Markets: A Rigorous Course

M09 · Problem 7 ★★ Check

The variance risk premium in a two-state economy

Over the next month the economy is either calm (probability 0.9) or in crisis (probability 0.1). Annualised realised variance is 0.01 (10% vol) in calm and 0.16 (40% vol) in crisis. The stochastic discount factor is M=0.9M=0.9 in calm and M=2.0M=2.0 in crisis. (a) Compute EP[RV]E^{\mathbb P}[RV], EQ[RV]E^{\mathbb Q}[RV] and the variance risk premium in variance units, and the corresponding "implied" and "expected realised" vols. (b) Verify Proposition 9.7 by computing Cov⁡(M,RV)/E[M]\operatorname{Cov}(M,RV)/E[M]. (c) A trader sells one unit of variance notional at the fair strike every month. What is her expected P&L per month under P\mathbb P, her P&L in a crisis month, and the probability she loses in a given month?

Answers

Commas, ₹, % and 1e-3 notation are accepted.

Working

Keep your working next to each problem, in markdown with maths: create a free account or sign in.

Solution

Try the problem first. Write down where you got stuck before opening it.

Create a free account

Reading is open to everyone. An account keeps your progress, answers, notes and code drafts, and gives you the study plan, the journals and the simulator. Running code needs an account approved for it.