As is well known, the classic Black-Scholes option pricing model assumes that returns follow Brownian motion. It is widely recognized that return processes differ from this benchmark in at least three important ways. First, asset prices jump, leading to non-normal return innovations. Second, return volatilities vary stochastically over time. Third, returns and their volatilities are correlated, often negatively for equities. We propose that time-changed Lévy processes be used to simultaneously address these three facets of the underlying asset return process. We show that our framework encompasses almost all of the models proposed in the option pricing literature. Despite the generality of our approach, we show that it is straightforward to select and test a particular option pricing model through the use of characteristic function technology.

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The American early exercise constraint can be viewed as transforming the two dimensional stochastic volatility option pricing PDE into a differential algebraic equation (DAE). Several methods are described for forcing the algebraic constraint by using a penalty source term in the discrete equations. The resulting nonlinear algebraic equations are solved using an approximate Newton iteration. The solution of the Jacobian is obtained using an incomplete LU (ILU) preconditioned PCG method. Some example computations are presented for option pricing problems based on a stochastic volatility model, including an exotic American chooser option written on a put and call with discrete double knockout barriers and discrete dividends.

Analytical tractability is one of the challenges faced by many alternative models that try to generalize the Black-Scholes option pricing model to incorporate more empirical features. The aim of this paper is to extend the analytical tractability of the Black-Scholes model to alternative models with jumps. We demonstrate a double exponential jump diffusion model can lead to an analytic approximation for Þnite horizon American options (by extending the Barone-Adesi and Whaley method) and analytical solutions for popular path-dependent options (such as lookback, barrier, and perpetual American options). Numerical examples indicate that the formulae are easy to be implemented and accurate.

Consider options on a nonnegative underlying random variable with arbitrary distribution. In the absence of arbitrage, we show that at any maturity T, the large-strike tail of the Black-Scholes implied volatility skew is bounded by the square root of 2|x|/T, where x is log-moneyness. The smallest coeffi-cient that can replace the 2 depends only on the number of finite moments in the underlying distribution. We prove the moment formula, which expresses explicitly this model-independent relationship. We prove also the reciprocal moment formula for the small-strike tail, and we exhibit the symmetry between the formulas. The moment formula, which evaluates readily in many cases of practical interest, has applications to skew extrapolation and model calibration.

ours. We welcome comments, including references to related papers we have inadvertently overlooked.

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An implicit method is developed for the numerical solution of option pricing models where it is assumed that the underlying process is a jump diffusion. This method can be applied to a variety of contingent claim valuations, including American options, various kinds of exotic options, and models with uncertain volatility or transaction costs. Proofs of timestepping stability and convergence of a fixed point iteration scheme are presented. For typical model parameters, it is shown that the fixed point iteration reduces the error by two orders of magnitude at each iteration. The correlation integral is computed using a fast Fourier transform (FFT) method. Techniques are developed for avoiding wrap-around effects. Numerical tests of convergence for a variety of options are presented.

Prices of equity index put options contain information on the price of systematic downward jump risk. We use a structural jump-diffusion firm value model to assess the level of credit spreads that is generated by option-implied jump risk premia. In our compound option pricing model, an equity index option is an option on a portfolio of call options on the underlying firm values. We calibrate the model parameters to historical information on default risk, the equity premium and equity return distribution, and S&P 500 index option prices. Our results show that a model without jumps fails to fit the equity return distribution and option prices, and generates a low out-of-sample prediction for credit spreads. Adding jumps and jump risk premia improves the fitofthe model in terms of equity and option characteristics considerably and brings predicted credit spread levels much closer to observed levels.

This paper characterizes the arbitrage-free dynamics of interest rates, in the presence of both jumps and diffusion, when the term structure is modeled through simple forward rates (i.e., through discretely compounded forward rates evolving continuously in time) or forward swap rates. Whereas instantaneous continuously compounded rates form the basis of most traditional interest rate models, simply compounded rates and their parameters are more directly observable in practice and are the basis of recent research on "market models." We consider very general types of jump processes, modeled through marked point processes, allowing randomness in jump sizes and dependence between jump sizes, jump times, and interest rates. We make explicit how jump and diffusion risk premia enter into the dynamics of simple forward rates.