Using high frequency data for the price dynamics of equities we measure the impact that market microstructure noise has on estimates of the: (i) volatility of returns; and (ii) variance-covariance matrix of n assets. We propose a Kalman- filter-based methodology that allows us to deconstruct...

The understanding of joint asset return distributions is an important ingredient for managing risks of portfolios. While this is a well-discussed issue in fixed income and equity markets, it is a challenge for energy commodities. In this paper we are concerned with describing the joint return...

Algorithmic trading (AT) and high-frequency (HF) trading, which are responsible for over 70% of US stocks trading volume, have greatly changed the microstructure dynamics of tick-by-tick stock data. In this article, we employ a hidden Markov model to examine how the intraday dynamics of the...

It is well known that stochastic volatility is an essential feature of commodity spot prices. By using methods of singular perturbation theory, we obtain approximate but explicit closed-form pricing equations for forward contracts and options on single- and two-name forward prices. The expansion...

Multi-factor interest-rate models are widely used. Contingent claims with early exercise features are often valued by resorting to trees, finite-difference schemes and Monte Carlo simulations. When jumps are present, however, these methods are less effective. In this work we develop an algorithm...

Guaranteed withdrawal benefits are long term contracts which provide investors with equity participation while guaranteeing them a secured income stream. Due to the long investment horizons involved, stochastic volatility and stochastic interest rates are important factors to include in their...