arXiv subjects

José E. Figueroa-López

Publications and source records attributed to José E. Figueroa-López.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Optimal Kernel Estimation of Spot Volatility of Stochastic Differential Equations

Kernel Estimation is one of the most widely used estimation methods in non-parametric Statistics, having a wide-range of applications, including spot volatility estimation of stochastic processes. The selection of bandwidth and kernel function is of great importance, especially for the finite sample settings commonly encountered in econometric applications. In the context of spot volatility estimation, most of the proposed selection methods are either largely heuristic or just formally stated without any feasible implementation. In this work, an objective method of bandwidth and kernel selection is proposed, under some mild conditions on the volatility, which not only cover classical Brownian motion driven dynamics but also some processes driven by long-memory fractional Brownian motions or other Gaussian processes. We characterize the leading order terms of the Mean Squared Error, which are also ratified by central limit theorems for the estimation error. As a byproduct, an approximated optimal bandwidth is then obtained in closed form. This result allows us to develop a feasible plug-in type bandwidth selection procedure, for which, as a sub-problem, we propose a new estimator of the volatility of volatility. The optimal selection of kernel function is also discussed. For Brownian Motion type volatilities, the optimal kernel function is proved to be the exponential kernel. For fractional Brownian motion type volatilities, numerical results to compute the optimal kernel are devised and, for the deterministic volatility case, explicit optimal kernel functions of different orders are derived. Simulation studies further confirm the good performance of the proposed methods.

math.ST↗

arXiv2016

One-level limit order book models with memory and variable spread

We propose a new model for the level I of a Limit Order Book (LOB), which incorporates the information about the standing orders at the opposite side of the book after each price change and the arrivals of new orders within the spread. Our main result gives a diffusion approximation for the mid-price process. To illustrate the applicability of the considered framework, we also propose a feasible method to compute several quantities of interest}, such as the distribution of the time span between price changes and the probability of consecutive price increments conditioned on the current state of the book. The proposed method is used to develop an efficient simulation scheme for the price dynamics, which is then applied to assess numerically the accuracy of the diffusion approximation.

q-fin.TR↗

arXiv2015

Small-time expansions for state-dependent local jump-diffusion models with infinite jump activity

In this article, we consider a Markov process X, starting from x and solving a stochastic differential equation, which is driven by a Brownian motion and an independent pure jump component exhibiting state-dependent jump intensity and infinite jump activity. A second order expansion is derived for the tail probability P[X(t)>x+y] in small time t, for y>0. As an application of this expansion and a suitable change of the underlying probability measure, a second order expansion, near expiration, for out-of-the-money European call option prices is obtained when the underlying stock price is modeled as the exponential of the jump-diffusion process X under the risk-neutral probability measure.

math.PR↗

arXiv2015

Short-time asymptotics for the implied volatility skew under a stochastic volatility model with Lévy jumps

The implied volatility skew has received relatively little attention in the literature on short-term asymptotics for financial models with jumps, despite its importance in model selection and calibration. We rectify this by providing high-order asymptotic expansions for the at-the-money implied volatility skew, under a rich class of stochastic volatility models with independent stable-like jumps of infinite variation. The case of a pure-jump stable-like Lévy model is also considered under the minimal possible conditions for the resulting expansion to be well defined. Unlike recent results for "near-the-money" option prices and implied volatility, the results herein aid in understanding how the implied volatility smile near expiry is affected by important features of the continuous component, such as the leverage and vol-of-vol parameters. As intermediary results we obtain high-order expansions for at-the-money digital call option prices, which furthermore allow us to infer analogous results for the delta of at-the-money options. Simulation results indicate that our asymptotic expansions give good fits for options with maturities up to one month, underpinning their relevance in practical applications, and an analysis of the implied volatility skew in recent S&P500 options data shows it to be consistent with the infinite variation jump component of our models.

q-fin.MF↗

arXiv2014

Short-time expansions for close-to-the-money options under a Lévy jump model with stochastic volatility

In Figueroa-López et al. (2013), a second order approximation for at-the-money (ATM) option prices is derived for a large class of exponential Lévy models, with or without a Brownian component. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we relax the regularity conditions imposed in Figueroa-López et al. (2013) on the Lévy density to the weakest possible conditions for such an expansion to be well defined. Second, we show that the formulas extend both to the case of "close-to-the-money" strikes and to the case where the continuous Brownian component is replaced by an independent stochastic volatility process with leverage.

q-fin.PR↗

arXiv2014

Small-time asymptotics of stopped Lévy bridges and simulation schemes with controlled bias

We characterize the small-time asymptotic behavior of the exit probability of a Lévy process out of a two-sided interval and of the law of its overshoot, conditionally on the terminal value of the process. The asymptotic expansions are given in the form of a first-order term and a precise computable error bound. As an important application of these formulas, we develop a novel adaptive discretization scheme for the Monte Carlo computation of functionals of killed Lévy processes with controlled bias. The considered functionals appear in several domains of mathematical finance (e.g., structural credit risk models, pricing of barrier options, and contingent convertible bonds) as well as in natural sciences. The proposed algorithm works by adding discretization points sampled from the Lévy bridge density to the skeleton of the process until the overall error for a given trajectory becomes smaller than the maximum tolerance given by the user.

math.PR↗

arXiv2014

Small-time expansions for local jump-diffusion models with infinite jump activity

We consider a Markov process $X$, which is the solution of a stochastic differential equation driven by a Lévy process $Z$ and an independent Wiener process $W$. Under some regularity conditions, including non-degeneracy of the diffusive and jump components of the process as well as smoothness of the Lévy density of $Z$ outside any neighborhood of the origin, we obtain a small-time second-order polynomial expansion for the tail distribution and the transition density of the process $X$. Our method of proof combines a recent regularizing technique for deriving the analog small-time expansions for a Lévy process with some new tail and density estimates for jump-diffusion processes with small jumps based on the theory of Malliavin calculus, flow of diffeomorphisms for SDEs, and time-reversibility. As an application, the leading term for out-of-the-money option prices in short maturity under a local jump-diffusion model is also derived.

math.PR↗

arXiv2014

High-order short-time expansions for ATM option prices of exponential Lévy models

In the present work, a novel second-order approximation for ATM option prices is derived for a large class of exponential Lévy models with or without Brownian component. The results hereafter shed new light on the connection between both the volatility of the continuous component and the jump parameters and the behavior of ATM option prices near expiration. In the presence of a Brownian component, the second-order term, in time-$t$, is of the form $d_{2}\,t^{(3-Y)/2}$, with $d_{2}$ only depending on $Y$, the degree of jump activity, on $σ$, the volatility of the continuous component, and on an additional parameter controlling the intensity of the "small" jumps (regardless of their signs). This extends the well known result that the leading first-order term is $σt^{1/2}/\sqrt{2π}$. In contrast, under a pure-jump model, the dependence on $Y$ and on the separate intensities of negative and positive small jumps are already reflected in the leading term, which is of the form $d_{1}t^{1/Y}$. The second-order term is shown to be of the form $\tilde{d}_{2} t$ and, therefore, its order of decay turns out to be independent of $Y$. The asymptotic behavior of the corresponding Black-Scholes implied volatilities is also addressed. Our approach is sufficiently general to cover a wide class of Lévy processes which satisfy the latter property and whose Lévy densitiy can be closely approximated by a stable density near the origin. Our numerical results show that the first-order term typically exhibits rather poor performance and that the second-order term can significantly improve the approximation's accuracy, particularly in the absence of a Brownian component.

q-fin.PR↗

arXiv2012

High-order short-time expansions for ATM option prices under the CGMY model

The short-time asymptotic behavior of option prices for a variety of models with jumps has received much attention in recent years. In the present work, a novel second-order approximation for ATM option prices under the CGMY Lévy model is derived, and then extended to a model with an additional independent Brownian component. Our results shed light on the connection between both the volatility of the continuous component and the jump parameters and the behavior of ATM option prices near expiration. In case of an additional Brownian component, the second-order term, in time-t, is of the form $ d_{2} t^{(3-Y)/2}$, with the coefficient $d_{2}$ depending only on the overall jump intensity parameter C and the tail-heaviness parameter Y. This extends the known result that the leading term is $(σ/\sqrt{2π})t^{1/2}$, where $σ$ is the volatility of the continuous component. In contrast, under a pure-jump CGMY model, the dependence on the two parameters C and Y is already reflected in the leading term, which is of the form $d_{1} t^{1/Y}$. Information on the relative frequency of negative and positive jumps appears only in the second-order term, which is shown to be of the form $d_{2} t$ and whose order of decay turns out to be independent of Y. The third-order asymptotic behavior of the option prices as well as the asymptotic behavior of the corresponding Black-Scholes implied volatilities are also addressed. Our numerical results show that in most cases the second-order term significantly outperform the first-order approximation.

q-fin.CP↗

arXiv2011

Sieve-based confidence intervals and bands for Lévy densities

The estimation of the Lévy density, the infinite-dimensional parameter controlling the jump dynamics of a Lévy process, is considered here under a discrete-sampling scheme. In this setting, the jumps are latent variables, the statistical properties of which can be assessed when the frequency and time horizon of observations increase to infinity at suitable rates. Nonparametric estimators for the Lévy density based on Grenander's method of sieves was proposed in Figueroa-López [IMS Lecture Notes 57 (2009) 117--146]. In this paper, central limit theorems for these sieve estimators, both pointwise and uniform on an interval away from the origin, are obtained, leading to pointwise confidence intervals and bands for the Lévy density. In the pointwise case, our estimators converge to the Lévy density at a rate that is arbitrarily close to the rate of the minimax risk of estimation on smooth Lévy densities. In the case of uniform bands and discrete regular sampling, our results are consistent with the case of density estimation, achieving a rate of order arbitrarily close to $\log^{-1/2}(n)\cdot n^{-1/3}$, where $n$ is the number of observations. The convergence rates are valid, provided that $s$ is smooth enough and that the time horizon $T_n$ and the dimension of the sieve are appropriately chosen in terms of $n$.

math.ST↗

arXiv2008

Small-time expansions for the transition distributions of Lévy processes

Let $X$ be a Lévy process with absolutely continuous Lévy measure $ν$. Small time polynomial expansions of order $n$ in $t$ are obtained for the tails $P(X_{t}\geq{}y)$ of the process, assuming smoothness conditions on the Lévy density away from the origin. By imposing additional regularity conditions on the transition density $p_{t}$ of $X_{t}$, an explicit expression for the remainder of the approximation is also given. As a byproduct, polynomial expansions of order $n$ in $t$ are derived for the transition densities of the process. The conditions imposed on $p_{t}$ require that its derivatives remain uniformly bounded away from the origin, as $t\to{}0$; such conditions are shown to be satisfied for symmetric stable Lévy processes as well as for other related Lévy processes of relevance in mathematical finance. The expansions seem to correct asymptotics previously reported in the literature.

math.PR↗

arXiv2006

Risk bounds for the non-parametric estimation of Lévy processes

Estimation methods for the Lévy density of a Lévy process are developed under mild qualitative assumptions. A classical model selection approach made up of two steps is studied. The first step consists in the selection of a good estimator, from an approximating (finite-dimensional) linear model ${\mathcal{S}}$ for the true Lévy density. The second is a data-driven selection of a linear model ${\mathcal{S}}$, among a given collection $\{\mathcal{S}_m\}_{m\in {\mathcal{M}}}$, that approximately realizes the best trade-off between the error of estimation within ${\mathcal{S}}$ and the error incurred when approximating the true Lévy density by the linear model ${\mathcal{S}}$. Using recent concentration inequalities for functionals of Poisson integrals, a bound for the risk of estimation is obtained. As a byproduct, oracle inequalities and long-run asymptotics for spline estimators are derived. Even though the resulting underlying statistics are based on continuous time observations of the process, approximations based on high-frequency discrete-data can be easily devised.

math.ST↗