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Volatility smile and skewness are two key properties of option prices that are represented by the implied volatility (IV) surface. However, IV surface calibration through nonlinear interpolation is a complex problem due to several factors, including limited input data, low liquidity, and noise. Additionally, the calibrated surface must obey the fundamental financial principle of the absence of arbitrage, which can be…
In this work, we aim to gain a better understanding of the volatility smile observed in options markets through microsimulation (MS). We adopt two types of active traders in our MS model: speculators and arbitrageurs, and call and put options on one underlying asset. Speculators make decisions based on their expectations of the asset price at the option expiration time. Arbitrageurs trade at different arbitrage oppor…
We present a stochastic-local volatility model for derivative contracts on commodity futures able to describe forward-curve and smile dynamics with a fast calibration to liquid market quotes. A parsimonious parametrization is introduced to deal with the limited number of options quoted in the market. Cleared commodity markets for futures and options are analyzed to include in the pricing framework specific trading cl…
The quintic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck volatility model is a stochastic volatility model where the volatility process is a polynomial function of degree five of a single Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process with fast mean reversion and large vol-of-vol. The model is able to achieve remarkable joint fits of the SPX-VIX smiles with only 6 effective parameters and an input curve that allows to match certain term structures. We provide se…
We present a convolutional variational autoencoder for cryptocurrency implied-volatility surfaces, together with a deployable predictor that combines it with a quadratic smile re-fit through a deterministic per-tenor routing rule. Trained on 6,034 fully-filled hourly Binance Options surfaces of BTC and ETH spanning May-October 2023 and parameterised on a common $6 \times 7$ tenor-delta grid, the model attains a hidde…
Volatility Skew and Smile of Interest Rate products (Swaption and Caplet) are represented by SABR (Stochastic Alpha Beta Rho model). So, the Interest Rate derivatives model for pricing the callable exotic swaps should be comparable to the SABR volatility surface. In the interest rate derivatives models, Libor Market Model (LMM) (in a post-Libor world, Forward Market Model (FMM)) is one of the most popular models used…
We investigate the asymptotic behaviour of the Bachelier implied volatility tails, extending the large-strike results established for the Black-Scholes implied volatility. Exploiting the theory of regular variation, we derive explicit expressions for the Bachelier implied volatility in the wings of the smile, directly linking them to the tail decay of the underlying returns' distribution. Furthermore, we establish a …
We introduce a perturbative formalism to solve the backward-looking futures pricing problem. The formalism is based on a time-ordered exponential series which allows to derive the functional form of the integral kernel associated to the backward-Kolmogorov diffusion PDE. We present an analytic pricing formula for SOFR futures contracts under an extension of the Hull-White model which incorporates not only the intrins…
Fukasawa introduced in [Fukasawa, Math Financ, 2012] two necessary conditions for no butterfly arbitrage which require that the $d_1$ and $d_2$ functions of the Black-Scholes formula have to be decreasing. In this article we characterize the set of smiles satisfying these conditions, using the parametrization of the smile in delta. We obtain a parametrization of the set via one real number and three positive function…
We give an explicit formula for the probability distribution based on a relativistic extension of Brownian motion. The distribution 1) is properly normalized and 2) obeys the tower law (semigroup property), so we can construct martingales and self-financing hedging strategies and price claims (options). This model is a 1-constant-parameter extension of the Black-Scholes-Merton model. The new parameter is the analog o…
A motivating question in this paper is whether a sensible investment strategy may systematically contain long positions in out-of-the-money European calls with short expiry. Here we consider a very simple trading strategy for calls. The main points of this note are the following. First, the presented trading strategy appears very lucrative in the Black-Scholes-Merton (BSM) framework. In fact, it is such even to the e…
We propose a new static parameterization of the implied volatility surface which is constructed by using polynomials of sigmoid functions combined with some other terms. This parameterization is flexible enough to fit market implied volatilities which demonstrate smile or skew. An arbitrage-free calibration algorithm is considered that constructs the implied volatility surface as a grid in the strike-expiration space…
We study a Markov-Functional (MF) interest-rate model with Uncertain Volatility Displaced Diffusion (UVDD) digital mapping, which is consistent with the volatility-smile phenomenon observed in the option market. We first check the impact of pricing Bermudan swaptions by the model. Next, we also investigate the future smiles implied by the MF models and the smile dynamics implied by the UVDD model. Finally, we conduct…
We introduce a multivariate diffusion model that is able to price derivative securities featuring multiple underlying assets. Each asset volatility smile is modeled according to a density-mixture dynamical model while the same property holds for the multivariate process of all assets, whose density is a mixture of multivariate basic densities. This allows to reconcile single name and index/basket volatility smiles in…
In the Black-Scholes context we consider the probability distribution function (PDF) of financial returns implied by volatility smile and we study the relation between the decay of its tails and the fitting parameters of the smile. We show that, considering a scaling law derived from data, it is possible to get a new fitting procedure of the volatility smile that considers also the exponential decay of the real PDF o…
We study in details the skew of stock option smiles, which is induced by the so-called leverage effect on the underlying -- i.e. the correlation between past returns and future square returns. This naturally explains the anomalous dependence of the skew as a function of maturity of the option. The market cap dependence of the leverage effect is analyzed using a one-factor model. We show how this leverage correlation …
This paper develops a robust mathematical framework for Constant Function Market Makers (CFMMs) by transitioning from traditional token reserve analyses to a coordinate system defined by price and intrinsic liquidity. We establish a canonical parametrization of the bonding curve that ensures dimensional consistency across diverse trading functions, such as those employed by Uniswap and Balancer, and demonstrate that …
We review different approaches for measuring the impact of liquidity on CDS prices. We start with reduced form models incorporating liquidity as an additional discount rate. We review Chen, Fabozzi and Sverdlove (2008) and Buhler and Trapp (2006, 2008), adopting different assumptions on how liquidity rates enter the CDS premium rate formula, about the dynamics of liquidity rate processes and about the credit-liquidit…
A butterfly is long one wing, short two bodies, long the other wing — a bet on a pin or on the curvature of the smile.
Stochastic Volatility Model — Models where volatility itself is random, capturing smile dynamics and VRP.
SVI Parameterization — Arbitrage-aware parameterization of volatility smiles for interpolation and trading.
Volatility Smile — Strike-dependent implied vol pattern reflecting crash and demand premia.
A butterfly is long one wing, short two bodies, long the other wing — a bet on a pin or on the curvature of the smile.
Stochastic Volatility Model — Models where volatility itself is random, capturing smile dynamics and VRP.
SVI Parameterization — Arbitrage-aware parameterization of volatility smiles for interpolation and trading.
Volatility Smile — Strike-dependent implied vol pattern reflecting crash and demand premia.