No Arabic abstract
In the present paper, a decomposition formula for the call price due to Al`{o}s is transformed into a Taylor type formula containing an infinite series with stochastic terms. The new decomposition may be considered as an alternative to the decomposition of the call price found in a recent paper of Al`{o}s, Gatheral and Radoiv{c}i{c}. We use the new decomposition to obtain various approximations to the call price in the Heston model with sharper estimates of the error term than in the previously known approximations. One of the formulas obtained in the present paper has five significant terms and an error estimate of the form $O( u^{3}(left|rhoright|+ u))$, where $ u$ is the vol-vol parameter, and $rho$ is the correlation coefficient between the price and the volatility in the Heston model. Another approximation formula contains seven more terms and the error estimate is of the form $O( u^4(1+|rho|)$. For the uncorrelated Hestom model ($rho=0$), we obtain a formula with four significant terms and an error estimate $O( u^6)$. Numerical experiments show that the new approximations to the call price perform especially well in the high volatility mode.
We propose a general, very fast method to quickly approximate the solution of a parabolic Partial Differential Equation (PDEs) with explicit formulas. Our method also provides equaly fast approximations of the derivatives of the solution, which is a challenge for many other methods. Our approach is based on a computable series expansion in terms of a small parameter. As an example, we treat in detail the important case of the SABR PDE for $beta = 1$, namely $partial_{tau}u = sigma^2 big [ frac{1}{2} (partial^2_xu - partial_xu) + u rho partial_xpartial_sigma u + frac{1}{2} u^2 partial^2_sigma u , big ] + kappa (theta - sigma) partial_sigma$, by choosing $ u$ as small parameter. This yields $u = u_0 + u u_1 + u^2 u_2 + ldots$, with $u_j$ independent of $ u$. The terms $u_j$ are explicitly computable, which is also a challenge for many other, related methods. Truncating this expansion leads to computable approximations of $u$ that are in closed form, and hence can be evaluated very quickly. Most of the other related methods use the time $tau$ as a small parameter. The advantage of our method is that it leads to shorter and hence easier to determine and to generalize formulas. We obtain also an explicit expansion for the implied volatility in the SABR model in terms of $ u$, similar to Hagans formula, but including also the {em mean reverting term.} We provide several numerical tests that show the performance of our method. In particular, we compare our formula to the one due to Hagan. Our results also behave well when used for actual market data and show the mean reverting property of the volatility.
We consider stochastic volatility models under parameter uncertainty and investigate how model derived prices of European options are affected. We let the pricing parameters evolve dynamically in time within a specified region, and formalise the problem as a control problem where the control acts on the parameters to maximise/minimise the option value. Through a dual representation with backward stochastic differential equations, we obtain explicit equations for Hestons model and investigate several numerical solutions thereof. In an empirical study, we apply our results to market data from the S&P 500 index where the model is estimated to historical asset prices. We find that the conservative model-prices cover 98% of the considered market-prices for a set of European call options.
We consider a stochastic volatility model with Levy jumps for a log-return process $Z=(Z_{t})_{tgeq 0}$ of the form $Z=U+X$, where $U=(U_{t})_{tgeq 0}$ is a classical stochastic volatility process and $X=(X_{t})_{tgeq 0}$ is an independent Levy process with absolutely continuous Levy measure $ u$. Small-time expansions, of arbitrary polynomial order, in time-$t$, are obtained for the tails $bbp(Z_{t}geq z)$, $z>0$, and for the call-option prices $bbe(e^{z+Z_{t}}-1)_{+}$, $z eq 0$, assuming smoothness conditions on the {PaleGrey density of $ u$} away from the origin and a small-time large deviation principle on $U$. Our approach allows for a unified treatment of general payoff functions of the form $phi(x){bf 1}_{xgeq{}z}$ for smooth functions $phi$ and $z>0$. As a consequence of our tail expansions, the polynomial expansions in $t$ of the transition densities $f_{t}$ are also {Green obtained} under mild conditions.
Recent empirical studies suggest that the volatilities associated with financial time series exhibit short-range correlations. This entails that the volatility process is very rough and its autocorrelation exhibits sharp decay at the origin. Another classic stylistic feature often assumed for the volatility is that it is mean reverting. In this paper it is shown that the price impact of a rapidly mean reverting rough volatility model coincides with that associated with fast mean reverting Markov stochastic volatility models. This reconciles the empirical observation of rough volatility paths with the good fit of the implied volatility surface to models of fast mean reverting Markov volatilities. Moreover, the result conforms with recent numerical results regarding rough stochastic volatility models. It extends the scope of models for which the asymptotic results of fast mean reverting Markov volatilities are valid. The paper concludes with a general discussion of fractional volatility asymptotics and their interrelation. The regimes discussed there include fast and slow volatility factors with strong or small volatility fluctuations and with the limits not commuting in general. The notion of a characteristic term structure exponent is introduced, this exponent governs the implied volatility term structure in the various asymptotic regimes.
We consider the problem of option pricing under stochastic volatility models, focusing on the linear approximation of the two processes known as exponential Ornstein-Uhlenbeck and Stein-Stein. Indeed, we show they admit the same limit dynamics in the regime of low fluctuations of the volatility process, under which we derive the exact expression of the characteristic function associated to the risk neutral probability density. This expression allows us to compute option prices exploiting a formula derived by Lewis and Lipton. We analyze in detail the case of Plain Vanilla calls, being liquid instruments for which reliable implied volatility surfaces are available. We also compute the analytical expressions of the first four cumulants, that are crucial to implement a simple two steps calibration procedure. It has been tested against a data set of options traded on the Milan Stock Exchange. The data analysis that we present reveals a good fit with the market implied surfaces and corroborates the accuracy of the linear approximation.