Questions tagged [variance]
Used for questions related to statistical measure "variance", i.e. a second central moment of a random variable. The variance is a risk measure.
175
questions
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11answers
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Lévy alpha-stable distribution and modelling of stock prices.
Since Mandelbrot, Fama and others have performed seminal work on the topic, it has been suspected that stock price fluctuations can be more appropriately modeled using Lévy alpha-stable distrbutions ...
33
votes
9answers
57k views
What is the difference between volatility and variance?
How do volatility and variance differ in finance and what do both imply about the movement of an underlying?
19
votes
5answers
22k views
Why would an investor trade a variance swap over a volatility swap?
Why would an investor trade a variance swap over a volatility swap? Is it simply related to the leverage involved in a Var (i.e. sigma-squared) or is there something else to it?
17
votes
4answers
965 views
Approximately what proportion of a stock’s volatility is explained by market movement?
Assume we decompose the daily (log) returns of a stock as beta times market movement plus an idiosyncratic part. If this is done ex-ante, what proportion of the variance is explained by the market ...
14
votes
1answer
842 views
Derivation of VIX Formula
I've read a lot of derivations about VIX formula. I can say it is -adjusted- fair strike of variance swap. But I can't see how it goes from variance swap rate to VIX formula. In particular I can't see ...
13
votes
2answers
593 views
Realized variance in SVJJ (Heston with jumps) model
I am working with the stochastic volatility model with jumps in both the price and volatility dynamics, ie. the risk neutral dynamics are of the form:
$$\mathrm{d}V_t = \kappa(\theta - V_t)\mathrm{d}t ...
12
votes
1answer
2k views
Variance replication using options
I would like to understand the intuition behind the following question:
Why a certain weighted sum of prices of put and calls is equivalent to the implied variance of an underlying?
A variance swap ...
12
votes
0answers
2k views
Formula for the efficient portfolios in mean-variance optimisation?
Consider the setting of mean-variance portfolio optimisation: $n$ assets with expected returns $\overline{r}_1,...,\overline{r}_n$ and standard deviations $\sigma_1,...\sigma_n$.
For a certain fixed $\...
11
votes
1answer
18k views
How to calculate the conditional variance of a time series?
I am reading a paper where the term conditional variance is mentioned, but I am not really sure what is meant by this and how this can be calculated:
Fig. 2 shows the conditional variances of the ...
10
votes
2answers
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Is the VIX more similar to a volatility swap or a variance swap?
I am reading the following paragraph on the VIX wikipedia article and I find it confusing:
The VIX is calculated as the square root of the par variance swap rate for a 30-day term[clarify] ...
9
votes
4answers
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Negative high frequency intraday volatility - Zhou estimator
To estimate high frequency tick data stock intraday volatility, I have read Robert Almgren's notes7.pdf
http://www.cims.nyu.edu/~almgren/timeseries/notes7.pdf
where he talks about the bias free ...
9
votes
2answers
969 views
Why do low standard deviation stocks tend to have superior future returns?
I've recently stumbled on something that really surprised me. These papers (1, 2) find that past standard deviation of returns is inversely related to future returns. That is, portfolio of low ...
8
votes
3answers
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Variance of time integral of squared Brownian motion
I want to calculate the variance of
$$I = \int_0^t W_s^2 ds$$
I was thinking I could define the function $f(t,W_t) = tW_t^2$ and then apply Ito's lemma so I get
$$f(t,W_t)-f(0,0) = \int_0^t \frac{\...
8
votes
3answers
3k views
Why is a variance swap long skew?
I can appreciate the mathematical derivation, but can anyone explain this in a more intuitive sense?
I often come across the mistaken belief that due to the replicating portfolio being long more ...
8
votes
1answer
376 views
Do weights from portfolio theory contain bias?
I want to experiment with some portfolio modelling and I was wondering if you guys could help me with something. If I try to estimate and implement the traditional two-fund portfolio consisting of one ...
8
votes
3answers
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Variance swap replication and variance vega
Noob here.
I've been trying to gain a better understanding of variance swaps and what better way than to replicate it with a portfolio of better understood instruments.
I have read the GS 1999 ...
8
votes
1answer
496 views
Jim Gatheral's assertion on ATM implied volatility vs. square root variance
In Jim Gatheral's book The Volatility Surface Section Dependence on Skew and Curvature on page 138, he asserts that
We know that the implied volatility of an at-the-money forward option
in the ...
8
votes
1answer
5k views
Conditional or unconditional volatility?
I am reading a paper (reference below) that states "The conditional volatility for each underlying security (or for a market index) can be estimated using the standard deviation of the stock’s ...
7
votes
3answers
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CAPM model as a regression
The CAPM model states that the returns of a stock are-
$r_s=r_f+\beta (r_m-r_f)+\varepsilon_s$
The $\beta$ defined above is then calculated as $\frac{cov(r_s,r_m)}{var(r_m)}$. My question is ...
6
votes
2answers
953 views
What are the significant implications of the long-run average variance rate and why Engle won the Nobel Prize for ARCH model development?
In a ARCH(m) model we have
$$
\sigma_n^2=\sum_{i=1}^{m} \alpha_i u_{n-i}^2
$$
where $u_i$ is defined as the continuously compounded return during day $i$ (between the end of day $i-1$ and the end of ...
6
votes
2answers
573 views
Choice of prior as a shrinkage target in portfolio construction?
There's various research showing how priors such as the minimum variance portfolio turn out to be a surprisingly effective shrinkage target in portfolio construction.
The sell point of these priors ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
Static and Dynamic Hedging of Vol/Var Swaps
Why can a variance swap be perfectly statically hedged whereas a volatility swap requires dynamic hedging?
Possible reference request to the corresponding literature.
6
votes
1answer
216 views
How to scale option pricing components in regard to time
I am looking at closed-form options approximations, in particular the Bjerksund-Stensland model.
I have run into a very basic question. How should I scale the input variables in regard to time? My ...
5
votes
2answers
3k views
What is the difference between squared returns and variance?
I am trying to calculate 1-day ahead volatility forecasts using the exponentially weighted moving average, however I am unsure on how to read the formula provided within Risk-Metrics Technical ...
5
votes
2answers
319 views
How to derive this approximation of the risk-neutral expectation of the variance?
On the paper Bollerslev, Tauchen and Zhou (2009 RFS) the authors say about equation (15):
The corresponding model implied risk-neutral conditional expectation
$$E^Q_t(\sigma^2_{r,t+1})=E_t(\sigma^...
5
votes
1answer
566 views
Replicating Log Contract - Errors Introduced by Jumps
In the GS Research Note about Volatility Swaps, it is shown that you can replicate a pure variance exposure (hedge) with only vanilla calls and puts, primarily thanks to the Carr-Madan formula of ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
Calibrating Hull-White using volatility data
I would like to calibrate Hull-White model using volatility data.I am using [Park (2004)] paper as a reference.
He suggests to minimize the following objective function:
where the first term is ...
4
votes
2answers
132 views
Does heteroskedasticity of returns depend on the time frame?
Similarly to my last question, for which I obtained very interesting and useful answers, I would like to know if there has been any study regarding heteroskedasticity and time-frames of the returns.
...
4
votes
1answer
204 views
Hedging vega risk with varswaps
I have encountered a statement that in summary reads like this:
Varswaps became popular after the LTCM meltdown due to high levels of implied volatility the market was seeing at the time. Hedge funds ...
4
votes
1answer
527 views
Linear regression and assets direction prediction
I have the following asset returns Y and the predictions for the same periods Y':
Y = { 10, 200, -1000, -1, -7 }
Y' = { 1, 2, -3, -4, -5 }
The OLR R-squared for ...
4
votes
2answers
874 views
How is volatility different from variance?
I always thought volatility was just variance ^ (1/2). Now I'm reading this book and it's saying that the two are different concepts. Excerpts include:
Partly due to its use in Black-Scholes, ...
4
votes
1answer
428 views
Portfolio diversification and Sharpe ratio
I have a given trading strategy T and say 3 assets in my universe. The hold time is one day. The trading strategy can general signals for the 3 assets in any given day (so signal can trigger for any ...
4
votes
1answer
446 views
Variance of a straddle (Black Scholes)
I am trying to determine the variance of the payout of a straddle. For puts and calls individually:
Var[P] = E[P^2] - E[P]^2
Var[C] = E[C^2] - E[C]^2
where:
$$
E[...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
How to compute the variance of a Long-Short Equity Portfolio?
I am calculating the historical portfolio variance of various long-short equity portfolios. For simplicity, assume the portfolio is long stock A with weight 1.0 and short stock B with weight -0.5. ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
Why is this delta-hedging/P&L example on a variance swap call correct?
I'm looking into this article about var swaps: http://sbossu.com/docs/VarSwaps.pdf and not sure how to correctly interpret Exhibit 2.1.1.
"In this example an option trader sold a 1-year call struck ...
3
votes
1answer
261 views
Intuition Behind Scaling Factor in Variance Swaps
In More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Volatility Swaps the fair value of a future variance swap can be replicated from market prices for calls and puts. The fair put and call strike is shown to ...
3
votes
1answer
149 views
Can we model Implied volatility using GARCH?
Can I use Implied volatility as a dependent variable in a GARCH model? I believe my IV data shows ARCH effects and hence can I use it to model volatility of the volatility? I know literature has used ...
3
votes
1answer
133 views
Variance risk premium: When is realized vol higher than implied vol in practice?
I’m doing some work around the variance risk premium currently, and I’m interested in understanding the situations when realized volatility is > implied volatility in practice.
I know in generally ...
3
votes
1answer
619 views
How to calculate the mean and variance of this Ito integral?
I tried to calculate this integral use Ito's lemma, $W_{t}$ is the Wiener Process.
$$I_{T}=\int_{0}^{T}\sqrt{|W_{t}|}dW_{t}$$
We have
$d f\left(W_{t}\right)=f^{\prime}\left(W_{t}\right) d W_{t}+\...
3
votes
1answer
666 views
Criticise GARCH relative to Realized Volatility
I would like to have your opinion about a simple question.
While GARCH would be useful to calculate the conditional volatility, and the RV being in some sense the "historical" volatility, what would ...
3
votes
2answers
654 views
Variance of a Stock price and relationship with volatility
A bit of background. I know that the forward price of a stock (or its expected price) is given by $\mathbb{E}[S_T]=S_te^{(r-q)(T-t)}$. Here, $r$ and $q$ are not constant, but follow a curve. I was ...
3
votes
1answer
217 views
Antithetic sampling Monte Carlo
In Peter Jaeckel, Monte Carlo in Finance book, I read the following sentence:
Whenever the first realised moment of the underlying variate draws
$\{z_i\}$ has a strong impact on the result of the ...
3
votes
1answer
210 views
How to reduce variance in Monte Carlo using Control Variates when spot prices are decreasing?
I'm trying to use the Control Variates technique to reduce the variance of the estimate obtained from a Monte Carlo simulation for option pricing. As suggested in the book by Glasserman I'm using this ...
3
votes
1answer
193 views
Minimizing variance vs. expected shortfall: distributions where the difference is salient
In portfolio theory in finance, given a set of $n$ assets to choose from, one often selects portfolio weights so as to maximize expected return and minimize some measure of risk, e.g. variance or ...
3
votes
1answer
121 views
Variance Swap : dividends and rates
In a simplified world you can assume that the var swap is replicated by a continuous set of calls and puts and interest rates are equal to zero. So your PNL is only sensitive to the volatility.
But in ...
3
votes
2answers
617 views
Estimation Risk-Neutral Variance of Returns
I am trying to find a method which allows me to estimate $Var_{\mathbb{Q}}\left(\frac{S_{t_{i+1}}}{S_{t_i}}\right)$ where $S$ denotes the price process of an underlying stock (which has to be assumed ...
3
votes
2answers
377 views
How to estimate the variance of this stochastic process?
I have an unobservable stochastic quantity $\lambda(t)$, which I analytically know the variance of, that is
$$\text{Var}(\lambda(t))= \frac{\theta \sigma^2}{2\kappa}$$
My goal is to get an estimate ...
3
votes
1answer
305 views
Why are there different estimators for stock volatility? (realized variance, RAV, etc)
I am very confused about why different volatility estimators (RV, RAV, BPV, etc) exist. If the goal is to find the best estimator for stock volatility, and volatility is latent, how do I know which ...
3
votes
0answers
72 views
How to Compute the payoff of Var Swaps, which I have replicated
I used Derman(1999) method, to calculate the fixed Kvar for Variance Swaps using actual option price data. The first Pic Shows the outcome. (ignore the 0s).
Now the profit and loss of short var swaps ...
3
votes
0answers
150 views
Usages of variance swap
I’m interested in variance swap.
Considered from its feature, variance swap is used for betting the (historical) volatility of underlying asset.
If we use it for hedge tool of Vega or Volga, does it ...
