecasting and I wonder what is commonly considered as the optimal way of determining the measurement noise covariance constants (Q and R) for a ...
228 views

How google finance calculates beta of a stock

How google finance calculates beta of a stock - What is the proxy for the market? - What is the time period it uses for regression?
62 views

Risk budgeting for Non linear Portfolios

I am using this question to compute optimal weights following a risk budgeting approach. The problem is I am using non-linear portfolios (options,equity,fixed income,fx). What I am looking for is ...
82 views

Calibration Merton Jump-Diffusion

Consider the following SDE $dV_t = rV_tdt +\sigma V_t dW_t + dJ_t$ where $J_t$ is a Compound poisson process with log-Normal jump size $Y_i$. How am I supposed to calibrate this model to CDS ...
27 views

Are limit orders mostly being matched by market orders?

When going over order book data, most limit-order executions look similar to the following: ...
223 views

Models crumbling down due to negative (nominal) interest rates

Dear Stackexchange users, given that the negative interest rates on a lot of sovereign bonds with maturity under 10 years are trading in the negative (nominal) interest rate territory (recently also ...
66 views

Feynman Kac Formula for path-dependent options

Consier geometric Brownian motion: $dS_t/S_t=\mu dt+\sigma dW_t$ Feynman Kac theorem tells us that the conditional expectation $v(t,x)=E[ e^{-rT}\Psi(S_T) | S_t=x]$ can be computed by solving the ...
52 views

Delta hedging cost of exotic options?

I'm simulating dynamic delta hedging for up-and-out call option. For plain vanilla call options, I heard that the option price is the expected value of the accumulated delta hedging cost. Does it also ...
270 views

Question on Barrier Option and Skew

If you bought an Equity Call Option with a Down-and-In Barrier, are you Long Skew or Short Skew? Please provide explanation as well. Thanks.
10 views

Estimating Credit VaR using a simulation of joint defaults with a copula

I'm trying to follow the steps Malz gives to calculate Credit VaR using simulation of joint defaults with a copula. I'm having trouble understanding some of the steps. My math knowledge is rather ...
83 views

VIX Calculation - weighting of strikes

The formula for calculating the VIX from SPX options is given on page 4 of this document: https://www.cboe.com/micro/vix/vixwhite.pdf My question is, why is the option price at each strike weighted ...
10 views

Unexplained delimiters in Nasdaq ITCH file

I'm working on writing an order book constructor for Nasdaq ITCH v5 files, and I'm noticing some occasional message identifies/ delimiters that are not included in the ITCH5 specification, ...
25 views

Calculating unweighted performance of stocks within a period

The well known calculation of unweighted index of stocks is just calculating an arithmetic average. And then, to calculate the performance of the index, I calculate the %change of the unweighted ...
I am trying to find the empirical copula linking two random variables $X$ and $Y$. I have some data available but it's limited with respect to the variable $Y$ and I am not convinced it's enough data ...