All Questions

4k views

R: Fast and efficient way of running a multivariate regression across a (really) large panel (First pass of Fama MacBeth)

I am attempting to run a rolling multivariate regression (14 explanatory variables) across a panel of 5000 stocks: For each of the 5000 stocks, I run 284 regressions (by rolling over my sample ...
888 views

Literature on generating synthetic time series for testing

I have some market data (daily time series) for bond prices and CDS indices and I would like to generate synthetic versions of these which are statistically "similar" for testing trading strategies. ...
1k views

How to conduct Monte Carlo simulations to test validity of Black Scholes for a specific option?

In reference to the original Black Scholes model, what approach is best to test the model in a rigorous way? Is there a standard approach that can accomplish this in a reasonable amount of time? ...
728 views

Missing step in stock price movement equations

Assuming a naive stochastic process for modelling movements in stock prices we have: $dS = \mu S dt + \sigma S \sqrt{dt}$ where S = Stock Price, t = time, mu is a drift constant and sigma is a ...
3k views

Estimation of Geometric Brownian Motion drift

One can find many papers about estimators of the historical volatility of a geometric Brownian motion (GBM). I'm interested in the estimation of the drift of such a process. Any link on this topic ...
1k views

How to detect structural breaks in variance?

I'm looking for a method to automatically detect structural breaks, I tried Chow test, It works good but it doens't work for breaks in variance. Do you know a test to check strucutural break in ...
5k views

What are the main limitations of Black Scholes?

Pls explain and discuss these limitations, and explain which models can I use to overcome these limitations. Alternatively, provide examples of how to modify the original Black Scholes to overcome ...
819 views

What is the expected return I should use for the momentum strategy in MV optimization framework?

As all research on the momentum strategies are focused on the indicator, i.e. the entry point, there seems not much discussion on its expected return? Though there are some discussions on the exit ...
2k views

What is the ideal ratio of in-sample length to out-of-sample length?

Suppose you are running a portfolio of quantitative strategies and that you develop a new potential strategy to be added to the mix. Assume for simplicity that the new strategy is independent of the ...
2k views

Easiest and most accessible derivation of Black-Scholes formula

I am preparing a QuantFinance lecture and I am looking for the easiest and most accessible derivation of the Black-Scholes formula (NB: the actual formula, not the differential equation). My favorite ...
2k views

Drawbacks & Caveats of using (N)Esper for ESP/CEP in trading systems?

Esper and its .NET port NEsper are components that enable Complex Event Processing (CEP) and Event Stream Processing (ESP) engines. They are especially suitable for trading applications. They can, ...
1k views

What are some computational bottlenecks that quants face? [closed]

What are the current computational (non-network) bottlenecks now in a quant's workflow? What computational tasks would be revolutionary with a 10-100x improvement in performance using general purpose ...
363 views

How to account for market movement when some exchanges are closed?

Daily data, such as open and close prices, is often available for much longer periods than high-frequency data. However, whenever backtesting any strategy that examines instruments traded in different ...
533 views

Has any research used Bayesian networks to estimate risk factor betas?

Is there any published research on estimating the beta of a security with respect to one or more risk factors via Bayesian networks? I'd like to see if this is a promising angle of research.
2k views

Is there a standard method for quantifying mean-reversion for use in directional trading?

Assuming a directional strategy (no pairs or spread trades) is there a "standard" method for quantifying mean-reversion? Should auto-correlation, variance ratios, hurst exponent, or some other measure ...
232 views

Does entropy pooling apply to distributions with time-varying drift?

I have a returns process that is drawn from a normal distribution with a nonlinear time-varying drift, so I was wondering if the entropy pooling method still applies or if I need an invariant ?
384 views

How to “uncluster” a set of financial data?

I am attempting to evaluate and compare the profit factor of different "test runs" of a FOREX trading strategy. My problem is that, despite an average time between orders of 2hr+, some of these runs ...
340 views

Currency Hedged ETFs

At work we were talking about currency hedging our equity index exposures but I am struggling to understand how this happens in a typical iShares ETF. If we take the Japan ETF IJPN then we see this ...
1k views

Where to find Greeks for futures to form delta-hedged futures portfolio of S&P 500 index/futures

I can't find S&P 500 index (SPX) futures data with Greeks to create delta-hedged portfolios. Do these data exist? I have access to most of the common data sources. In the meantime, I am trying to ...
744 views

Intuitive explanation of the Hansen-Jagannathan bound

The Hansen-Jagannathan bound states that the maximum Sharpe ratio of a portfolio can't exceed the ratio of the standard deviation of a stochastic discount factor to its mean. I more or less understand ...
747 views

Most quantitative investment strategies focus on the changing prices of a commodity or equity over time. Derivatives, however, make this more complicated. How can I apply quantitative strategies to ...
475 views

Exploiting breakdowns in correlation of estimated volatility

In the attached image I have a plot of the rolling correlation of 90-day historic volatility (using the Garman Klass estimator based on Sinclair's Volatility Trading) of JPM v. the S&P. As can be ...
1k views

Simulating Returns

I'll start this off with a rather broad question: I am trying to simulate returns of a large number of assets within a portfolio of different classes - equity and fixed income in a first step, say 100 ...
259 views

How do you characterize dividends for equity options?

While many systems like to treat dividends as a continuous yield when pricing equity options, it works quite poorly for short-dated options. In the short run, deterministic dividends are clearly the ...
1k views

How to use macroeconomic indicators for long/short trading strategies?

I am trying to understand how to use macroeconomic data in my trading. I understand that using such data could be used to gauge an overall view of the market and how it's doing as a whole. I have been ...
344 views

What are the major characteristics of natural gas volatility and options?

Seasonality is a big deal in the natural gas markets. My understanding is that they are broadly divided into summer and winter, with seasonality in both price and the volatility. What does this ...
782 views

Strictly local martingales: what is the intuition behind them?

A process $X_t$ is a local martingale if for each increasing sequence of stopping times $\{\tau_k,k=1,2,...\}$ the stopped process is a martingale. All true martingales are local martingales, but the ...
316 views

Portfolios from Sorts

Some time ago Almgren and Chriss proposed a method for portfolio optimization based on sorting criteria such as $r_1 > r_2 >... > r_N$ instead of explicit expected returns: see portfolios ...
415 views

How to estimate the following model?

Suppose I have the following model: $$r_t=\sigma_t * \epsilon_t$$ where $r_t$ is the return at time t, $\sigma_t$ is the volatility, the model used to model this volatility is an exponentially ...
444 views

Stochastic modelling of derivatives on dividends

I consider pricing and risk analysis of derivatives on dividends of the members of equity indices (such as Dow Jones EuroStoxx). There are options but I focus on futures. What are common stochastic ...
419 views

A non parametric study of VaR with kernel density

I'm working in order to compare the calculation of the VaR between the methodology of copulas and kernel density, all this by using the software r. The process that I follow is: Obtain a sample ...
390 views

Is Arithmetic Return Bias Basis of Low Vol Anomaly?

An observation in capital markets is that the connection between return and risk (measured as volatility) is not that straightforward (at least not as modern portfolio theory assumes). One interesting ...
427 views

Creating an n-factor Certainty Equivalent Discounting Formula

Brealey & Myers provide a certainty-equivalent version of the present value rule, using CAPM, as follows: $$PV_0=\frac{C_1 - \lambda_m *cov(C_1, r_m)}{1 + r_f}$$ $PV_0$ - Present Value of cash ...
438 views

What weights should be used when adjusting a correlation matrix to be positive definite?

I have a correlation matrix $A$ for an equity market that is not positive definite. Higham (2002) proposes the Alternating Projections Method, minimising the weighted Frobenius norm $||A-X||_W$ where ...
364 views

Consistency of economic scenarios in nested stochastics simulation

I am interested in references on research regarding the consistency of economic scenarios in nested stochastics for risk measurement. Background: Pricing by Monte-Carlo: For pricing complex ...