Readings and resources
Read first
- Hull, Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives, 11th ed. (Pearson, 2021): Ch. 10 (mechanics of options markets), Ch. 11 (properties of stock options: bounds, parity, early exercise), Ch. 13 (binomial trees), Ch. 14 (Wiener processes and Itô's lemma), Ch. 15 (Black–Scholes–Merton), Ch. 18 (futures options and Black's model), Ch. 19 (the Greek letters). Chapter numbers drift slightly across editions.
- For Indian contract mechanics and moneyness, 8.1 and 8.9 of this module; for the desk view with NSE examples, M09A.
- MIT OCW 18.S096 (Fall 2013), Lecture 17 "Stochastic Processes II", Lecture 18 "Itō Calculus", Lecture 19 "Black-Scholes Formula, Risk-neutral Valuation": https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-s096-topics-in-mathematics-with-applications-in-finance-fall-2013/video_galleries/video-lectures/
For depth 4. Shreve, Stochastic Calculus for Finance I: The Binomial Asset Pricing Model (Springer, 2004), Ch. 1–2 (one-period and multi-period no-arbitrage, risk-neutral measure, American options in Ch. 4). 5. Shreve, Stochastic Calculus for Finance II: Continuous-Time Models (Springer, 2004), Ch. 3 (Brownian motion, quadratic variation), Ch. 4 (Itô integral, Itô's lemma, BSM PDE, 4.5), Ch. 5 (Girsanov, risk-neutral pricing), Ch. 6 (Feynman–Kac). 6. Natenberg, Option Volatility and Pricing, 2nd ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2015): the chapters on the Greeks and early exercise, for the trader's view. 7. NPTEL, Probability and Stochastics for Finance (Prof. Joydeep Dutta, IIT Kanpur): https://archive.nptel.ac.in/noc/courses/noc16/SEM1/noc16-ma02 — an Indian refresher on Itô calculus and the Black–Scholes formula.
Papers
- Black, F. and Scholes, M. (1973). "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities." Journal of Political Economy 81(3): 637–654. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1831029
- Merton, R. C. (1973). "Theory of Rational Option Pricing." Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 4(1): 141–183. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3003143
- Black, F. (1976). "The Pricing of Commodity Contracts." Journal of Financial Economics 3(1–2): 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(76)90024-6
- Cox, J. C., Ross, S. A. and Rubinstein, M. (1979). "Option Pricing: A Simplified Approach." Journal of Financial Economics 7(3): 229–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(79)90015-1
- Harrison, J. M. and Kreps, D. M. (1979). "Martingales and Arbitrage in Multiperiod Securities Markets." Journal of Economic Theory 20(3): 381–408.
- Harrison, J. M. and Pliska, S. R. (1981). "Martingales and Stochastic Integrals in the Theory of Continuous Trading." Stochastic Processes and their Applications 11(3): 215–260.
- Manaster, S. and Koehler, G. (1982). "The Calculation of Implied Variances from the Black–Scholes Model: A Note." Journal of Finance 37(1): 227–230.
- Leisen, D. and Reimer, M. (1996). "Binomial Models for Option Valuation – Examining and Improving Convergence." Applied Mathematical Finance 3(4): 319–346.
- Jäckel, P. (2015). "Let's Be Rational." Wilmott 2015(75): 40–53. http://www.jaeckel.org/LetsBeRational.pdf
Case-study sources
- Federal Reserve History, "Near Failure of Long-Term Capital Management": https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/ltcm-near-failure
- US GAO, letter GGD-00-67R on the LTCM recapitalisation: https://www.gao.gov/assets/ggd-00-67r.pdf
- Cboe, "The Creation of Listed Options at Cboe": https://www.cboe.com/insights/posts/the-creation-of-listed-options-at-cboe
- Lowenstein, R. (2000). When Genius Failed. Random House. MacKenzie, D. (2006). An Engine, Not a Camera. MIT Press.
- SEBI, Interim Order in the matter of Index manipulation by Jane Street Group, WTM/AN/MRD/MRD-SEC-3/31516/2025-26, 3 Jul 2025 (primary; read this first): https://www.sebi.gov.in/enforcement/orders/jul-2025/interim-order-in-the-matter-of-index-manipulation-by-jane-street-group_95040.html
- SEBI press releases 40/2025 (14 Jul 2025, escrow): https://www.sebi.gov.in/media-and-notifications/press-releases/jul-2025/update-on-interim-order-compliance-by-jane-street_95237.html and 45/2025 (21 Jul 2025, directions ceased): https://www.sebi.gov.in/media-and-notifications/press-releases/jul-2025/update-on-the-jane-street-interim-order_95491.html
- Legal500, "SEBI's interim order against Jane Street: allegations of index manipulation explained" (secondary explainer): https://www.legal500.com/intelligence/india/finance-and-banking/sebi%27s-interim-order-against-jane-street-allegations-of-index-manipulation-explained
- Business Standard, "Sebi bars Jane Street from markets, orders disgorgement of ₹4,844 crore" (4 Jul 2025): https://www.business-standard.com/amp/markets/news/sebi-bars-jane-street-orders-rs-4844-cr-disgorgement-market-manipulation-125070400081_1.html
- Moneylife, "Explainer: What Are SEBI's Findings on Jane Street Group's Market Manipulation": https://moneylife.in/article/explainer-what-are-sebis-findings-on-jane-street-groups-market-manipulation/77594.html
- Business Standard, "Jane Street files appeal in SAT alleging Sebi bias in probe" (3 Sep 2025): https://www.business-standard.com/markets/news/jane-street-files-appeal-in-sat-alleging-sebi-bias-in-probe-125090301189_1.html
- NewsBytes, "SAT reserves order in Jane Street document disclosure case" (Oct 2026): https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/sat-reserves-order-in-jane-street-document-disclosure-case/story
- Business Today, "Jane Street vs Sebi: SAT adjourns hearing" (25 Feb 2026): https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/story/jane-street-vs-sebi-sat-adjourns-hearing-in-market-manipulation-case-517925-2026-02-25
Indian primary sources
- NSE F&O UDiFF bhavcopy (settlement prices, OI, lot sizes):
https://nsearchives.nseindia.com/content/fo/BhavCopy_NSE_FO_0_0_0_YYYYMMDD_F_0000.csv.zip - NSE Nifty 50 derivatives contract specification: https://www.nseindia.com/static/products-services/equity-derivatives-nifty50
- SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MRD/TPD-1/P/CIR/2024/132 (1 Oct 2024): https://www.sebi.gov.in/legal/circulars/oct-2024/measures-to-strengthen-equity-index-derivatives-framework-for-increased-investor-protection-and-market-stability_87208.html
- STT and exchange charges: NSE circulars NSE/FATAX/73524 (https://nsearchives.nseindia.com/content/circulars/FATAX73524.pdf) and NSE/FA/73061 (https://nsearchives.nseindia.com/content/circulars/FA73061.pdf)