This paper provides a Markov chain model for the term structure and credit risk spreads of bond prices. It allows dependency between the stochastic process modeling the interest rate and the Markov chain process describing changes in the credit rating of the bonds by their mutual dependency on a...

This paper provides a Markov chain model for the term structure and credit risk spreads of bond prices. It allows dependency between the stochastic process modeling the interest rate and the Markov chain process describing changes in the credit rating of the bonds by their mutual dependency on a...

Backwardation, first discussed by Keynes (1923), (1930) and Hicks (1946), is a fee paid by a seller of a security to the buyer for the privilege of deferring delivery. It implies that the futures price falls short of the spot price. The reverse case, 'contango', implies that the futures price...

We comment on a recent paper by Beaver, McAnally and Stinson (1997), drawing attention to the fact that their method ignores some recent developments in time-series econometrics. We apply a bi-variate vector autoregression framework to price and earnings data of listed US companies and the...

Macaulay duration matched strategy is a key tool in bond portfolio immunization. It is well known that if term structures are not flat or changes are not parallel, then Macaulay duration matched portfolio can not guarantee adequate immunization. In this paper the approximate duration is proposed...

In this paper we canvass the use of a duration measure based on approximate duration which has the advantage of not being sensitive to non-parallel shifts in the term structure in the same manner as the Macaulay duration. The paper compares the performance of bond immunization strategies based...

Applicants for credit have to provide information for the risk assessment process. In the current conditions of a saturated consumer lending market, and hence falling “take” rates, can such information be used to assess the probability of a customer accepting the offer?With the advent of...

This article reviews some of the applications of mathematical programming infinance. Of course mathematical programming has long been recognised as a vitalmodelling approach to solve optimization problems in finance. Markowitz’s NobelPrize winning work on portfolio optimization showed how...