This paper provides an analytical solution to the problem of how an institution might optimally manage the market risk of a given exposure, under the assumption that the institution wishes to minimize its Value at Risk (VaR) using options. The solution specifies the VaR-minimizing level of...

This paper investigates the relation between returns on stock indices and their corresponding futures contracts in order to evaluate potential explanations for the pervasive yet anomalous evidence of positive, short-horizon portfolio autocorrelations. Using a simple theoretical framework, we...

The forward premium anomaly, i.e., the empirical evidence that exchange rate changes are negatively related to interest rate differentials, is one of the most robust puzzles in financial economics. We add to this literature by recasting the underlying parity relation in terms of cross-country...

This paper develops a nonparametric, model-free approach to the pricing and hedging of mortgage-backed securities (MBS), using multivariate density estimation procedures to investigate the relation between MBS prices and interest rates. While the usual methods of valuing MBSs are highly...

The behavioral finance literature cites the frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) futures market as a prominent example of the failure of prices to reflect fundamentals. This paper reexamines the relation between FCOJ futures returns and fundamentals, focusing primarily on temperature. We show...

This paper reexamines frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) futures returns as they relate to fundamentals, in particular, temperature. We show that when theory clearly identities the fundamental, i.e., at temperatures close to or below freezing, there is a close link between FCOJ prices and...

The forward premium anomaly is one of the most robust puzzles in financial economics. We recast the underlying parity relation in terms of cross-country differences between forward interest rates rather than spot interest rates with dramatic results. These forward interest rate differentials...

The forward premium anomaly is one of the most robust puzzles in financial economics. We recast the underlying parity relation in terms of cross-country differences between forward interest rates rather than spot interest rates with dramatic results. These forward interest rate differentials...

This paper investigates the implications of a 2-regime model of the business cycle for term premiums and volatilities in the bond market. The model, which is estimated via maximum likelihood using GDP, consumption and production data, has two key features -- mean growth rates that vary across...

This paper develops a new strategy for dynamically hedging mortgage-backed securities (MBSs). The approach involves estimating the joint distribution of returns on MBSs and T-note futures, conditional on current economic conditions. We show that our approach has a simple intuitive interpretation...