Market index and individual stock returns exhibit jumps in addition to normal shocks. Equities have exposure to the market and sensitivity to the market is important for explaining equity returns and option prices. I develop a new factor model that explores (i) if a separate beta for market...

We nest multiple volatility components, fat tails and a U-shaped pricing kernel in a single option model and compare their contribution to describing returns and option data. All three features lead to statistically significant model improvements. A U-shaped pricing kernel is economically most...