# All Questions

3k views

### How are limit orders selected from the order book?

I'm sure there is a simple answer to this but I haven't had any luck with searches. I'm just wondering when someone places a market order which order(s) from the limit order book are selected to fill ...
11k views

### Is there any thing out there as a substitute for KDB?

thanks a lot for your discussions on the original post. following your suggestions, let me re-phrase a bit : kdb is known for its efficiency, and such efficiency comes at a terrible price. However, ...
861 views

### Keeping a track record honest

I want to start a blog/newsletter and maintain a track record of trades I recommend. I have a never-expiring demo account for this purpose. How do I keep this track record "honest"? Three months ...
28k views

I am preparing for the CFA level 2 exam, I got confused by the concept Z-spread and OAS. When a call option is added to a bond, since it is not favorable to the bond buyer, they would require more ...
2k views

### Looking for a recommendation for a real life volatily trading book.

Recently I started working in an algotrading company as a programmer. After I studied that subject a little in the university and read a book or two in that field I gained a little knowledge in that ...
16k views

### how to derive yield curve from interest rate swap?

According to some textbooks, to derive the yield curve, quote overnight to 1 week: rates from interbank money market deposit, 1 month to 1 year: LIBOR; 1 year to 7 years: Interest Rate Swap; 7 ...
3k views

### References for developing an automated trading system?

I am looking for references on the architecture of automated trading systems and the trading algorithms behind them. I am more interested in system development than analysis. A couple of books I ...
6k views

The bid-ask bounce is the bouncing of trade prices between the bid and ask sides of the market. It introduces a systematic bias to the data which can cause serious problems in analysis. What methods ...
12k views

### How high of a Sharpe ratio is implausibly high for a low-frequency equity strategy?

I am looking to convince someone that an annualized Sharpe Ratio of 7 is 'extremely high' for a low frequency (daily rebalancing, say) long-short technical strategy on U.S. equities. I was hoping for ...
1k views

### Resources for finding scholarly research on topics in quantitative finance?

A friend and I have taken up an interest in quantitative finance, and we're pretty much starting from scratch—neither of us have backgrounds in finance, but rather electrical engineering and ...
15k views

### How to simulate stock prices with a Geometric Brownian Motion?

I want to simulate stock price paths with different stochastic processes. I started with the famous geometric brownian motion. I simulated the values with the following formula: ...
2k views

### Why do expected return models and risk models use different factors?

This is a question responding to weekly topic challenge. I happen to see an interesting question from SYMMYS by Michael Kapler. I always approached expected return and risk modeling as separate ...
2k views

### Is there a standard model for market impact?

Is there a standard model for market impact? I am interested in the case of high-volume equities sold in the US, during market hours, but would be interested in any pointers.
549 views

### What benefits are there to employing agile software development methodologies for quants?

Perusing the other SE network sites, particularly Programmers, I often find vigorous support for various agile software development methodologies, particularly the various values known as Extreme ...
1k views

### How to detect regime change when estimating asset correlation from historical time series?

Suppose I have two asset time series, $X_t$ and $Y_t$, and I'm estimating their correlation from historical data. I'd like to apply some systematic criterion to estimate what time window I should use ...
3k views

### How do I find the most diversified portfolio, or least correlated subset, of stocks?

I have a trading system that chooses top 10 stocks in Nasdaq 100 ranked on relative strength and some other factors. However, I'd like to take positions in only 5 of these 10 stocks based on how ...
7k 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 ...
1k views

### How do strategies deal with corporate actions?

There are many corporate actions that will affect the stock price, like dividend, stock split and rights. Given a large series of historical price data, how do we adjust the data to filter out the ...
2k views

### How to generate a random price series with a specified range and correlation with an actual price?

I want to generate a mock price series. I want it to be within a certain range and have a defined correlation with the original price series. If I choose, say, oil, I want as many time series which ...
2k views

### How can I quantitatively test the validity of momentum indicators?

I am learning about quantitative finance, and I am struck by how different it is from the techniques that make it into magazines and TV, particularly technical analysis. Specifically, if they say an ...
3k views

### Should Sharpe ratio be computed using log returns or relative returns?

I am trying to reconcile some research with some published values of 'Sharpe ratio', and would like to know the 'standard' method for computing the same: Based on daily returns? Monthly? Weekly? ...
542 views

### Transparent quant products with real track record

A real track record is better than backtesting! I am looking for products, funds, certificates, indices etc. that are based on quantitative trading strategies where the strategies and performance ...
2k views

### Categories of systematic trading strategies?

What are the main categories of systematic trading strategies (e.g. momentum, mean reversion), as might be considered by an index or fund-of-fund analyst? Are there any common sub-strategies?
2k views

### Fundamental Theorem of Asset Pricing (FTAP)

In the spirit of canonical questions please state here versions of the FTAP in the following form (please only one theorem by answer) : Necessary definitions (or a direct link to definitions) ...
667 views

### Optimal execution strategy

Can someone shed some light on optimal ways to execute medium sized orders ~2000 shares in the market? Unfortunately the execution algo I have access to is very dumb. It follows the top-of-book ...
838 views

### Can you fully hedge an option in the presence of counterparty risk?

The derivation of the Black-Scholes model assumes no counterparty risk. Does the presence of counterparty risk invalidate the argument behind the model? EDIT: The question is about options in ...
536 views

### How credible is Knight pointing the finger at Rule 107C?

After the Knight Capital incident, I decided to read into the new Rule 107C that NYSE pushed-out August 1st for a one-year pilot. From what I've read, Knight claims that new code rolled out for this ...
483 views

### What is a commonly accepted econometric model for volume?

What is the gold standard econometric model for volume? For example, a common model for price is the autoregressive (AR) model with GARCH(1,1) innovations. Do you know of any good survey articles ...
2k views

### How to interpolate gaps in a time series using closely related time series?

I am trying to construct a daily time series of prices and returns for some large universe of securities. However, all I have available are a monthly time series of the prices/returns (as well as ...
946 views

### What is the precision of standard deviation estimates with small samples?

I was asked today to "quantify" the precision of an estimated the standard deviation from a small sample, I was not sure how to answer. The case is quite simple, I have a sample of $n=25$ measures ...
681 views

### What is the most effective way of determining & measuring the level of HFT activity in a stock in (close to) real time?

On a security by security basis, I want to be able to quantify the level of HFT activity (and later institutional & retail activity). Is it higher than it normally is? How much so? What would you ...
3k views

### Volatility pumping in practice

The fascinating thing about volatility pumping (or optimal growth portfolio, see e.g. here) is that here volatility is not the same as risk, rather it represents opportunity. Additionally it is a ...
1k views

### Quantitative Math required for Market-making?

I understand there is an awful lot of Quantitative Math required for statistical arbitrage/algorithmic trading. However, would someone "in the know" be able to tell me whether there is less ...
920 views

### So many volatility models. Any comparisons of them?

Are there any papers that make an explicit contrast/comparison of the following (or other) vol models in terms of the suitability for addressing some empirical problem? Wavelet multiresolution ...
1k views

### Role of skewness in portfolio optimization?

What is the role of skewness in portfolio optimization?
1k views

### Rate interpolation in Libor Market Model

Libor Market Model (LMM) models the interest rate market by simulating a set of simply compounded, non-overlapping Libor rates which reset and mature on predefined dates. How do I obtain from them a ...
761 views

### Operating parameters of market makers?

I'd like to get a feel for the operating parameters of official market makers. I'm looking more for discerning characteristics, rather than exact numbers or an exhaustive list of each MM. Examples: ...
3k views

### What is an efficient data structure to model order book?

What is an efficient data structure to model order book of prices and quantities to ensure: constant look up iteration in order of prices retrieving best bid and ask in constant time fast quantity ...
2k views

### What books should any quantitative portfolio manager or risk manager have as reference? [closed]

I'm interested to know what are the critical reference texts you rely on for portfolio or risk management? I mean those texts that you come back to because they are chock full of insight and know-how. ...
1k views

### Is there a popular curve fitting formula of options skew vs strike price or vs Delta?

I was trying to build a options trading/optimization system. But it often gets more inaccurate as it scans through the far from ATM options because, you know, options skews. That is because I did ...
805 views

### Can you replicate an option on an arbitrary basket of stocks?

Since a market index is nothing more than a basket of stocks, you can create your own index by putting together stocks of your choice. The only difference is that you can trade options on major ...
991 views

### When should you build your own equity risk model?

Commercial risk models (e.g., Barra, Axioma, Barclays, Northfield) have evolved to a very high level of sophistication. However, all of these models attempt to solve a very broad set of problems. ...
869 views

### How does UBS hedge its exposure to XVIX ETN?

I am wondering how UBS hedges its exposure to its ETN XVIX. Unless I am grossly overestimating the trading costs, executing the strategy they describe in their prospectus with futures would be quite ...
455 views

### How are prices calculated for commercial/residential mortgage-backed securities?

What is the theoretical/mathematical basis for the valuation of [C]MBS and other structured finance products? Is the methodology mostly consistent across different products?
653 views

### What benchmark/index to use for backtesting a portfolio of stock options?

What benchmark should I use for backtesting a model for when I should buy an option of a particular stock? For equities, one could say their portfolio outperformed the S&P 500. I would like to ...
2k 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, ...
3k views

### How does left tail risk differ from right tail risk?

How does left tail risk differ from right tail risk? In what context would an analyst use these metrics?
832 views

### Solving Path Integral Problem in Quantitative Finance using Computer

I've asked this question here at Physics SE, but I figured that some parts would be more appropriate to ask here. So I'm rephrasing the question again. We know that for option value calculation, path ...