Financial Numerical Recipes in C++.

Bernt Arne Ødegaard

June 2014

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 5.1 The interchangeability of discount factors, spot
interest rates and forward interest rates . . . . . 52
5.2 The term structure as an object . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2.1 Base class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2.2 Flat term structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.3 Using the currently observed term structure. . . . 58
5.3.1 Linear Interpolation. . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Contents 5.4
5.3.2 Interpolated term structure class. . . . . .
Bond calculations with a general term structure
and continous compounding . . . . . . . . . . . .
61

64

6 The Mean Variance Frontier 67

6.1 Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.2 The minimum variance frontier . . . . . . . . . . 69
1 On C++ and programming. 5 6.3 Calculation of frontier portfolios . . . . . . . . . 69
1.1 Compiling and linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6.4 The global minimum variance portfolio . . . . . . 72
1.2 The structure of a C++ program . . . . . . . . . 6 6.5 Efficient portfolios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
1.2.1 Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6.6 The zero beta portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
1.2.2 Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6.7 Allowing for a riskless asset. . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
1.2.3 Functions and libraries . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6.8 Efficient sets with risk free assets. . . . . . . . . . 74
1.2.4 Templates and libraries . . . . . . . . . . 7 6.9 Short-sale constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
1.2.5 Flow control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6.10 The Sharpe Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
1.2.6 Input Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6.11 Equilibrium: CAPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
1.2.7 Splitting up a program . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6.11.1 Treynor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
1.2.8 Namespaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 6.11.2 Jensen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
1.3 Extending the language, the class concept. . . . 9 6.12 Working with Mean Variance and CAPM . . . . . 76
1.3.1 date, an example class . . . . . . . . . . . 10 6.13 Mean variance analysis using matrix libraries . . 77
1.4 Const references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.5 Other C++ concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 7 Futures algoritms. 81
7.1 Pricing of futures contract. . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
2 Matrix Tools 17
2.1 The first screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 8 Binomial option pricing 82
2.2 Linear algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 8.1 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.2.1 Basic matrix operations . . . . . . . . . . 18 8.2 Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.2.2 Arithmetic Matrix Operations. . . . . . . 19 8.3 Multiperiod binomial pricing . . . . . . . . . . . 85
2.3 Solving linear equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
9 Basic Option Pricing, the Black Scholes formula 89
2.4 Element by element operations . . . . . . . . . . 24
9.1 The formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
2.5 Function definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
9.2 Understanding the why’s of the formula . . . . . 92
2.6 m files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
9.2.1 The original Black Scholes analysis . . . . 93
2.7 Flow control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
9.2.2 The limit of a binomial case . . . . . . . . 93
2.8 Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
9.2.3 The representative agent framework . . . 93
2.9 Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
9.3 Partial derivatives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
2.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
9.3.1 Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3 The value of time 26 9.3.2 Other Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.1 Present value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 9.3.3 Implied Volatility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3.2 One interest rate with annual compounding . . . 27 9.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.2.1 Internal rate of return. . . . . . . . . . . . 30
10 Warrants 99
3.3 Continously compounded interest . . . . . . . . . 34
10.1 Warrant value in terms of assets . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.3.1 Present value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
10.2 Valuing warrants when observing the stock value 100
3.4 Further readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
10.3 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4 Bond Pricing with a flat term structure 36
11 Extending the Black Scholes formula 102
4.1 Flat term structure with discrete, annual com-
pounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 11.1 Adjusting for payouts of the underlying. . . . . . 102
4.1.1 Bond Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 11.1.1 Continous Payouts from underlying. . . . 102
4.1.2 Yield to maturity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 11.1.2 Dividends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.1.3 Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 11.2 American options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.1.4 Measuring bond sensitivity to interest 11.2.1 Exact american call formula when stock is
rate changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 paying one dividend. . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.2 Continously compounded interest . . . . . . . . . 47 11.3 Options on futures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4.3 Further readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 11.3.1 Black’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
11.4 Foreign Currency Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5 The term structure of interest rates and an object lesson 51 11.5 Perpetual puts and calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

1
 11.6 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 17 Generic binomial pricing 177
17.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
12 Option pricing with binomial approximations 112 17.2 Delta calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
12.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
12.2 Pricing of options in the Black Scholes setting . . 113 18 Trinomial trees 183
12.2.1 European Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 18.1 Intro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
12.2.2 American Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 18.2 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
12.2.3 Matlab implementation . . . . . . . . . . . 116 18.3 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
12.3 How good is the binomial approximation? . . . . 119
19 Alternatives to the Black Scholes type option formula 186
12.3.1 Estimating partials. . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
19.1 Merton’s Jump diffusion model. . . . . . . . . . . 186
12.4 Adjusting for payouts for the underlying . . . . 123
19.2 Hestons pricing formula for a stochastic volatility
12.5 Pricing options on stocks paying dividends using model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
a binomial approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
12.5.1 Checking for early exercise in the bino-
20 Pricing of bond options, basic models 191
mial model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
20.1 Black Scholes bond option pricing . . . . . . . . . 191
12.5.2 Proportional dividends. . . . . . . . . . . 124
20.2 Binomial bond option pricing . . . . . . . . . . . 193
12.5.3 Discrete dividends . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
12.6 Option on futures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 21 Credit risk 195
12.7 Foreign Currency options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 21.1 The Merton Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
12.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 21.2 Issues in implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

13 Finite Differences 132 22 Term Structure Models 197

13.1 Explicit Finite differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 22.1 The Nelson Siegel term structure approximation 198
13.2 European Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 22.2 Extended Nelson Siegel models . . . . . . . . . . 200
13.3 American Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 22.3 Cubic spline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
13.4 Implicit finite differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 22.4 Cox Ingersoll Ross. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
13.5 An example matrix class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 22.5 Vasicek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
13.6 Finite Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 22.6 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
13.7 American Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
13.8 European Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 23 Binomial Term Structure models 211
13.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 23.1 The Rendleman and Bartter model . . . . . . . . 211
23.2 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
14 Option pricing by simulation 142
14.1 Simulating lognormally distributed random vari- 24 Interest rate trees 214
ables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 24.1 The movement of interest rates . . . . . . . . . . 214
14.2 Pricing of European Call options . . . . . . . . . 143 24.2 Discount factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
14.3 Hedge parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 24.3 Pricing bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
14.4 More general payoffs. Function prototypes . . . . 146 24.4 Callable bond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
14.5 Improving the efficiency in simulation . . . . . . 147 24.5 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
14.5.1 Control variates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
14.5.2 Antithetic variates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 25 Building term structure trees using the Ho and Lee (1986) approach 221
14.6 More exotic options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 25.1 Intro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

14.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 25.2 Building trees of term structures . . . . . . . . . 221

25.3 Ho Lee term structure class . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
15 Pricing American Options – Approximations 153 25.4 Pricing things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
15.1 The Johnson (1983) approximation . . . . . . . . 153 25.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
15.2 An approximation to the American Put due to
Geske and Johnson (1984) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 26 Term Structure Derivatives 227
15.3 A quadratic approximation to American prices 26.1 Vasicek bond option pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
due to Barone–Adesi and Whaley. . . . . . . . . . 159
15.4 An alternative approximation to american op- 27 Date (and time) revisited - the BOOST libraries 229
tions due to Bjerksund and Stensland (1993) . . 162 27.1 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
15.5 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
A Normal Distribution approximations. 231
16 Average, lookback and other exotic options 166 A.1 The normal distribution function . . . . . . . . . 231
16.1 Bermudan options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 A.2 The cumulative normal distribution . . . . . . . . 232
16.2 Asian options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 A.3 Multivariate normal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
16.3 Lookback options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 A.4 Calculating cumulative bivariate normal proba-
16.4 Monte Carlo Pricing of options whose payoff de- bilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
pend on the whole price path . . . . . . . . . . . 172 A.5 Simulating random normal numbers . . . . . . . 235
16.4.1 Generating a series of lognormally dis- A.6 Cumulative probabilities for general multivariate
tributed variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
16.5 Control variate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 A.7 Implementation in C++11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
16.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 A.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

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B C++ concepts 237 C.5 Internet links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

C Interfacing to external libraries 239 D Summarizing routine names 241

C.1 Boost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
C.2 Newmat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 E Installation 251
C.3 IT++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 E.1 Source availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
C.4 GSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
C.4.1 The evaluation of N3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 F Acknowledgements. 256

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This book is a a discussion of the calculation of specific formulas in finance. The field of finance has seen a
rapid development in recent years, with increasing mathematical sophistication. While the formalization
of the field can be traced back to the work of Markowitz (1952) on investors mean-variance decisions
and Modigliani and Miller (1958) on the capital structure problem, it was the solution for the price of
a call option by Black and Scholes (1973); Merton (1973) which really was the starting point for the
mathematicalization of finance. The fields of derivatives and fixed income have since then been the main
fields where complicated formulas are used. This book is intended to be of use for people who want to
both understand and use these formulas, which explains why most of the algorithms presented later are
derivatives prices.
This project started when I was teaching a course in derivatives at the University of British Columbia, in
the course of which I sat down and wrote code for calculating the formulas I was teaching. I have always
found that implementation helps understanding these things. For teaching such complicated material it
is often useful to actually look at the implementation of how the calculation is done in practice. The
purpose of the book is therefore primarily pedagogical, although I believe all the routines presented are
correct and reasonably efficient, and I know they are also used by people to price real options.
To implement the algorithms in a computer language I choose C++. My students keep asking why anybody
would want to use such a backwoods computer language, they think a spreadsheet can solve all the worlds
problems. I have some experience with alternative systems for computing, and no matter what, in the
end you end up being frustrated with higher end “languages”, such as Matlab og R (Not to mention the
straitjacket which is is a spreadsheet.) and going back to implementation in a standard language. In my
experience with empirical finance I have come to realize that nothing beats knowledge a real computer
language. This used to be FORTRAN, then C, and now it is C++. All example algorithms are therefore
coded in C++. I do acknowledge that matrix tools like Matlab are very good for rapid prototyping and
compact calculations, and will in addition to C++ in places also illustrate the use of Matlab, as well as
other (public domain) tools.
The manuscript has been sitting on the internet a few of years, during which it has been visited by a
large number of people, to judge by the number of mails I have received about the routines. The present
(2014) version mainly expands on the background discussion of the routines, it is more extensive, (but
it does not replace a real textbook). I have also added some introductory material on how to program
in C++, since a number of questions make it obvious this manuscript is used by a number of people
who know finance but not C++. All the routines have been made to confirm to the new ISO/ANSI C++
standard, using such concepts as namespaces and the standard template library. The latest (2011) C++
standard introduced a few useful simplifications, which is incorporated in places.
The current manscript therefore has various intented audiences. Primarily it is for students of finance
who desires to see a complete discussion and implementation of some formula. But the manuscript is
also useful for students of finance who wants to learn C++, and for computer scientists who want to
understand about the finance algorithms they are asked to implent and embed into their programs.
In doing the implementation I have tried to be as generic as possible in terms of the C++ used, but I
have taken advantage of a some of the possibilities the language provides in terms of abstraction and
modularization. This will also serve as a lesson in why a real computer language is useful. For example
I have encapsulated the term structure of interest rate as an example of the use of classes.
This is not a textbook in the underlying theory, for that there are many good alternatives. For much of
the material the best textbooks to refer to are Hull (2011) and McDonald (2013), which I have used as
references. The notation of the present manuscipt is also similar to these books.

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Chapter 1

On C++ and programming.

Contents
1.1 Compiling and linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 The structure of a C++ program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.1 Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.2 Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.3 Functions and libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.4 Templates and libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.5 Flow control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.6 Input Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.7 Splitting up a program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.8 Namespaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3 Extending the language, the class concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.1 date, an example class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4 Const references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.5 Other C++ concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

In this chapter I introduce C++ and discuss how to run programs written in C++. This is by no means
a complete reference to programming in C++, it is designed to give enough information to understand
the rest of the book. This chapter also only discusses a subset of C++, it concentrates on the parts of
the language used in the remainder of this book. For really learning C++ a textbook is necessary. I have
found Lippman and Lajoie (1998) an excellent introduction to the language.1 The authorative source
on the language is Stroustrup (1997b).

1.1 Compiling and linking

To program in C++ one has to first write a separate file with the program, which is then compiled
into low-level instructions (machine language) and linked with libraries to make a complete executable
program. The mechanics of doing the compiling and linking varies from system to system, and we leave
these details as an exercise to the reader.
1 I learned C++ from the previous edition of the book, Lippman (1992). From what I can tell the present editions still

seems like a good way of learning the language, but C++ has changed a lot in recent years.

5
1.2 The structure of a C++ program
The first thing to realize about C++ is that it is a strongly typed language. Everything must be declared
before it is used, both variables and functions. C++ has a few basic building blocks, which can be grouped
into types, operations and functions.

1.2.1 Types
The types we will work with in this book are bool, int, long, double and string.
Here are some example definitions

bool this_is_true=true;
int i = 0;
long j = 123456789;
double pi = 3.141592653589793238462643;
string s("this is a string");

The most important part of C++ comes from the fact that these basic types can be expanded by use of
classes, of which more later.

1.2.2 Operations
To these basic types the common mathematical operations can be applied, such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division:

int i = 100 + 50;

int j = 100 - 50;
int n = 100 * 2;
int m = 100 / 2;

These operations are defined for all the common datatypes, with exception of the string type. Such
operations can be defined by the programmer for other datatypes as well.

Increment and decrement In addition to these basic operations there are some additional operations with
their own shorthand. An example we will be using often is incrementing and decrementing a variable.
When we want to increase the value of one item by one, in most languages this is written:

int i=0;
i = i+1;
i = i-1;

In C++ this operation has its own shorthand

int i=0;
i++;
i--;

While this does not seem intuitive, and it is excusable to think that this operation is not really necessary,
it does come in handy for more abstract data constructs. For example, as we will see later, if one defines
a date class with the necessary operations, to get the next date will simply be a matter of

date d(1,1,1995);
d++;

These two statements will result in the date in d being 2jan95.

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1.2.3 Functions and libraries
In addition to the basic mathematical operations there is a large number of additional operations that
can be performed on any type. However, these are not parts of the core language, they are implemented
as standalone functions (most of which are actually written in C or C++). These functions are included
in the large library that comes with any C++ installation. Since they are not part of the core language
they must be defined to the compiler before they can be used. Such definitions are performed by means
of the include statement.
For example, the mathematical operations of taking powers and performing exponentiation are defined
in the mathematical library cmath. In the C++ program one will write

#include <cmath>

cmath is actually a file with a large number of function defintions, among which one finds pow(x,n)
which calculates xn , and exp(r) which calculates er . The following programming stub calculates a = 22
and b = e1 .

#include <cmath>
double a = pow(2,2);
double b = exp(1);

which will give the variables a and b values of 4 and 2.718281828..., respectively.

1.2.4 Templates and libraries

The use of libraries is not only limited to functions. Also included in the standard library is generic
data structures, which can be used on any data type. The example we will be considering the most is
the vector<>, which defines an array, or vector of variables.

#include <vector>
vector<double> M(2);
M[0]=1.0;
M[1]=2.0;
M.push_back(3);

This example defines an array with three elements of type double

2 3
1
M =4 2 5
3
Note some pecularities here. When first defining the vector with the statement

vector<double> M(2);

we defined an array of 2 elements of type double, which we then proceeded to fill with the values 1 and
2. When filling the array we addressed each element directly. Note that in the statement

M[0]=1.0;

lies one of the prime traps for programmers coming to C or C++ from another language. Indexing of
arrays starts at zero, not at one. M[0] really means the first element of the array.
The last statement,

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M.push_back(3);

shows the ability of the programmer of changing the size of the array after it has been defined. push_back
is a standard operation on arrays which “pushes” the element onto the back of the array, extending the
size of the array by one element. Most programming languages do not allow the programmer to specify
variable-sized arrays “on the fly.” In FORTRAN or Pascal we would usually have to set a maximum length
for each array, and hope that we would not need to exceed that length. The vector<> template of C++
gets rid of the programmers need for “bookkeeping” in such array manipulations.

1.2.5 Flow control

To repeat statements several times one will use on of the possibilities for flow control, such as the for
or while constucts. For example, to repeat an operation n times one can use the following for loop:

for (int i=0; i<n; i++) {

some_operation(i);
};

The for statement has tree parts. The first part gives the initial condition (i=0). The next part the
terminal condition (i<n), which says to stop when i<n is not fulfilled, which is at the n’th iteration.
The last part is the increment statement (i++), saying what to do in each iteration. In this case the
value of i is increased by one in each iteration. This is the typical for statement. One of the causes
of C’s reputation for terseness is the possibility of elaborate for constructs, which end up being almost
impossible to read. In the algorithms presented in this book we will try to avoid any obfuscated for
statements, and stick to the basic cases.

1.2.6 Input Output

For any program to do anything useful it needs to be able to output its results. Input and output
operations is defined in a couple of libraries, iostream and fstream. The first covers in/output to
standard terminals and the second in/output to files.
To write to standard output cout (the terminal), one will do as follows:

#include <iostream>
cout << "This is a test" << endl;

To write to a file "test.out", one will do as follows:

#include <fstream>
ofstream outf;
outf.open("test.out");
outf << "This is a test" << endl;
outf.clear();
outf.close();

1.2.7 Splitting up a program

Any nontrivial program in C++ is split into several pieces. Usually each piece is written as a function
which returns a value of a given type. To illustrate we provide a complete example program, shown in
C++ Code 1.1.

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#include <iostream> // input output operations
#include <cmath> // mathematics library
using namespace std; // the above is part of the standard namespace

double power(double x, double n){

// define a simple power function
double p = exp(n*log(x));
return p;
};

int main(){
for (int n=1;n<6;n++){
cout << " 2^" << n << " = " << power(2,n) << endl;
};
};

C++ Code 1.1: A complete program

The program defines a function performing the mathematical power operation, power(x,n) which cal-
culates xn through the identity xn = en ln(x) . This function is then used to calculate and print the first
5 powers of 2.
When compiled, linked and run, the program will provide the following output

2^1 = 2
2^2 = 4
2^3 = 8
2^4 = 16
2^5 = 32

1.2.8 Namespaces
To help in building large programs, the concept of a namespace was introduced. Namespaces are a means
of keeping the variables and functions defined local to the context in which they are used. For now it
is necessary to know that any function in the standard C++ library lies in its own namespace, called the
standard namespace. To actually access these library functons it is necessary to explicitly specify that
one wants to access the standard namespace, by the statement

using namespace std;

Instead of such a general approach, one can also specify the namespace on an element by element basis,
but this is more a topic for specialized C++ texts, for the current purposes we will allow all routines access
to the whole standard namespace.

1.3 Extending the language, the class concept.

One of the major advances of C++ relative to other programming languages is the programmers ability to
extend the language by creating new data types and defining standard operations on these data types.
This ability is why C++ is called an object oriented programming language, since much of the work in
programming is done by creating objects. An object is best though of as a data structure with operations
on it defined. How one uses an object is best shown by an example.

9
1.3.1 date, an example class
Consider the abstract concept of a date. A date can be specified in any number of ways. Let us limit
ourselves to the Gregorian calendar. 12 august 2003 is a common way of specifying a date. However, it
can also be represented by the strings: “2003/8/12”, “12/8/2003” and so on, or by the number of years
since 1 january 1900, the number of months since January, and the day of the month (which is how a
UNIX programmer will think of it).
However, for most people writing programs the representation of a date is not relevant, they want to be
able to enter dates in some abstract way, and then are conserned with such questions as:

 Are two dates equal?

 Is one date earlier than another?

 How many days is it between two dates?

A C++ programmer will proceed to use a class that embodies these uses of the concept of a date. Typically
one will look around for an extant class which has already implemented this, but we will show a trivial
such date class as an example of how one can create a class.

class date {
protected:
int year ;
int month ;
int day ;
public:
date();
date(const int& d, const int& m, const int& y);

bool valid() const;

int day() const;

int month() const;
int year() const;

void set day (const int& day );

void set month (const int& month );
void set year (const int& year );

date operator ++(); // prefix

date operator ++(int); // postfix
date operator (); // prefix
date operator (int); // postfix
};

bool operator == (const date&, const date&); // comparison operators

bool operator != (const date&, const date&);
bool operator < (const date&, const date&);
bool operator > (const date&, const date&);
bool operator <= (const date&, const date&);
bool operator >= (const date&, const date&);

Header file 1.1: Defining a date class

A class is defined in a header file, as shown in Header file 1.1. As internal representation of the date is
chosen the three integers day_, month_ and year_. This is the data structure which is then manipulated
by the various functions defined below.
The functions are used to

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  Create a date variable: date(const int& d, const int& m, const int& y);

 Functions outputting the date by the three integer functions day(), month() and year().

 Functions setting the date set_day(int), set_month(int) and set_year(int), which are used
by providing an integer as arguments to the function.

 Increment and decrement functions ++ and –

 Comparison functions <, <=, >, >=, == and !-.

After including this header file, programmers using such a class will then treat an object of type date
just like any other.
For exmple,

date d(1,1,2001);
++d;

would result in the date object d containing the date 2 january 2001.
Any C++ programmer who want to use this date object will only need to look at the header file to know
what are the possible functions one can use with a date object, and be happy about not needing to know
anything about how these functions are implemented. This is the encapsulation part of object oriented
programming, all relevant information about the date object is specified by the header file. This is the
only point of interaction, all details about implementation of the class objects and its functions is not
used in code using this object. In fact, the user of the class can safely ignore the class’ privates, which
is only good manners, anyway.
Let us look at the implementation of this.
C++ Code 1.2 defines the basic operations, initialization, setting the date, and checking whether a date is
valid.

11
#include "date.h"

date::date(){ year = 0; month = 0; day = 0;};

date::date(const int& day, const int& month, const int& year){

day = day;
month = month;
year = year;
};

int date::day() const { return day ; };

int date::month() const { return month ; };
int date::year() const { return year ; };

void date::set day (const int& day) { date::day = day; };

void date::set month(const int& month) { date::month = month; };
void date::set year (const int& year) { date::year = year; };

bool date::valid() const {

// This function will check the given date is valid or not.
// If the date is not valid then it will return the value false.
// Need some more checks on the year, though
if (year <0) return false;
if (month >12 jj month <1) return false;
if (day >31 jj day <1) return false;
if ((day ==31 && ( month ==2 jj month ==4jj month ==6jj month ==9 j j month ==11) ) )
return false;
if ( day ==30 && month ==2) return false;
// should also check for leap years, but for now allow for feb 29 in any year
return true;
};

C++ Code 1.2: Basic operations for the date class

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For many abstract types it can be possible to define an ordering. For dates there is the natural ordering.
C++ Code 1.3 shows how such comparison operations is defined.

#include "date.h"

bool operator == (const date& d1,const date& d2){ // check for equality
if (! (d1.valid() && (d2.valid())) ) { return false; }; /* if dates not valid, not clear what to do.
alternative: throw exception */
return ((d1.day()==d2.day()) && (d1.month()==d2.month()) && (d1.year()==d2.year()));
};

bool operator < (const date& d1, const date& d2){

if (! (d1.valid() && (d2.valid())) ) { return false; }; // see above remark
if (d1.year()==d2.year()) { // same year
if (d1.month()==d2.month()) { // same month
return (d1.day()<d2.day());
}
else {
return (d1.month()<d2.month());
};
}
else { // different year
return (d1.year()<d2.year());
};
};

// remaining operators defined in terms of the above

bool operator <=(const date& d1, const date& d2){

if (d1==d2) { return true; }
return (d1<d2);
}

bool operator >=(const date& d1, const date& d2) {

if (d1==d2) { return true;};
return (d1>d2);
};

bool operator > (const date& d1, const date& d2) { return !(d1<=d2);};

bool operator !=(const date& d1, const date& d2){ return !(d1==d2);}

C++ Code 1.3: Comparison operators for the date class

13
C++ Code 1.4 shows operations for finding previous and next date, called an iteration operator.

#include "date.h"

date next date(const date& d){

if (!d.valid()) { return date(); }; //
date ndat=date((d.day()+1),d.month(),d.year()); // first try adding a day
if (ndat.valid()) return ndat;
ndat=date(1,(d.month()+1),d.year()); // then try adding a month
if (ndat.valid()) return ndat;
ndat = date(1,1,(d.year()+1)); // must be next year
return ndat;
}

date previous date(const date& d){

if (!d.valid()) { return date(); }; // return the default date
date pdat = date((d.day() 1),d.month(),d.year()); if (pdat.valid()) return pdat; // try same month
pdat = date(31,(d.month() 1),d.year()); if (pdat.valid()) return pdat; // try previous month
pdat = date(30,(d.month() 1),d.year()); if (pdat.valid()) return pdat;
pdat = date(29,(d.month() 1),d.year()); if (pdat.valid()) return pdat;
pdat = date(28,(d.month() 1),d.year()); if (pdat.valid()) return pdat;
pdat = date(31,12,(d.year() 1)); // try previous year
return pdat;
};

date date::operator ++(int){ // postfix operator

date d = *this;
*this = next date(d);
return d;
}

date date::operator ++(){ // prefix operator

*this = next date(*this);
return *this;
}

date date::operator (int){ // postfix operator, return current value

date d = *this;
*this = previous date(*this);
return d;
}

date date::operator (){ // prefix operator, return new value

*this = previous date(*this);
return *this;
};

C++ Code 1.4: Iterative operators for the date class

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Exercise 1.1.
The function valid() in the date class accepts february 29’th in every year, but this should ideally only
happen for leap years. Modify the function to return a false if the year is not a leap year.
Exercise 1.2.
A typical operating system has functions for dealing with dates, which your typical C++ implementation can
call. Find the relevant functions in your implementation, and

1. Implement a function querying the operating system for the current date, and return this date.

2. Implement a function querying the operating system for the weekday of a given date, and return a
representation of the weekday as a member of the set:

{"mon","tue","wed","thu","fri","sat","sun"}

3. Reimplement the valid() function using a system call.

Exercise 1.3.
Once the date class is available, a number of obvious functions begs to be implemented. How would you

1. Add a given number of days to a date?

2. Go to the end or beginning of a month?

3. Find the distance betwen two dates (in days or in years)?

4. Extract a date from a string? (Here one need to make some assumptions about the format)

Exercise 1.4.
Take a look at how dates are dealt with in various computing environments, such as the operating system
(Unix, Windows), applications (Spreadsheets), programming languages, etc. At what level of abstraction is
the interface? Do you need to know how dates are implemented? For those with access to both Matlab and
Windows, why would you say that Matlab has an “off-by-one” problem relative to Windows?

15
1.4 Const references
Let us now discuss a concept of more technical nature. Consider two alternative calls to a function,
defined by function calls:

some_function(double r);
some_function(const double& r);

They both are called by an argument which is a double, and that argument is guaranteed to not be
changed in the calling function, but they work differently. In the first case a copy of the variable
referenced to in the argument is created for use in the function, but in the second case one uses the
same variable, the argument is a reference to the location of the variable. The latter is more efficient,
in particular when the argument is a large class. However, one worries that the variable referred to is
changed in the function, which in most cases one do not want. Therefore the const qualifier, it says
that the function can not modify its argument. The compiler will warn the programmer if an attempt
is made to modify such a variable.
For efficiency, in most of the following routines arguments are therefore given as as constant references.

1.5 Other C++ concepts

A number of other C++ concepts, such as function prototypes and templates, will be introduced later in
particular contexts. They only appear in a few places and is better introduced where they are used.

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Chapter 2

Matrix Tools

Being computer literate entails being aware of a number of computer tools and being able to choose the
most suitable tool for the problem at hand. Way to many people turns this around, and want to fit
any problem to the computer tool they know. The tool that very often is the tool for business school
students is a spreadsheet like Excel. Of course, a spreadsheet is very useful for very many business
applications. However, it is not the best tool for more computationally intensive tasks.
While the bulk of the present book concerns itself with C++, in many applications in finance a very
handy tool is a language for manipulating vectors and matrices using linear algebra. There are a lot
of different possible programs that behaves very similarly, with a syntax taken from the mathematical
formulation of linear algebra. An early tool of this sort was matlab, with a large number of programs
copying much of the syntax of this program. As a result of this there is a proliferation of programs with
similar syntax to Matlab doing similar analysis. General tools include the commercial package Matlab
sold by Mathworks, the public domain programs octave and scilab. Tools that are similar, but more
geared towards econometrics, include Gauss, Ox and S with its public domain “clone” R. As for what
program to install, there is no right answer. For the basic learning of how these tools work, any of the
mentioned packages will do the job. For students on a limited budget the public domain tools octave,
scilab and R are obvious candidates. All of them perform the basic operations done by the commercial
Matlab package, and good for learning the basics of such a matrix tool.
All of these tools are programs that lets the user manipulate vectors and matrices using very compact
notation. While compact notation is always prone to tense, making programs using it unreadable, this
is not such a large problem in Matlab, the notation tends to be so close how a mathematician would
write them that programs can be relatively easy to follow. There are some pitfalls for the unwary user,
in particular it is easy to “miss” the difference between a command operating on a whole matrix and
the corresponding element by element operation. For example, consider the following short example,
where the operator ˆ means that the matrix A is taken to the power 2 (multiplied with itself), and the
operator .ˆ means that each element of the matrix A is taken to the power 2. The two commands give
very different answers.

>> A = [1 1 ; 1 1]
A =
1 1
1 1
>> A^2
ans =
2 2
2 2
>> A.^2
ans =

17
 1 1
1 1

The rest of this chapter gives an introduction to a tool like this.

2.1 The first screen

How you start the particular tool you are using depend both on which program and which operating
system you are working on. The details of how to start it is left as an exercise to the reader.
The tools are interactive, they present you with a prompt, and expect you to start writing commands.
We will

>>

as the prompt, which means that the program is ready to receive commands.
In the text output of the matrix tool will be shown typewritten as:

>> A = [1, 2, 3; 4, 5, 6]

This particular command defines a matrix A, the matrix tool will respond to this command by printing
the matrix that was just defined:

A =
1 2 3
4 5 6

2.2 Linear algebra

To use such a tool you need some knowledge of linear algebra. We assume the reader have this basic
knowledge, if not a quick perusal of a standard mathematical text on linear algebra is called for.

2.2.1 Basic matrix operations

In matrix algebra a set of mathematical rules are given for operating on the basic elements real numbers,
vectors, and matrices. In Matlab the type of each variable is determined when you first define it.

>> a=1
a = 1
>> b=2
b = 2
>> c=3
c = 3
>> y=[1;2;3]
y =
1
2
3
>> x=[1,2,3]
x =
1 2 3

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>> A=[1 2 3;4 5 6]
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6

Observe that when filling in a vector or a matrix a space or a comma means a new number, a semicolon
a new row. To suppress the printing of what you just defined, end the line with a semicolon:

>> A=[1,2,3,4];
>> A=[1,2,3,4]
A =
1 2 3 4
>>

You can also use defined variables to define new variables, as long as the dimensions make sense. For
example, given the above definitions:

>>B=[c x]
B =
3 1 2 3
>> C = [A;x]
C =
1 2 3
4 5 6
1 2 3
>> D = [A y]
error: number of rows must match
error: evaluating assignment expression near line 22, column 3

If the dimensioning is wrong, you get an error message, and the variable is not defined.
To see what is in a variable, tell Matlab to print the value by giving the name:

>> a
a = 1
>> A
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6

Note that Matlab is case-sensitive, both A and a are defined.

2.2.2 Arithmetic Matrix Operations.

We now get to the important parts of Matlab, namely, its built–in matrix arithmetic. Given the defi-
nitions above, let us add and subract a few elements according to the rules of matrix algebra. We first
show how to manipulate numbers and vectors:

>> a=1
a = 1
>> b=2
b = 2
>> a+b
ans = 3

19
>> x=[1 2 3 4]
x =
1 2 3 4
>> y=[4 3 2 1]
y =
4 3 2 1
>> x+y
ans =
5 5 5 5
>> y-x
ans =
3 1 -1 -3
>> a*x+b*y
ans =
9 8 7 6

similarly, for matrices:

A=[1 2 3; 4 5 6]
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
>> B=[6 5 4; 3 2 1]
B =
6 5 4
3 2 1
>> A+B
ans =
7 7 7
7 7 7
>>A-B
ans =
-5 -3 -1
1 3 5
>> a*A+b*B
ans =
13 12 11
10 9 8
> A*B’
ans =
28 10
73 28

In linear algebra, you need to be aware that matrix multiplication is not element by element multiplica-
tion, it is a much more complex operation, where all possible vector combinations are multiplied with
each other. When multiplying matrices, you need to be more careful about dimensions, but in terms of
notation it is just like vector multiplication.

>> A=[1 2 3;4 5 6]

A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
>> B = [1 2;3 4; 5 6]

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B =
1 2
3 4
5 6
>> A*B
ans =
22 28
49 64
>> B*A
ans =
9 12 15
19 26 33
29 40 51

For these matrices, both AB and BA are defined operations, but note that the results are different, in
fact, even the dimension of the product is different.
If we let B be a 2  2 matrix, then multiplying AB is an error.
>> B=[1 2;3 4]
B =
1 2
3 4
>> A*B
error: nonconformant matrices (op1 is 2x3, op2 is 2x2)
>> B*A
ans =
9 12 15
19 26 33

Let us now discuss some standard matrix concepts.

The transpose of a matrix A is found in Matlab as A’:

>> A
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
>> A’
ans =
1 4
2 5
3 6

Two special matrices are the null and identity matrices:

>> null = zeros(3,3)

null =
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
>> ident = eye(3,3)
ident =
1 0 0
0 1 0

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 0 0 1

The rank of a matrix is is the number of independent rows or columns in the matrix, and calculated as

>> Ahi
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
>> rank(A)
ans = 2

The inverse of a square matrix A is the matrix inv(A) such that A*inv(A) equals the identity matrix,
or in mathematical notation AA 1 = I.

>> D=[1 2;1 4]

D =
1 2
1 4
>> inv(D)
ans =
2.00000 -1.00000
-0.50000 0.50000
>> D^-1
ans =
2.00000 -1.00000
-0.50000 0.50000

To make sure that this is the inverse, multiply D and inv(D):

>> D * inv(D)
ans =
1 0
0 1

Determinant

>> B
B =
1 2
3 4
>> det(B)
ans = -2

2.3 Solving linear equations

Consider the basic linear equation

Ax = b

This equation has a defined solution if the rank of A equals the rank of [Ajb]. If A is nonsingular, we
solve the linear equation by finding the unique solution

x=A 1
b

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Consider the linear equation

3x1 + 4 x2 = 5
4x1 + 6 x2 = 8
Write this in matrix form by defining
 
3 4
A=
4 6
 
5
b=
8
Let us first check that this system is solvable

>> A = [3 4;4 6]
A =
3 4
4 6
>> b=[5;8]
b =

5
8
>> rank(A)
ans = 2
>> rank ([A b])
ans = 2

Note how to create the augmented matrix [Ajb] by [A b]. The rank of the two is the same. Since A is
square, we can calculate the solution as

>> inverse(A)
ans =
3.0000 -2.0000
-2.0000 1.5000
>> x = inverse(A) * b
x =
-1
2

The solution to the system of equations is

 
1
x=
2
In this case we calculated the solution by finding the inverse. But you should be aware that solving
the system of equations by calculation of the inverse is not the numerically most stable way of doing
the calculation. Matlab has built in a direct linear matrix solver, which is invoked by the left division
operator

>> x = A\b
x =
-1
2

23
This solves the system of equations directly, and it is usually the preferred way to do this operation,
unless the inverse is needed for other purposes.

2.4 Element by element operations

When a command is prefixed with a period, it means the command applies to each element of a vector
or matrix, not the vector or matrix.
For example, with the two vectors below, consider the difference in multiplying the two and doing an
element by element multiplication:

> x=[1 2 3 ]
x =
1 2 3
> t=[1 2 3]
t =
1 2 3
>> x*t’
ans = 14
> x.*t
ans =
1 4 9

Similarly, when taking the exponent of a matrix

> A=[1 1;1 1]

A =
1 1
1 1

>> A^10
ans =
512 512
512 512
>> A.^10
ans =
1 1
1 1

2.5 Function definitions

2.6 m files

2.7 Flow control

2.8 Plotting
A very important use for a tool like Matlab is its ability to produce plots graphing mathematical
relationships. For illustrating mathematical relations a two or three dimensional picture can be better
than the thousands words of the old adage.

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2.9 Libraries

2.10 References
You need the manual for your chosen package.

25
Chapter 3

The value of time

Contents
3.1 Present value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2 One interest rate with annual compounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2.1 Internal rate of return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.3 Continously compounded interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.3.1 Present value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.4 Further readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Finance as a field of study is sometimes somewhat flippantly said to deal with the value of two things:
time and risk. While this is not the whole story, there is a deal of truth in it. These are the two issues
which is always present. We start our discussion by ignoring risk and only considering the implications
of the fact that anybody prefers to get something earlier rather than later, or the value of time.

3.1 Present value

The present value is the current value of a stream of future payments. Let Ct be the cash flow at time
t. Suppose we have N future cash flows that occur at times t1 ; t2 ;


; tN .
C1 C2 CN
-
0 t1 t2 tN
time

To find the present value of these future cash flows one need a set of prices of future cash flows. Suppose
dt is the price one would pay today for the right to receive one dollar at a future date t. Such a price
is also called a discount factor. To complicate matters further such prices will differ depending on the
riskiness of the future cash flows. For now we concentrate on one particular set of prices, the prices of
riskless future cash flows. We will return to how one would adjust the prices for risky cash flows.
If one knows the set of prices for future claims of one dollar, d1 ; d2 ; : : : ;, one would calculate the present
value as the sum of the present values of the different elements.
N
X
PV = d ti C ti
i=1

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 C t1 C t2 C tN
-
0 t1 t2 tN
time

d t1 C t1 

d t2 C t2 

d tN C tN 

However, knowing this set of current prices for cash flows at all future dates is not always feasible, and
some way has to be found to simplify the data need inherent in such general present value calculations.

3.2 One interest rate with annual compounding

The best known way to simplify the present value calculation is to rewrite the discount factors in terms
of interest rates, or yields, through the relationship:
1
dt =
(1 + rt )t
where rt is the interest rate (usually termed the spot rate) relevant for a t-period investment. To further
simplify this calculation one can impose that this interest rate r is constant for all periods. This is
termed a flat term structure. We will in the next chapter relax this simplifying assumption. The prices
for valuing the future payments dt is calculated from this interest rate:
1
dt = ;
(1 + r)t
In this case one would calculate the present value of a stream of cash flows paid at discrete dates
t = 1; 2; : : : N as
N
X Ct
PV = :
t=1
(1 + r)t
The implementation of this calculation is shown in C++ Code 3.1.

#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
#include <iostream>
double cash flow pv discrete(const vector<double>& cflow times,
const vector<double>& cflow amounts,
const double& r){
double PV=0.0;
for (int t=0; t<cflow times.size();t++) {
PV += cflow amounts[t]/pow(1.0+r,cflow times[t]);
};
return PV;
};

C++ Code 3.1: Present value with discrete compounding

Example

27
An investment project has an investment cost of 100 today, and produces cash flows of 75 each of the next
two years. What is the Net Present Value of the project?

Matlab program:

C=[ 100 75 75]

t=[0 1 2]
r = 0.1
d=(1/(1+r)).^t
NPV=C*d’

Output from Matlab program:

C =
-100 75 75
t =
0 1 2
r = 0.10000
d =
1.00000 0.90909 0.82645
NPV = 30.165

C++ program:

vector<double> cflows; cflows.push back( 100.0); cflows.push back(75); cflows.push back(75);

vector<double> times; times.push back(0.0); times.push back(1); times.push back(2);
double r=0.1;
cout << " Present value, 10 percent discretely compounded interest = "
<< cash flow pv discrete(times, cflows, r) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

Present value, 10 percent discretely compounded interest = 30.1653

Given the assumption of a discrete, annual interest rate, there are a number of useful special cases of
cash flows where one can calculate the present value in a simplified manner. Some of these are shown in
the following exercises.
Exercise 3.1.
A perpetuity is a promise of a payment of a fixed amount X each period for the indefinite future. Suppose
there is a fixed interest rate r.

1. Show that the present value of this sequence of cash flows is calculated simply as
1
X X X
PV = =
t=1
1+r r
Exercise 3.2.
A growing perpetuity is again an infinite sequence of cashflows, where the payment the first year is X and
each consequent payment grows by a constant rate g , i.e, the time 2 payment is X (1+ g ), the time 3 payment
is X (1 + g )2 , and so on.

1. Show that the present value of this perpetuity simplifies to

1
X X (1 + g )t 1 X
PV = = 1
t=1
(1 + r ) t r g

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Exercise 3.3.
An annuity is a sequence of cashflows for a given number of years, say T periods into the future. Consider
an annuity paying a fixed amount X each period. The interest rate is r.

1. Show that the present value of this sequence of cash flows can be simplified as

T  
X X 1 1 1
PV = =X
t=1
(1 + r)t r r (1 + r)T
Exercise 3.4.
An growing annuity is a sequence of cashflows for a given number of years, say T periods into the future,
where each payment grows by a given factor each year. Consider a T -period annuity that pays X the first
period. After that, the payments grows at a rate of g per year, i.e. the second year the cash flow is X (1 + g ),
the third X (1 + g )2 , and so on.

1. Show that the present value of this growing annuity can be simplified as
" #
X (1 + g )(t 1)
T  T
X 1 1+g 1
PV = =X
t=1
(1 + r) t r g 1+r r g
Exercise 3.5.
Rank the following cash flows in terms of present value. Use an interest rate of 5%.

1. A perpetuity with an annual payment of $100.

2. A growing perpetuity, where the first payment is $75, and each subsequent payment grows by 2%.

3. A 10-year annuity with an annual payment of $90.

4. A 10 year growing annuity, where the first payment is $85, and each subsequent payment grows by 5%.

29
3.2.1 Internal rate of return.
In addition to its role in simplifying present value calculations, the interest rate has some further use.
The percentage return on an investment is a summary measure of the investment’s profitability. Saying
that an investment earns 10% per year is a good way of summarizing the cash flows in a way that does not
depend on the amount of the initial investment. The return is thus a relative measure of profitability.
To estimate a return for a set of cash flows we calculate the internal rate of return. The internal
rate of return for a set of cash flows is the interest rate that makes the present value of the cash flows
equal to zero. When there is a uniquely defined internal rate of return we get a relative measure of the
profitability of a set of cash flows, measured as a return, typically expressed as a percentage. Note some
of the implicit assumptions made here. We assume that the same interest rate applies at all future dates
(i.e. a flat term structure). The IRR method also assumes intermediate cash flows are reinvested at the
internal rate of return.
Suppose the cash flows are C0 ; C 1 ; C 2 ; : : : C T . Finding an internal rate of return is finding a solution y
of the equation
T
X Ct
C0 = 0
t=1
(1 + y )t
Note that this is a polynomial equation, and as T becomes large, there in no way to find an explicit
solution to the equation. It therefore needs to be solved numerically. For well behaved cash flows, where
we know that there is one IRR, the method implemented in C++ Code 3.2 is suitable, it is an iterative
process called bisection. It is an adaption of the bracketing approach discussed in (Press, Teukolsky,
Vetterling, and Flannery, 1992, Chapter9),

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#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
#include "fin_recipes.h"

const double ERROR= 1e30;

double cash flow irr discrete(const vector<double>& cflow times,

const vector<double>& cflow amounts) {
// simple minded irr function. Will find one root (if it exists.)
// adapted from routine in Numerical Recipes in C.
if (cflow times.size()!=cflow amounts.size()) return ERROR;
const double ACCURACY = 1.0e 5;
const int MAX ITERATIONS = 50;
double x1 = 0.0;
double x2 = 0.2;

// create an initial bracket, with a root somewhere between bot,top

double f1 = cash flow pv discrete(cflow times, cflow amounts, x1);
double f2 = cash flow pv discrete(cflow times, cflow amounts, x2);
int i;
for (i=0;i<MAX ITERATIONS;i++) {
if ( (f1*f2) < 0.0) { break; }; //
if (fabs(f1)<fabs(f2)) {
f1 = cash flow pv discrete(cflow times,cflow amounts, x1+=1.6*(x1 x2));
}
else {
f2 = cash flow pv discrete(cflow times,cflow amounts, x2+=1.6*(x2 x1));
};
};
if (f2*f1>0.0) { return ERROR; };
double f = cash flow pv discrete(cflow times,cflow amounts, x1);
double rtb;
double dx=0;
if (f <0.0) {
rtb = x1;
dx=x2 x1;
}
else {
rtb = x2;
dx = x1 x2;
};
for (i=0;i<MAX ITERATIONS;i++){
dx *= 0.5;
double x mid = rtb+dx;
double f mid = cash flow pv discrete(cflow times,cflow amounts, x mid);
if (f mid<=0.0) { rtb = x mid; }
if ( (fabs(f mid)<ACCURACY) jj (fabs(dx)<ACCURACY) ) return x mid;
};
return ERROR; // error.
};

C++ Code 3.2: Estimation of the internal rate of return

31
Example
We are considering an investment with the following cash flows at dates 0, 1 and 2:
C0 = 100; C1 = 10; C2 = 110
1. The current interest rate (with discrete, annual compounding) is 5%. Determine the present value of
the cash flows.

2. Find the internal rate of return of this sequence of cash flows.

Matlab program:

C=[ 100 10 110]

t=[0 1 2]
r = 0.05
d=(1/(1+r)).^t
NPV=C*d’
IRR = irr(C)

Output from Matlab program:

C =
-100 10 110
t =
0 1 2
r = 0.050000
d =
1.00000 0.95238 0.90703
NPV = 9.2971
IRR = 0.100000

C++ program:

vector<double> cflows; cflows.push back( 100.0); cflows.push back(10.0); cflows.push back(110.0);

vector<double> times; times.push back(0.0); times.push back(1); times.push back(2);
double r=0.05;
cout << " present value, 5 percent discretely compounded interest = " ;
cout << cash flow pv discrete(times, cflows, r) << endl;
cout << " internal rate of return, discrete compounding = ";
cout << cash flow irr discrete(times, cflows) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

present value, 5 percent discretely compounded interest = 9.29705

internal rate of return, discrete compounding = 0.1

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In addition to the above economic qualifications to interpretations of the internal rate of return, we also
have to deal with technical problem stemming from the fact that any polynomial equation has potentially
several solutions, some of which may be imaginary. By imaginary here we mean that we move away from
the real line to the set of complex numbers. In economics we prefer the real solutions, complex interest
rates are not something we have much intuition about... To see whether we are likely to have problems
in identifying a single meaningful IRR, the code shown in code 3.3 implements a simple check. It is only
a necessary condition for a unique IRR, not sufficient, so you may still have a well-defined IRR even
if this returns false. The first test is just to count the number of sign changes in the cash flow. From
Descartes rule we know that the number of real roots is one if there is only one sign change. If there is
more than one change in the sign of cash flows, we can go further and check the aggregated cash flows
for sign changes (See Norstrom (1972)).

#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

inline int sgn(const double& r){ if (r>=0) {return 1;} else {return 1;}; };

bool cash flow unique irr(const vector<double>& cflow times,

const vector<double>& cflow amounts) {
int sign changes=0; // first check Descartes rule
for (int t=1;t<cflow times.size();++t){
if (sgn(cflow amounts[t 1]) !=sgn(cflow amounts[t])) sign changes++;
};
if (sign changes==0) return false; // can not find any irr
if (sign changes==1) return true;

double A = cflow amounts[0]; // check the aggregate cash flows, due to Norstrom
sign changes=0;
for (int t=1;t<cflow times.size();++t){
if (sgn(A) != sgn(A+=cflow amounts[t])) sign changes++;
};
if (sign changes<=1) return true;
return false;
}

C++ Code 3.3: Test for uniqueness of IRR

A better way to gain an understanding for the relationship between the interest rate and the present
value is simply to plot the present value as a function of the interest rate. The following picture illustrates
the method for two different cash flows. Note that the set of cash flows on the right has two possble
interest rates that sets the present value equal to zero.

10 2
pv(r) pv(r)
0 0

1
5

0
-1

-2
-5

-3

-10
-4

-15 -5
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 -0.2 -0.15 -0.1 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2

C0 = 100; C1 = 10; C2 = 100 C0 = 100; C1 = 201; C2 = 100

33
Exercise 3.6.
An alternative way of estimating the IRR is to use an external subroutine that finds the root of a polynomial
equation. Search for a suitable general subroutine for root finding and replace the IRR estimation with a call
to this subroutine.

3.3 Continously compounded interest

Such discrete compounding as we have just discussed is not the only alternative way to approximate the
discount factor. The discretely compounded case assumes that interest is added at discrete points in time
(hence the name). However, an alternative assumption is to assume that interest is added continously. If
compounding is continous, and r is the interest rate, one would calculate the current price dt of reciving
one dollar at a future date t as

dt = e rt ;

Formula 3.1 summarizes some rules for translating between continously compounded and discretly com-
pounded interest rates.
 rn 
r = n ln 1 +
n
r

rn = n e n 1
Future value = ert
Present value =e rt

Notation: rn : interest rate with discrete compounding, n: compounding periods per year. r : interest rate with
continuous compounding, t: time to maturity.
Formula 3.1: Translating between discrete and continous compounding

Example

1. Given a 15% interest rate with monthly compounding, calculate the equivalent interest rate with con-
tinuous compounding.
2. Given a 12% interest rate with continuous compounding, find the equivalent interest rate with quarterly
compounding.

Carrying out the calculations:

1. r12 = 15%, r = 12 ln 1 + 012
:15 = 14:91%

 
2. r = 12% , r4 = n e nr 1 =4 e
0:12
4 1 = 12:18%
Using Matlab to do the calculations:

Matlab program:

r = 12 * log( 1+0.15/12)
r4 = 4 * ( exp(0.12/4) 1 )

Output from Matlab program:

r = 0.14907
r4 = 0.12182

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3.3.1 Present value
Applying this to a set of cash flows at future dates t1 ; t 2 ; : : : ; t n , we get the following present value
calculation:
n
X
PV = e rti C
ti
i=1

This calculation is implemented in C++ Code 3.4.

#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double cash flow pv( const vector<double>& cflow times,

const vector<double>& cflow amounts,
const double& r){
double PV=0.0;
for (int t=0; t<cflow times.size();t++) {
PV += cflow amounts[t] * exp( r*cflow times[t]);
};
return PV;
};

C++ Code 3.4: Present value calculation with continously compounded interest

In much of what follows we will work with the case of continously compounded interest. There is a
number of reasons why, but a prime reason is actually that it is easier to use continously compounded
interest than discretely compounded, because it is easier to deal with uneven time periods. Discretely
compounded interest is easy to use with evenly spaced cash flows (such as annual cash flows), but harder
otherwise.

3.4 Further readings

The material in this chapter is covered in most standard textbooks of corporate finance (e.g. Brealey,
Myers, and Allen (2010) or Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe (2009)) and investments (e.g. Bodie, Kane, and
Marcus (2007), Haugen (2001) or Sharpe, Alexander, and Bailey (1999)).

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Chapter 4

Bond Pricing with a flat term structure

Contents
4.1 Flat term structure with discrete, annual compounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.1.1 Bond Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.1.2 Yield to maturity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.1.3 Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.1.4 Measuring bond sensitivity to interest rate changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.2 Continously compounded interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.3 Further readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

In this section we use the present value framework of the previous chapter to price bonds and other fixed
income securities. What distinguishes bonds is that the future payments are set when the security is
issued. The simplest, and most typical bond, is a fixed interest, constant maturity bond with no default
risk. There is however a large number of alternative contractual features of bonds. The bond could for
example ba an annuity bond, paying a fixed amount each period. For such a bond the principal amount
outstanding is paid gradually during the life of the bond. The interest rate the bond pays need not be
fixed, it could be a floating rate, the interest rate paid could be a function of some market rate. Many
bonds are issued by corporations, and in such cases there is a risk that the company issued the bond
defaults, and the bond does not pay the complete promised amount. Another thing that makes bond
pricing difficult in practice, is that interest rates tend to change over time.
We start by assuming that all the promised payments are certain.
Then the bond current price B0 is found as the present value of these payments. The first step of pricing
is to use the terms of the bond to find the promised payments. We start by considering a fixed interest
bond with no default risk. Such bonds are typically bonds issued by governments. The bond is a promise
to pay a face value F at the maturity date T periods from now. Each period the bond pays a fixed
percentage amount of the face value as coupon C . The cash flows from the bond thus look as follows.

t= 0 1 2 3


T
Coupon C C C


C
Face value F
Total cash flows C1 = C C 2 = C


CT = C + F
In general a bond price is found as the present value
T
X
B 0 = d1 C 1 + d2 C 2 +


+ dT C T = dt C t
t=1

where dt is the discount factor, or the time 0 price of a payment of 1 at time t. To fully specify the

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problem it is necessary to find all discount factors dt . In this chapter we will work with a specially simple
specifiction of the term structure, namely that it is flat, and specified by the interest rate r.

4.1 Flat term structure with discrete, annual compounding

This is the simplest possible specification of a term structure,
 t
1 1
dt = =
1+r (1 + r)t

4.1.1 Bond Price

The current bond price (B0 ) is the present value of the cash flows from the bond
T   T
X 1 X Ct
B0 = C t = (4.1)
t=1
(1 + r ) t
t=1
(1 + r )t
If we continue with the example of a standard fixed interest bond, where Ct = C when t<T and
CT = C + F , and show how the bond price will be calculated using Matlab.
Example
A 3 year bond with a face value of $100 makes annual coupon payments of 10%. The current interest rate
(with annual compounding) is 9%.
1. Determine the current bond price.
The current bond price: B0 = (1+010:09)1 + (1+010:09)2 + (1+0110:09)3 = 102:531.
Here are the calculations:
Matlab program:

C =[10,10,110]
t = 1:3
r = 0.09
d=(1./(1+r).^t)
B= d * C’

Output from Matlab program:

C =
10 10 110
t =
1 2 3
r = 0.090000
d =
0.91743 0.84168 0.77218
B = 102.53

C++ program:

vector<double> cflows; cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(110);

vector<double> times; times.push back(1); times.push back(2); times.push back(3);
double r=0.09;
cout << " bonds price = " << bonds price discrete(times, cflows, r) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

bonds price = 102.531

37
The general code in C++ for calculating the bond price with discrete annual compounding is shown in
C++ Code 4.1.

#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double bonds price discrete(const vector<double>& times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r) {
double p=0;
for (int i=0;i<times.size();i++) {
p += cashflows[i]/(pow((1+r),times[i]));
};
return p;
};

C++ Code 4.1: Bond price calculation with discrete, annual compounding.

4.1.2 Yield to maturity

Since bonds are issued in terms of interest rate, it is also useful to find an interest rate number that
summarizes the terms of the bond. The obvious way of doing that is asking the question: What is the
internal rate of return on the investment of buying the bond now and keeping the bond to maturity?
The answer to that question is the yield to maturity of a bond. The yield to maturity is the interest
rate that makes the present value of the future coupon payments equal to the current bond price, that
is, for a known price B0 , the yield is the solution y to the equation
T
X Ct
B0 = (4.2)
t=1
(1 + y )t
This calculation therefore has the same qualifications as discussed earlier calculating IRR, it supposes
reinvestment of coupon at the bond yield (the IRR).
There is much less likelihood we’ll have technical problems with multiple solutions when doing this yield
estimation for bonds, since the structure of cash flows is such that there exist only one solution to the
equation. The algorithm for finding a bonds yield to maturity shown in C++ Code 4.2 is thus simple
bisection. We know that the bond yield is above zero and set zero as a lower bound on the bond yield.
We then find an upper bound on the yield by increasing the interest rate until the bond price with this
interest rate is negative. We then bisect the interval between the upper and lower until we are “close
enough.” C++ Code 4.2 implements this idea.

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#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bonds yield to maturity discrete( const vector<double>& times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& bondprice) {
const double ACCURACY = 1e 5;
const int MAX ITERATIONS = 200;
double bot=0, top=1.0;
while (bonds price discrete(times, cashflows, top) > bondprice) { top = top*2; };
double r = 0.5 * (top+bot);
for (int i=0;i<MAX ITERATIONS;i++){
double diff = bonds price discrete(times, cashflows,r) bondprice;
if (fabs(diff)<ACCURACY) return r;
if (diff >0.0) { bot=r;}
else { top=r; };
r = 0.5 * (top+bot);
};
return r;
};

C++ Code 4.2: Bond yield calculation with discrete, annual compounding

39
Example
A 3 year bond with a face value of $100 makes annual coupon payments of 10%. The current interest rate
(with annual compounding) is 9%.

1. Find the bond’s current price.

2. Find the bond’s yield to maturity.

Matlab program:

C = [ 10 10 110 ];
t = 1:3;
r=0.09;
B = C * (1./((1+r).^t))’
y = irr([ B C ])

Output from Matlab program:

B = 102.53
y = 0.090000

C++ program:

vector<double> cflows; cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(110);

vector<double> times; times.push back(1); times.push back(2); times.push back(3);
double r=0.09;
double B = bonds price discrete(times, cflows, r);
cout << " Bond price, 9 percent discretely compounded interest = " << B << endl;
cout << " bond yield to maturity = " << bonds yield to maturity discrete(times, cflows, B) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

Bond price, 9 percent discretely compounded interest = 102.531

bond yield to maturity = 0.09

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4.1.3 Duration
When holding a bond one would like to know how sensitive the value of the bond is to changes in
economic environment. The most relevent piece of the economic environment is the current interest
rate. An important component of such calculation is the duration of a bond. The duration of a bond
should be interpreted as the weighted average maturity of the bond, and is calculated as
P Ct
t t (1+r)t
Duration = ; (4.3)
Bond Price
where Ct is the cash flow in period t, and r the interest rate. Using the bond price calculated in
equation 4.1 we calculate duration as
P tC
D= P
t (1+rt)t (4.4)
Ct
t (1+r)t

which is shown in C++ Code 4.3.

#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double bonds duration discrete(const vector<double>& times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r) {
double B=0;
double D=0;
for (int i=0;i<times.size();i++){
D += times[i] * cashflows[i] / pow(1+r,times[i]);
B += cashflows[i] / pow(1+r,times[i]);
};
return D/B;
};

C++ Code 4.3: Bond duration using discrete, annual compounding and a flat term structure

An alternative approach to calculating duration is calculate the yield to maturity y for the bond, and
use that in estimating the bond price. This is called Macaulay Duration. First one calculates y , the
yield to maturity, from
T
X Ct
Bond price =
t=1
(1 + y )t
and then use this y in the duration calculation:
P tC
Macaulay duration = P
t (1+yt)t (4.5)
Ct
t (1+y)t

C++ Code 4.4 implements this calculation.

Note though, that in the present case, with a flat term structure, these should produce the same number.
If the bond is priced correctly, the yield to maturity must equal the current interest rate. If r = y the
two calculations in equations (4.4) and (4.5) obviously produces the same number.
Example
A 3 year bond with a face value of $100 makes annual coupon payments of 10%. The current interest rate
(with annual compounding) is 9%.

41
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bonds duration macaulay discrete(const vector<double>& times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& bond price) {
double y = bonds yield to maturity discrete(times, cashflows, bond price);
return bonds duration discrete(times, cashflows, y); // use YTM in duration calculation
};

C++ Code 4.4: Calculating the Macaulay duration of a bond

1. Determine the current bond price.

2. Calculate the duration using the current interest rate.

3. Calculate the duration using the MaCaulay definition.

Need to calculate the following:

The current bond price: B0 = (1+010:09)1 + (1+010:09)2 + (1+0110:09)3 = 102:531.
The bond’s duration: D = 1021:531 11
:10 2
10 3
110

09 + 1:092 + 1:093 = 2:74

Matlab program:

C =[10,10,110];
t = 1:3;
r = 0.09;
B= C * (1./(1+r).^t)’
D= (1/B)*t.* C * (1./(1+r).^t)’
y = irr([ B C ])
DM= (1/B)*t.* C * (1./(1+y).^t)’

Output from Matlab program:

B = 102.53
D = 2.7390
y = 0.090000
DM = 2.7390

C++ program:

vector<double> cflows; cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(110);

vector<double> times; times.push back(1); times.push back(2); times.push back(3);
double r=0.09;
double B = bonds price discrete(times, cflows, r);
cout << " bonds price = " << B << endl;
cout << " bond duration = " << bonds duration discrete(times, cflows, r) << endl;
cout << " bond macaulay = " << bonds duration macaulay discrete(times, cflows, B) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

bonds price = 102.531

bond duration = 2.73895
bond macaulay = 2.73895

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4.1.4 Measuring bond sensitivity to interest rate changes
Now, the reason for why we say that we can measure the sensitivity of a bond price using duration. To
a first approximation,
B0 , the change in the bond price for a small change in the interest rate
r, can
be calculated

B0 D
B0
 1+r

r

where D is the bond’s duration. For simplicity one often calculates the term in front of the
y in the
D directly and terms it the bond’s modified duration.
above, 1+ y

D
Modified Duration = D  =
1+r
The sensitivity calculation is then

B0
B0
 D 
r
The modified duration is also written in term’s of the bond’s yield to maturity y , and is then

D
D =
1+y
C++ Code 4.5 shows this calculation.

#include <vector>
using namespace std;
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bonds duration modified discrete (const vector<double>& times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& bond price){
double y = bonds yield to maturity discrete(times, cashflows, bond price);
double D = bonds duration discrete(times, cashflows, y);
return D/(1+y);
};

C++ Code 4.5: Modified duration

Approximating bond price changes using duration is illustrated in the following figure.

6
bond price

@
@
@
@
@
@
@
@ Duration measures
@ angle of tangent.
@
@ yield
@ -

43
The modified duration measures the angle of the tangent at the current bond yield. Approximating
the change in bond price with duration is thus only a first order approximation. To improve on this
approximation we also need to account for the curvature in the relationship between bond price and
interest rate. To quantify this curvature we calculate the convexity of a bond.
T
1 1 X Ct
Convexity = Cx = (t + t2 )
B0 (1 + r)2 t=1
(4.6)
(1 + r)t
This calculation is implemented in C++ Code 4.6. To improve on the estimate of how the bond price

#include <cmath>
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bonds convexity discrete(const vector<double>& times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r) {
double Cx=0;
for (int i=0;i<times.size();i++){
Cx+= cashflows[i]*times[i]*(times[i]+1)/(pow((1+r),times[i]));
};
double B=bonds price discrete(times, cashflows, r);
return (Cx/(pow(1+r,2)))/B;
};

C++ Code 4.6: Bond convexity with a flat term structure and annual compounding

change when the interest rates changes you will then calculate

B0
B0
 D
y + 12 Cx (
y)2
Formula 4.1 summarizes the above calculations.

Bond Price (B 0 ) Modified duration

T
X Ct D
B0 = D =
t=1
(1 + r)t 1+y
Yield to maturity y solves Convexity (Cx)
T
X Ct
B0 = 1 1 X T
Ct
t=1
(1 + y )t Cx = (t + t2 )
B0 (1 + r)2 t=1 (1 + r)t
Duration (D )
T
1 X tCt Approximating bond price changes
D=
B0 t=1 (1 + r)t
B0
B0
 D 
y
Macaulay duration
T
1 X tCt
B0
D=
B0 t=1 (1 + y )t B0
 D
y + 21  Cx  (
y)2
Ct : Cash flow at time t, r: interest rate, y: bond yield to maturity, B0 : current bond price. Bond pays coupon at evenly spaced
dates t=1 2 3
; ; :::;T.
Formula 4.1: Bond pricing formulas with a flat term structure and discrete, annual compounding

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Example
A 3 year bond with a face value of $100 makes annual coupon payments of 10%. The current interest rate
(with annual compounding) is 9%.

1. Determine the current bond price.

2. Suppose the interest rate changes to 10%, determine the new price of the bond by direct calculation.

3. Use duration to estimate the new price and compare it to the correct price.

4. Use convexity to improve on the estimate using duration only.

Need to calculate the following:

The current bond price: B0 = (1+010:09)1 + (1+010:09)2 + (1+0 110 3 = 102:531.
1 1
10 2
10 3
110
:09)
The bond’s duration: D = 102:531 1:09 + 1:092 + 1:093 = 2:74
The modified duration: D  = 1+D = 2:74 = 2:51.
r 1:09
 
The convexity: Cx = (1+01:09)2 1021:531 (1+1)
1:09

10 + (22 +2)
10 + (3+32 )
110 = 8:93.
1:09 2 1:09 3

Here are the calculations:

Matlab program:

C =[10,10,110];
t = 1:3;
r = 0.09;
B= C * (1./(1+r).^t)’
D= (1/B)*t.* C * (1./(1+r).^t)’
Cx= (1/(1+r)^2) * (1/B)*t.^2.*C * (1./(1+r).^t)’
newB=C* (1./(1+0.1).^t)’

Output from Matlab program:

B = 102.53
D = 2.7390
Cx = 6.6272
newB = 100.000

C++ program:

vector<double> cflows; cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(110);

vector<double> times; times.push back(1); times.push back(2); times.push back(3);
double r=0.09;
double B = bonds price discrete(times, cflows, r);
cout << " bonds price = " << B << endl;
cout << " bond duration = " << bonds duration discrete(times, cflows, r) << endl;
cout << " bond duration modified = " << bonds duration modified discrete(times, cflows, B) << endl;
cout << " bond convexity =" << bonds convexity discrete(times, cflows, r) << endl;
cout << " new bond price = " << bonds price discrete(times, cflows, 0.1);

Output from C++ program:

bonds price = 102.531

bond duration = 2.73895
bond duration modified = 2.5128
bond convexity =8.93248
new bond price = 100

45
Using these numbers to answer the questions, let us see what happens when the interest rate increases to 10%.
This means the bond will be selling at par, equal to 100, which can be confirmed with direct computation:

10 10 110
B0 = 1 + 2 + = 100
(1 + 0:1) (1 + 0:1) (1 + 0:1)3
Using duration to estimate the change in the bond price for a unit change in the interest rate:

B0
= D
y = 2:51
0:01 = 0:0251
B0
Using this duration based number to estimate the new bond price.
 

B0
B^ = B0 + B0 = 102:531 0:0251
102:531 = 99:957
B0
Additionally using convexity in estimating the change in the bond price:

B0 1 1
= D
y + Cx y 2 = 2:51
0:01 + 8:93(0:01)2 = 0:0251 + 0:00044 = 0:02465
B0 2 2
   

B0
B^ = 102:531 1 + B0 = 102:531(1 0:02465) = 100:0036
B0
Exercise 4.1.
Perpetual duration [4]
The term structure is flat with annual compounding. Consider the pricing of a perpetual bond. Let C be the
per period cash flow
1
X C C
B0 = =
t=1
(1 + r)t r

1. Determine the first derivative of the price with respect to the interest rate.

2. Find the duration of the bond.

Exercise 4.2.
[5]
Consider an equally weighted portfolio of two bonds, A and B. Bond A is a zero coupon bond with 1 year to
maturity. Bond B is a zero coupon bond with 3 years to maturity. Both bonds have face values of 100. The
current interest rate is 5%.

1. Determine the bond prices.

2. Your portfolio is currently worth 2000. Find the number of each bond invested.

3. Determine the duration of the portfolio.

4. Determine the convexity of your position.

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4.2 Continously compounded interest
We will go over the same concepts as covered in the previous section on bond pricing. There are certain
subtle differences in the calculations. Formula 4.2 corresponds to the earlier summary in formula 4.1.

Bond Price B0 : Convexity Cx:

X
B0 = e rti ) C
ti
1 X
i Cx = Cti t2i e rti
y solves:
Yield to maturity B0 i
X
B0 = Cti e yti
i Approximating bond price changes
Duration D:
1 X
rti
B0
D= t i C ti e  D
y
B0 i B0
Macaulay duration
1 X

B0
 D
y + 21  Cx  (
y)2
D= t i C ti e yti
B0 i B0
Bond paying cash flows Ct1 ; Ct2 ; : : : at times t1 ; t2 ; : : :. Notation: B0 : current bond price. e: natural exponent.

Formula 4.2: Bond pricing formulas with continously compounded interest and a flat term structure

Some important differences is worth pointing out. When using continously compounded interest, one
does not need the concept of modified duration. In the continously compounded case one uses the
calculated duration directly to approximate bond changes, as seen in the formulas describing the ap-
proximation of bond price changes. Note also the difference in the convexity calculation, one does not
divide by (1 + y )2 in the continously compounded formula, as was done in the discrete case.
C++ Code 4.7, C++ Code 4.8, C++ Code 4.9 and C++ Code 4.10 show continously compounded analogs of the
earlier codes for the discretely compounded case.

#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double bonds price(const vector<double>& cashflow times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r) {
double p=0;
for (int i=0;i<cashflow times.size();i++) {
p += exp( r*cashflow times[i])*cashflows[i];
};
return p;
};

C++ Code 4.7: Bond price calculation with continously compounded interest and a flat term structure

47
#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double bonds duration(const vector<double>& cashflow times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r) {
double S=0;
double D1=0;
for (int i=0;i<cashflow times.size();i++){
S += cashflows[i] * exp( r*cashflow times[i]);
D1 += cashflow times[i] * cashflows[i] * exp( r*cashflow times[i]);
};
return D1 / S;
};

C++ Code 4.8: Bond duration calculation with continously compounded interest and a flat term structure

#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bonds duration macaulay(const vector<double>& cashflow times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& bond price) {
double y = bonds yield to maturity(cashflow times, cashflows, bond price);
return bonds duration(cashflow times, cashflows, y); // use YTM in duration
};

C++ Code 4.9: Calculating the Macaulay duration of a bond with continously compounded interest and a
flat term structure

#include <cmath>
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bonds convexity(const vector<double>& times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r ) {
double C=0;
for (int i=0;i<times.size();i++){
C += cashflows[i] * pow(times[i],2) * exp( r*times[i]);
};
double B=bonds price(times, cashflows,r);
return C/B;
};

C++ Code 4.10: Bond convexity calculation with continously compounded interest and a flat term structure

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Example
A 3 year bond with a face value of $100 makes annual coupon payments of 10%. The current interest rate
(with continous compounding) is 9%.

1. Calculate the bond’s price, yield to maturity, duration and convexity.

2. Suppose the interest rate falls to 8%. Estimate the new bond price using duration, and compare with
the actual bond price using the correct interest rate.

Calculations:

Matlab program:

C =[10,10,110]
t = 1:3
r = 0.09
d=(1./(1+r).^t)
B= C * d’
D=1/B*C.*t*d’
Dadj=D/(1+r)
r=0.1
actualB = C*(1./(1+r).^t)’

Output from Matlab program:

C =
10 10 110
t =
1 2 3
r = 0.090000
d =
0.91743 0.84168 0.77218
B = 102.53
D = 2.7390
Dadj = 2.5128
r = 0.10000
actualB = 100.000

C++ program:

vector<double> cflows; cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(10); cflows.push back(110);

vector<double> times; times.push back(1); times.push back(2); times.push back(3);
double r=0.09;
double B = bonds price(times, cflows, r);
cout << " bonds price = " << B << endl;
cout << " bond duration = " << bonds duration(times, cflows, r) << endl;
cout << " bond convexity =" << bonds convexity(times, cflows, r) << endl;
cout << " new bond price = " << bonds price(times, cflows, 0.08);

Output from C++ program:

bonds price = 101.464

bond duration = 2.73753
bond convexity =7.86779
new bond price = 104.282

Exercise 4.3.

49
The term structure is flat, and compounding is continous. Consider two definitions of duration, the “usual”
definition D = B10 i ti Cti e rti and the Macaulay defintion: D = B10 i ti Cti e yti , where B0 is the current
P P

bond price, Cti is the coupon payment at date ti , r is the current interest rate and y is the bond’s yield to
maturity.

1. Show that these two definitions will produce the same number if the bond is correctly priced.

4.3 Further readings

The material in this chapter is covered in most standard textbooks on investments (e.g. Bodie et al.
(2007), Haugen (2001) or Sharpe et al. (1999)). More details can be found in textbooks on fixed income,
such as Sundaresan (2001).

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Chapter 5

The term structure of interest rates and an

object lesson

Contents
5.1 The interchangeability of discount factors, spot interest rates and forward interest rates . . . . . 52
5.2 The term structure as an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2.1 Base class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2.2 Flat term structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.3 Using the currently observed term structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.3.1 Linear Interpolation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.3.2 Interpolated term structure class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.4 Bond calculations with a general term structure and continous compounding . . . . . . . . . . . 64

In this chapter we expand on the analysis of the previous chapter by relaxing the “one interest rate”
assumption used there and allow the spot rates to change as you change the time you are discounting
over.
Recall that we said that the present value of a set of cash flows is calculated as
N
X
PV = d ti C ti
i=1

C t1 C t2 C tN
-
0 t1 t2 tN
time

d t1 C t1 
d t2 C t2 

d tN C tN 

To make this applicable to cash flows received at any future date t we potentially need an infinite
number of discount factors dt . This is not feasible, so some lower dimensional way needs to be found to
approximate dt , but with more flexibility than the extremely strong assumption that there is one fixed
interest rate r, and that the discount factor for any time t is calculated as either dt = 1=(1 + r)t (discrete
compounding), or dt = e rt (continuous compounding), which we used in the previous chapter.

51
In this chapter we first show that this approximation of the discount factors can be done in either terms
of discount factors directly, interest rates, or forward rates. Either of these are useful ways of formulating
a term structure, and either of them can be used, since there are one to one transformations between
either of these three. We then go on to demonstrate how a feature of C++, the ability to create an abstract
datatype as an object, or class, is very useful for the particular application of defining and using a term
structure. It is in fact this particular application, to create a term structure class, which really illustrates
the power of C++, and why you want to use an object oriented language instead of classical langues like
FORTRAN and C, or matrix languages like Gauss or Matlab for many financial calculations.

5.1 The interchangeability of discount factors, spot interest rates and forward
interest rates
The term structure can be specified in terms of either discount factors, spot interest rates or forward
interest rates. A discount factor is the current price for a future (time t) payment of one dollar. To
find the current value P V of a cash flow Ct , we calculate P V = dt Ct . This discount factor can also be
specified in terms of interest rates, where we let rt be the relevant interest rate (spot rate) for discounting
a t-period cashflow. Then we know that the present value P V = e rt t Ct . Since these two methods of
calculating the present value must be consistent,

P V = dt C t = e rt t C
t

and hence

dt = e rt t

Note that this equation calculates dt given rt . Rearranging this equation we find the spot rate rt in
terms of discount factors
ln(dt )
rt =
t
An alternative concept that is very useful is a forward interest rate, the yield on borrowing at some
future date t1 and repaying it at a later date t2 . Let ft1 ;t2 be this interest rate. If we invest one dollar
today, at the current spot rate spot rate till period t1 and the forward rate for the period from t1 to t2
(which is what you would have to do to make an actual investment), you would get the following future
value

F V = ert1 t1 eft1 ;t2 (t2 t1 )

The present value of this forward value using the time t2 discount factor has to equal one:
d t2 F V = 1
These considerations are enough to calculate the relevant transforms. The forward rate for borrowing at
time t1 for delivery at time t2 is calculated as
   
dt 2 dt 1
ln dt 1 ln dt 2
ft1 ;t2 = =
t2 t1 t2 t1
The forward rate can also be calculated directly from yields as

t2 t1
ft1 ;t2 = rt2 r t1
t2 t1 t2 t1

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 dt = e rt t

ln(dt )
rt =
t
 
dt 1
ln dt 2
ft1 ;t2 =
t2 t1
t t1
ft1 ;t2 = rt2 2 r t1
t2 t1 t2 t1
Notation: dt discount factor for payment at time t, rt : spot rate applying to cash flows at time t. ft1 ;t2 forward rate between
time t1 and t2 , i.e. the interest rate you would agree on today on the future transactions.

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double term structure yield from discount factor(const double& d t, const double& t) {
return ( log(d t)/t);
}

double term structure discount factor from yield(const double& r, const double& t) {
return exp( r*t);
};

double term structure forward rate from discount factors(const double& d t1, const double& d t2,
const double& time) {
return (log (d t1/d t2))/time;
};

double term structure forward rate from yields(const double& r t1, const double& r t2,
const double& t1, const double& t2) {
return r t2*t2/(t2 t1) r t1*t1/(t2 t1);
};

C++ Code 5.1: Term structure transformations

C++ Code 5.1 shows the implementation of these transformations.

Example
You are given the one period spot rate r1 = 5% and the two period discount factor d 2 = 0 :9 . Calculate the
two period spot rate and the forward rate from 1 to 2.

53
C++ program:

double t1=1; double r t1=0.05; double d t1=term structure discount factor from yield(r t1,t1);
cout << " a " << t1 << " period spot rate of " << r t1
<< " corresponds to a discount factor of " << d t1 << endl;
double t2=2; double d t2 = 0.9;
double r t2 = term structure yield from discount factor(d t2,t2);
cout << " a " << t2 << " period discount factor of " << d t2
<< " corresponds to a spot rate of " << r t2 << endl;
cout << " the forward rate between " << t1 << " and " << t2
<< " is " << term structure forward rate from discount factors(d t1,d t2,t2 t1)
<< " using discount factors " << endl;
cout << " and is " << term structure forward rate from yields(r t1,r t2,t1,t2)
<< " using yields " << endl;
Output from C++ program:

a 1 period spot rate of 0.05 corresponds to a discount factor of 0.951229

a 2 period discount factor of 0.9 corresponds to a spot rate of 0.0526803
the forward rate between 1 and 2 is 0.0553605 using discount factors
and is 0.0553605 using yields

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5.2 The term structure as an object
From the previous we see that the term structure can be described in terms of discount factors, spot
rates or forward rates, but that does not help us in getting round the dimensionality problem. If we
think in terms of discount factors, for a complete specification of the current term structure one needs
an infinite number of discount factors fdt gt2R+ . It is perhaps easier to think about this set of discount
factors as a function d(t), that, given a nonnegative time t, returns the discount factor. Since we have
established that there are three equivalent ways of defining a term structure, discount factors, spot rates
and forward rates, we can therefore describe a term structure as a collection of three different functions
that offer different views of the same underlying object.
A term structure is an abstract object that to the user should provide

 discount factors d (prices of zero coupon bonds).

 spot rates r (yields of zero coupon bonds).
 forward rates f
for any future maturity t. The user of a term structure will not need to know how the term structure is
implemented, all that is needed is an interface that specifies the above three functions.
This is tailor made for being implemented as a C++ class. A class in C++ terms is a collection of data
structures and functions that operate on these data structures. In the present context it is a way of
specifying the three functions.

r(t)

d(t)

f(t)

5.2.1 Base class

Header File 5.1 shows how we describe the generic term structure as a C++ class.

#ifndef TERM STRUCTURE CLASS H

#define TERM STRUCTURE CLASS H

class term structure class {

public:
virtual double r(const double& t) const; // yield on zero coupon bond
virtual double d(const double& t) const; // discount factor/price of zero coupon bond
virtual double f(const double& t1, const double& t2) const; // forward rate
virtual ˜term structure class();
};

#endif

Header file 5.1: Header file describing the term_structure base class

The code for these functions uses algorithms that are described earlier in this chapter for transforming
between various views of the term structure. The term structure class merely provide a convenient
interface to these algorithms. The code is shown in C++ Code 5.2
Note that the definitions of calculations are circular. Any given specific type of term structure has to
over-ride at least one of the functions r (yield), d (discount factor) or f (forward rate).
We next consider two examples of specific term structures.

55
#include "fin_recipes.h"

term structure class::˜term structure class(){};

double term structure class::f(const double& t1, const double& t2) const{
double d1 = d(t1);
double d2 = d(t2);
return term structure forward rate from discount factors(d1,d2,t2 t1);
};

double term structure class::r(const double& t) const{

return term structure yield from discount factor(d(t),t);
};

double term structure class::d(const double& t) const {

return term structure discount factor from yield(r(t),t);
};

C++ Code 5.2: Default code for transformations between discount factors, spot rates and forward rates in
a term structure class

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5.2.2 Flat term structure.
The flat term structure overrides the yield member function of the base class.
The only piece of data this type of term structure needs is an interest rate.

#ifndef TERM STRUCTURE CLASS FLAT

#define TERM STRUCTURE CLASS FLAT

#include "term_structure_class.h"

class term structure class flat : public term structure class {

private:
double R ; // interest rate
public:
term structure class flat(const double& r);
virtual ˜term structure class flat();
virtual double r(const double& t) const;
void set int rate(const double& r);
};

#endif

Header file 5.2: Header file for term structure class using a flat term structure

#include "fin_recipes.h"

term structure class flat::term structure class flat(const double& r){ R = r; };

term structure class flat::˜term structure class flat(){};

double term structure class flat::r(const double& T) const { if (T>=0) return R ; return 0; };

void term structure class flat::set int rate(const double& r) { R = r; };

C++ Code 5.3: Implementing term structure class using a flat term structure

Example
The term structure is flat with r = 5%. Determine the discount factors for years 1 and 2 and the forward
rate between 1 and 2.

C++ program:

term structure class flat ts(0.05);

double t1=1;
cout << "discount factor t1 = " << t1 << ":" << ts.d(t1) << endl;
double t2=2;
cout << "discount factor t2 = " << t2 << ":" << ts.d(t2) << endl;
cout << "spot rate t = " << t1 << ":" << ts.r(t1) << endl;
cout << "spot rate t = " << t2 << ":" << ts.r(t2) << endl;
cout << "forward rate from t1= " << t1 << " to t2= " << t2 << ":"
<< ts.f(t1,t2) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

discount factor t1 = 1:0.951229

discount factor t2 = 2:0.904837
spot rate t = 1:0.05
spot rate t = 2:0.05
forward rate from t1= 1 to t2= 2:0.05

57
5.3 Using the currently observed term structure.
A first step to a general term structure is to use market data on bond prices and interest rates to infer
discount factors. The simplest way of presenting this problem is in terms of linear algebra. Suppose we
have three bonds with cash flows at times 1, 2 and 3.

B1 = d1 C11 + d2 C12 + d2 C13

B2 = d1 C21 + d2 C22 + d2 C23
B1 = d1 C31 + d2 C32 + d2 C33
Writing this in terms of matrices
2 3 2 32 3
B1 d1 C11 C12 C13
4 B2 5 =4 d2 54 C21 C22 C23 5
B3 d3 C31 C32 C33
Solving for the discount factors
2 3 2 3 12 3
d1 C11 C12 C13 B1
4 d2 5 =4 C21 C22 C23 5 4 B2 5
d3 C31 C32 C33 B3
or

d=C 1B

using the obvious matrix definitions

2 3 2 3 2 3
B1 d1 C11 C12 C13
B=4 B2 5 d=4 d2 5 C=4 C21 C22 C23 5
B3 d3 C31 C32 C33
Example
The following set of bond and bond prices is observed:

Time (in years)

Bond 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 3 4
Bond Price
1 98 100
2 96 100
2 92 100
3 118 10 10 10 110
4 109 8 8 8 8 108
5 112 9 9 9 9 9 109

The bonds are treasury secrurities, which can be viewed as nominally riskless.

1. For what maturities is it possible to infer discount factors?

2. Determine the implicit discount factors in the market.

3. What is the interest rates implied in this set of discount rates?

Here we can find the discount factors for maturities of 0.5,1,1.5,2,3 and 4.

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 Matlab program:

C=[100 0 0 0 0 0;0 100 0 0 0 0;0 0 100 0 0 0;10 10 10 110 0 0;8 8 8 8 108 0;9 9 9 9 9 109]
B=[96 94 92 118 109 112]
d=B*inv(C)’
t=[0.5 1 1.5 2 3 4]
r=d.^( 1./t) 1

Output from Matlab program:

C =
100 0 0 0 0 0
0 100 0 0 0 0
0 0 100 0 0 0
10 10 10 110 0 0
8 8 8 8 108 0
9 9 9 9 9 109
B =
96 94 92 118 109 112
d =
0.96000 0.94000 0.92000 0.81636 0.73990 0.66618
t =
0.50000 1.00000 1.50000 2.00000 3.00000 4.00000
r =
0.085069 0.063830 0.057162 0.106772 0.105628 0.106884

To just use todays term structure, we need to take the observations of discount factors dt observed in
the market and use these to generate a term structure. The simplest possible way of doing this is to
linearly interpolate the currently observable discount factors.

5.3.1 Linear Interpolation.

If we are given a set of discount factors (dt ) for various maturities, the simplest way to construct a
term structure is by straightforward linear interpolation between the observations we have to find an
intermediate time. For many purposes this is “good enough.” This interpolation can be on either zero
coupon yields, discount factors or forward rates, we illustrate the case of linear interpolation of spot
(zero coupon) rates.

Computer algorithm, linear interpolation of yields. Note that the algorithm assumes the yields are ordered
in increasing order of time to maturity.
Example
You observe the following term structure of spot rates

Time r
0.1 0.1
0.5 0.2
1 0.3
5 0.4
10 0.5

Interpolate spot rates (zero rates) at times 0.1, 0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 10.

59
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double term structure yield linearly interpolated(const double& time,

const vector<double>& obs times,
const vector<double>& obs yields) {
// assume the yields are in increasing time to maturity order.
int no obs = int(obs times.size());
if (no obs<1) return 0;
double t min = obs times[0];
if (time <= t min) return obs yields[0]; // earlier than lowest obs.

double t max = obs times[no obs 1];

if (time >= t max) return obs yields[no obs 1]; // later than latest obs

int t=1; // find which two observations we are between

while ( (t<no obs) && (time>obs times[t])) { ++t; };
double lambda = (obs times[t] time)/(obs times[t] obs times[t 1]);
// by ordering assumption, time is between t-1,t
double r = obs yields[t 1] * lambda + obs yields[t] * (1.0 lambda);
return r;
};

C++ Code 5.4: Interpolated term structure from spot rates

C++ program:

vector<double> times;
vector<double> yields;
times.push back(0.1); times.push back(0.5); times.push back(1);
yields.push back(0.1); yields.push back(0.2); yields.push back(0.3);
times.push back(5); times.push back(10);
yields.push back(0.4); yields.push back(0.5);
cout << " yields at times: " << endl;
cout << " t=0.1 " << term structure yield linearly interpolated(0.1,times,yields) << endl;
cout << " t=0.5 " << term structure yield linearly interpolated(0.5,times,yields) << endl;
cout << " t=1 " << term structure yield linearly interpolated(1, times,yields) << endl;
cout << " t=3 " << term structure yield linearly interpolated(3, times,yields) << endl;
cout << " t=5 " << term structure yield linearly interpolated(5, times,yields) << endl;
cout << " t=10 " << term structure yield linearly interpolated(10, times,yields) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

yields at times:
t=0.1 0.1
t=0.5 0.2
t=1 0.3
t=3 0.35
t=5 0.4
t=10 0.5

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5.3.2 Interpolated term structure class.
The interpolated term structure implemented here uses a set of observations of yields as a basis, and
for observations in between observations will interpolate between the two closest. The following only
provides implementations of calculation of the yield, for the other two rely on the base class code.
As shown in Header File 5.3 and C++ Code 5.5, there is some more book-keeping involved here, need to
have code that stores observations of times and yields.

#ifndef TERM STRUCTURE CLASS INTERPOLATED

#define TERM STRUCTURE CLASS INTERPOLATED

#include "term_structure_class.h"
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

class term structure class interpolated : public term structure class {

private:
vector<double> times ; // use to keep a list of yields
vector<double> yields ;
void clear();
public:
term structure class interpolated();
term structure class interpolated(const vector<double>& times, const vector<double>& yields);
virtual ˜term structure class interpolated();
term structure class interpolated(const term structure class interpolated&);
term structure class interpolated operator= (const term structure class interpolated&);

int no observations() const { return times .size(); };

virtual double r(const double& T) const;
void set interpolated observations(vector<double>& times, vector<double>& yields);
};

#endif

Header file 5.3: Header file describing a term structure class using linear interpolation between spot rates

61
#include "fin_recipes.h"

void term structure class interpolated::clear(){

times .erase(times .begin(), times .end());
yields .erase(yields .begin(), yields .end());
};

term structure class interpolated::term structure class interpolated():term structure class(){clear();};

term structure class interpolated::term structure class interpolated(const vector<double>& in times,

const vector<double>& in yields) {
clear();
if (in times.size()!=in yields.size()) return;
times = vector<double>(in times.size());
yields = vector<double>(in yields.size());
for (int i=0;i<in times.size();i++) {
times [i]=in times[i];
yields [i]=in yields[i];
};
};

term structure class interpolated::˜term structure class interpolated(){ clear();};

term structure class interpolated::term structure class interpolated(const term structure class interpolated& term) {
times = vector<double> (term.no observations());
yields = vector<double> (term.no observations());
for (int i=0;i<term.no observations();i++){
times [i] = term.times [i];
yields [i] = term.yields [i];
};
};

term structure class interpolated

term structure class interpolated::operator= (const term structure class interpolated& term) {
times = vector<double> (term.no observations());
yields = vector<double> (term.no observations());
for (int i=0;i<term.no observations();i++){
times [i] = term.times [i];
yields [i] = term.yields [i];
};
return (*this);
};

double term structure class interpolated::r(const double& T) const {

return term structure yield linearly interpolated(T, times , yields );
};

void
term structure class interpolated::set interpolated observations(vector<double>& in times,
vector<double>& in yields) {
clear();
if (in times.size()!=in yields.size()) return;
times = vector<double>(in times.size());
yields = vector<double>(in yields.size());
for (int i=0;i<in times.size();i++) {
times [i]=in times[i];
yields [i]=in yields[i];
};
};

C++ Code 5.5: Term structure class using linear interpolation between spot rates

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Example

Time r
0.1 0.05
1 0.07
5 0.08

Determine discount factors and spot rates at times 1 and 2, and forward rate between 1 and 2.

C++ program:

vector<double> times; times.push back(0.1);

vector<double> spotrates; spotrates.push back(0.05);
times.push back(1); times.push back(5);
spotrates.push back(0.07);spotrates.push back(0.08);
term structure class interpolated ts(times,spotrates);
double t1=1;
cout << "discount factor t1 = " << t1 << ":" << ts.d(t1) << endl;
double t2=2;
cout << "discount factor t2 = " << t2 << ":" << ts.d(t2) << endl;
cout << "spot rate t = " << t1 << ":" << ts.r(t1) << endl;
cout << "spot rate t = " << t2 << ":" << ts.r(t2) << endl;
cout << "forward rate from t1= " << t1 << " to t2= " << t2 << ":"
<< ts.f(t1,t2) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

discount factor t1 = 1:0.932394

discount factor t2 = 2:0.865022
spot rate t = 1:0.07
spot rate t = 2:0.0725
forward rate from t1= 1 to t2= 2:0.075

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5.4 Bond calculations with a general term structure and continous compound-
ing

Coupon bond paying coupons at dates t1 ; t2 ; : : :: Yield to maturity y solves:

Bond Price B0 : X
yti
X X B0 = C ti e
B0 = d ti C ti = e r t i ti C
ti i
i i
Convexity Cx:
Duration D:
1 X
D=
1 X
t i d ti C ti Cx = t2i dti Cti
B0 B0 i
i
1 X
1 t2i e
X r t i ti C
D= ti e r t i ti C Cx = ti
B0 ti B0 i
i

1 X 1 X
D= ti e yti C
ti Cx = t2i e yti C
ti
B0 i
B0 i

Formula 5.1: Bond pricing with a continously compounded term structure

C++ Code 5.6 and C++ Code 5.7 illustrates how one would calculate bond prices and duration if one has a
term structure class.

#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bonds price(const vector<double>& cashflow times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const term structure class& d) {
double p = 0;
for (unsigned i=0;i<cashflow times.size();i++) {
p += d.d(cashflow times[i])*cashflows[i];
};
return p;
};

C++ Code 5.6: Pricing a bond with a term structure class

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#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bonds duration(const vector<double>& cashflow times,

const vector<double>& cashflow amounts,
const term structure class& d ) {
double S=0;
double D1=0;
for (unsigned i=0;i<cashflow times.size();i++){
S += cashflow amounts[i] * d.d(cashflow times[i]);
D1 += cashflow times[i] * cashflow amounts[i] * d.d(cashflow times[i]);
};
return D1/S;
};

C++ Code 5.7: Calculating a bonds duration with a term structure class

#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include <cmath>

double bonds convexity(const vector<double>& cashflow times,

const vector<double>& cashflow amounts,
const term structure class& d ) {
double B=0;
double Cx=0;
for (unsigned i=0;i<cashflow times.size();i++){
B += cashflow amounts[i] * d.d(cashflow times[i]);
Cx += pow(cashflow times[i],2) * cashflow amounts[i] * d.d(cashflow times[i]);
};
return Cx/B;
};

C++ Code 5.8: Calculating a bonds convexity with a term structure class

65
Example
The term structure is flat with r = 10% continously compunded interest. Calculate price, duration, and
convexity of a 10%, 2 year bond.

C++ program:

vector <double> times; times.push back(1); times.push back(2);

vector <double> cashflows; cashflows.push back(10); cashflows.push back(110);
term structure class flat tsflat(0.1);
cout << " price = " << bonds price (times, cashflows, tsflat) << endl;
cout << " duration = " << bonds duration(times, cashflows, tsflat) << endl;
cout << " convexity = " << bonds convexity(times, cashflows, tsflat) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

price = 99.1088
duration = 1.9087
convexity = 3.72611

References Shiller (1990) is a good reference on the use of the term structure.

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Chapter 6

The Mean Variance Frontier

Contents
6.1 Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.2 The minimum variance frontier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.3 Calculation of frontier portfolios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.4 The global minimum variance portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.5 Efficient portfolios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.6 The zero beta portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.7 Allowing for a riskless asset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.8 Efficient sets with risk free assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
6.9 Short-sale constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.10 The Sharpe Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.11 Equilibrium: CAPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.11.1 Treynor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.11.2 Jensen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.12 Working with Mean Variance and CAPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.13 Mean variance analysis using matrix libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

We now discuss a classical topic in finance, mean variance analysis. This leads to ways of accounting for
the riskiness of cashflows.
Mean variance analysis concerns investors choices between portfolios of risky assets, and how an investor
chooses portfolio weights. Let rp be a portfolio return. We assume that investors preferences over
portfolios p satisfy a mean variance utility representation, u(p) = u(E [rp ];  (rp )), with utility increasing
in expected return (@u=@E [rp ] > 0) and decreasing in variance (@u=@ var(rp ) < 0). In this part we
consider the representation of the portfolio opportunity set of such decision makers. There are a number
of useful properties of this opportunity set which follows purely from the mathematical formulation of
the optimization problem. It is these properties we focus on here.

6.1 Setup
We assume there exists n  2 risky securities, with expected returns e
2 3
E [r 1 ]
6
6 E [r 2 ] 7
7
e=6 .. 7
4 . 5
E [r n ]

67
and covariance matrix V:
2 3
 (r1 ; r 1 )  (r1 ; r 2 ) : : :
6
6  (r2 ; r 1 )  (r2 ; r 2 ) : : : 7
7
V=6 .. 7
4 . 5
 (rn ; r 1 ) :::  (rn ; r n )
The covariance matrix V is assumed to be invertible.
A portfolio p is defined by a set of weights w invested in the risky assets.
2 3
!1
6
6 !2 7
7
w = 6 . 7;
4 .. 5
!n
where wi is the fraction of the investors wealth invested in asset i. Note that the weights sum to one.
The expected return on a portfolio is calculated as

E [r p ] = w 0 e
and the variance of the portfolio is

 2 (rp ) = w0 Vw
Example
An investor can invest in three assets with expected returns and variances as specified in the following table.

t Asset E [r ]  2 (r )
1 10% 0.20
2 11.5% 0.10
3 8% 0.15

The three assets are independent (uncorrelated).

1. Determine the expected return and standard deviation of an equally weighted portfolio of the three
assets

Matlab program:

e=[0.1 0.11 0.08]

V=[ 0.2 0 0; 0 0.1 0 ; 0 0 0.15]
w=1/3*[1 1 1]
er= e*w’
sigma=sqrt(w*V*w’)

Output from Matlab program:

e =
0.100000 0.110000 0.080000
V =
0.20000 0.00000 0.00000
0.00000 0.10000 0.00000
0.00000 0.00000 0.15000
w =
0.33333 0.33333 0.33333
er = 0.096667
sigma = 0.22361

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6.2 The minimum variance frontier
A portfolio is a frontier portfolio if it minimizes the variance for a given expected return, that is, a
frontier portfolio p solves
1
wp = arg min w0 Vw
w 2
subject to:

w0 e = E [~
rp ]
w0 1 = 1

The set of all frontier portfolios is called the minimum variance frontier.

6.3 Calculation of frontier portfolios

Proposition 1 If the matrix V is full rank, and there are no restrictions on shortsales, the weights
wp for a frontier portfolio p with mean E [~rp ] can be found as
wp = g + hE [rp ]
where
1
g= ( B 10 Ae0 ) V 1
D
1
h= (C e0 A10 ) V 1
D
A = 10 V 1 e
B = e0 V 1 e
C = 10 V 1 1
 
A=
B A
A C
D = BC A2 = jAj
Proof
Any minimum variance portfolio solves the program

w0 Vw
1
wp = arg min
w 2

subject to

w0 e = E [~
rp ]

w0 1 = 1

Set up the Lagrangian corresponding to this problem

L(w; ; je; V) = w0 Vw w0 e w0 1)
1
rp ]
 E [~ (1
2

69
Differentiate

w0 V e0 10
@L
= =0
@w

w0 e = 0
@L
= E [r p ]
@

w0 1 = 0
@L
=1
@

Rewrite conditions above as (note that this requires the invertibility of V.

w0 =  e0 V 1
10 V 1
(6.1)

w0 e = E [~
rp ] (6.2)

w0 1 = 1 (6.3)

Post-multiply equation (6.1) with e and recognise the expression for E [rp ] in the second equation

w0 e = E [rp ] = e0 V 1
e + 10 V 1
e

Similarly post-multiply equation (6.1) with 1 and recognise the expression for 1 in the third equation

w 0 1 = 1 =  e0 V 1
1 + 10 V 1
1

With the definitions of A, B , C and D above, this becomes the following system of equations
 
E [r p ] = B + A
1 = A + C

Solving for  and , get

B AE [rp ]
=
D

CE [rp ] A
=
D

Plug in expressions for  and into equation (6.1) above, and get



w0 B 10 A e0 V C e0 A10 V
1 1 1 1
= + E [rp ] = g + hE [rp ]
D D
The portfolio defined by weights g is a portfolio with expected return 0. The portfolio defined by weights
(g + h) is a portfolio with expected return 1. This implies the useful property that g10 = 1, and h10 = 0.
Example
An investor can invest in three assets with expected returns and variances as specified in the following table.

t Asset E [r ]  2 (r )
1 10% 0.20
2 11.5% 0.10
3 8% 0.15

The three assets are independent (uncorrelated).

1. What are the weights of the minimum variance portfolio with mean 9%?

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 Matlab program:

e=[0.1 0.11 0.08]’

V=[ 0.2 0 0; 0 0.1 0 ; 0 0 0.15]
r=0.09
n = length(e)
a = ones(1,n)*inv(V)*e
b = e’*inv(V)*e
c = ones(1,n)*inv(V)*ones(n,1)
A = [b a;a c]
d = det(A)
g = 1/d*(b*ones(1,n) a*e’)*inv(V)
h = h = 1/d*(c*e’ - a*ones(1,n))*inv(V)
w=g+h*r

Output from Matlab program:

e =
0.100000
0.110000
0.080000
V =
0.20000 0.00000 0.00000
0.00000 0.10000 0.00000
0.00000 0.00000 0.15000
r = 0.090000
n = 3
a = 2.1333
b = 0.21367
c = 21.667
A =
0.21367 2.13333
2.13333 21.66667
d = 0.078333
g =
0.021277 -2.680851 3.659574
h =
2.1277 31.9149 -34.0426
w =
0.21277 0.19149 0.59574

This calculation is put into a Matlab function in Matlab Code 6.1.

function w = min variance portfolio(e,V,r)

n = length(e);
a = ones(1,n)*inv(V)*e;
b = e’*inv(V)*e;
c = ones(1,n)*inv(V)*ones(n,1);
A = [b a;a c];
d = det(A);
g = 1/d*(b*ones(1,n) a*e’)*inv(V);
h = h = 1/d*(c*e’ - a*ones(1,n))*inv(V);
w=g+h*r;
end

Matlab Code 6.1: Calculation of minimum variance portfolio for given return

71
Calculating the weights of the minimum variance portfolio given an interest rate

wp = g + hE [rp ]
where
1
g= ( B 10 Ae0 ) V 1
D
1
h= (C e0 A10 ) V 1
D
A = 10 V 1 e
B = e0 V 1 e
C = 10 V 1 1
D = BC A2 =
Notation: rp desired portfolio returns.V: covariance matrix of asset returns. e: vector of expected asset returns.

6.4 The global minimum variance portfolio

The portfolio that minimizes variance regardless of expected return is called the global minimum vari-
ance portfolio. Let mvp be the global minimum variance portfolio.

Proposition 2 (Global Minimum Variance Portfolio) The global minimum variance portfolio has weights

= 10 V 1 1 1 10 V 1 = 10 V 1 ;
0
1
wmvp
C
expected return E [rmvp ] = A
C and variance var(rmvp ) = C1 .

E [r ]
6

A
C

p  (r )
-
1
C

6.5 Efficient portfolios

Portfolios on the minimum variance frontier with expected returns higher than or equal to E [rmvp ] are
called efficient portfolios.

E [r ]
6

E [rmvp ]

 (r )
-
 (rmvp )

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6.6 The zero beta portfolio
Proposition 3 For any portfolio p on the frontier, there is a frontier portfolio zc(p) satisfying
cov(rzc(p) ; rp ) = 0:

This portfolio is called the zero beta portfolio relative to p. The zero beta portfolio zb(p) has return
A D
E [rzc(p) ] = C2
C E [r p ] A
C

s
p
6

s mvp
E [rzc(p) ] zc(p)
s
-

Note that if p is an efficient portfolio on the mean variance frontier then zc(p) is inefficient. Conversely,
if p is inefficient zc(p) is efficient.

E [r ] 6

sp

s mvp
s zc(p)

-
 (r )

6.7 Allowing for a riskless asset.

Suppose have N risky assets with weights w and one riskless assets with return rf .
Intuitively, the return on a portfolio with a mix of risky and risky assets can be written as

E [rp ] = weight in risky  return risky + weight riskless  rf

which in vector form is:

E [rp ] = w0 e + (1 w 0 1) r f

Proposition 4 An efficient portfolio in the presence of a riskless asset has the weights
E [r ] r f
wp = V 1 (e 1rf ) p
H
where

H = (e 1rf )0 V 1 (e 1r f )

73
The variance of the efficient portfolio is

( E [r p ] r f ) 2
 2 (rp ) =
H
Note that standard deviation is a linear function of E [r p ]. The efficient set is a line in mean-standard
deviation space.

6.8 Efficient sets with risk free assets.

Suppose rf < CA . Then the efficient set is the line from (0; rf ) through tangency on the efficient set of
risky assets.

E [r ] 6

se

A s mvp
C
rf
@
@
@
@
p@ -
1
C@  (r )

Suppose rf > A (0; rf ).

C . Then the efficient set is the two half-lines starting from

E [r ] 6

rf
A@ s mvp
C @
@
@

@e
@ s

p -
1
C  (r )

If rf = CA , the weight in the risk free asset is one. The risky portfolio is an zero investment portfolio.
The efficient set consists of two asymptotes toward the efficient set of risky assets.

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 E [r ] 6

A s mvp
C@
@
@
@
@
p
@ -
1
C  (r )

6.9 Short-sale constraints

So far the analysis has put no restrictions on the set of weights wp that defines the minimum variance
frontier. For practical applications, existence of negative weights is problematic, since this involves
selling securities short.
This has led to the investigation of restricted mean variance frontiers, where the weights are constrained
to be non-negative.

Definition 1 A short sale resctricted minimum variance portfolio p solves

1
wp = arg min w0 Vw
w 2
subject to

w0 e = E [~
rp ]
w0 1 = 1

w0 0
Such short sale resctricted minimum variance portfolio portfolios are much harder to deal with ana-
lytically, since they do not admit a general solution, one rather has to investigate the Kuhn-Tucker
conditions for corner solutions etc. To deal with this problem in practice one will use a subroutine for
solving constrained optimization problems.

6.10 The Sharpe Ratio

The Sharpe ratio of a given portfolio p is defined as
E [r p ] r f
Sp =
 (rp )
The Sharpe ratio Sp of a portfolio p is the slope of the line in mean-standard deviations space from the
risk free rate through p. Note that in the case with a risk free asset, the tangency portfolio has the
maximal Sharpe Ratio on the efficient frontier.

75
6.11 Equilibrium: CAPM
Under certain additional assumptions, an economy of mean variance optimizers will aggregate to an
economy where the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) holds. Under the CAPM, any asset returns
will satisfy.

E [r i ] = r f + i ( E [r m ] r f )
where ri is the return on asset i, rf the return on the risk free asset,

6.11.1 Treynor
rp rf
Tp =
p

6.11.2 Jensen

p = rp (rf + p (rm rf )

6.12 Working with Mean Variance and CAPM

The computational problems in mean variance optimization and the CAPM are not major, except for
the case of short sales constrained portfolios (quadratic programming). The issues of more concern is
estimation of parameters such as covariances and betas.

function s= sharpe(r,rf)
s=(mean(r) mean(rf))/std(r rf);
endfunction

Matlab Code 6.2: Sharpe Ratio

function t = treynor(r, rm, rf)

beta = cov(r,rm)/var(rm);
t = (mean(r rf))/beta;
endfunction

Matlab Code 6.3: Treynor Ratio

function alpha = jensen(r, rm, rf)

beta = cov(r,rm)/var(rm);
alpha = mean(r) (rf+beta*(mean(rm) rf));
endfunction

Matlab Code 6.4: Jensens alpha

Readings and Sources The classical sources for this material are Merton (1972) and Roll (1977a). (Huang
and Litzenberger, 1988, Ch 3) has a good textbook discussion of it.

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6.13 Mean variance analysis using matrix libraries
Let us now consider how to implement mean variance analysis in C++. As shown using Matlab, the
calculations are relatively simple matrix expressions. To implement the calculations in C++ the best way
of doing it is to use a linear algebra class to deal with the calculations. For illustrative purposes we will
show usage of two different matrix classes, Newmat and IT++. These classes are described in more detail
in an appendix, with some references to how to obtain and install them.
In C++ Code 6.1 and C++ Code 6.2 we show how to do the basic mean variance calculations, calculating
means and standard deviations, using the two classes. Note the similarity to using Matlab in the way
the matrix and vector multiplications are carried out. Note also an important difference between the
two classes. In IT++ the indexing of elements start at zero, the usual C++ way. Hence, when adressing
element tmp(0,0) in the IT++ example we are pulling the first element. In Newmat the default indexing
starts at one, the Matlab way. Therefore, in adressing tmp(1,1) in the Newmat example we are also
pulling the first element. This serves as a warning to read the documentation carefully, the “off by one”
error is a very common occurrence when mixing libraries like this.

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

#include <itpp/itbase.h>
using namespace itpp;

double mv calculate mean(const vec& e, const vec& w){

vec tmp = e.transpose()*w;
return tmp(0);
};

double mv calculate variance(const mat& V, const vec& w){

mat tmp = w.transpose()*V*w;
return tmp(0,0);
};

double mv calculate st dev(const mat& V, const vec& w){

double var = mv calculate variance(V,w);
return sqrt(var);
};

C++ Code 6.1: Mean variance calculations using IT++

Example
Mean variance calculations.
 
0:05
e=
0 :1
 
1 :0 0 :0
V=
0 :0 1 :0

Calculate mean, variance and stdev for portfolio

 
0 :5
w=
0 :5

77
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

#include "newmat.h"
using namespace NEWMAT;

double mv calculate mean(const Matrix& e, const Matrix& w){

Matrix tmp = e.t()*w;
return tmp(1,1);
};

double mv calculate variance(const Matrix& V, const Matrix& w){

Matrix tmp = w.t()*V*w;
return tmp(1,1);
};

double mv calculate st dev(const Matrix& V, const Matrix& w){

double var = mv calculate variance(V,w);
return sqrt(var);
};

C++ Code 6.2: Mean variance calculations using Newmat

C++ program:

cout << "Simple example of mean variance calculations " << endl;
Matrix e(2,1);
e(1,1)=0.05; e(2,1)=0.1;
Matrix V(2,2);
V(1,1)=1.0; V(2,1)=0.0;
V(1,2)=0.0; V(2,2)=1.0;
Matrix w(2,1);
w(1,1)=0.5;
w(2,1)=0.5;
cout << " mean " << mv calculate mean(e,w) << endl;
cout << " variance " << mv calculate variance(V,w) << endl;
cout << " stdev " << mv calculate st dev(V,w) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Simple example of mean variance calculations

mean 0.075
variance 0.5
stdev 0.707107

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In C++ Code 6.4 and C++ Code 6.3 we show how to calculate the mean variance optimal portfolio for a given
required return. This is the case where there are no constraints on the weight, and we use the analytical
solution directly.

#include "newmat.h"
using namespace NEWMAT;

ReturnMatrix mv calculate portfolio given mean unconstrained(const Matrix& e,

const Matrix& V,
const double& r){
int no assets=e.Nrows();
Matrix ones = Matrix(no assets,1); for (int i=0;i<no assets;++i){ ones.element(i,0) = 1; };
Matrix Vinv = V.i(); // inverse of V
Matrix A = (ones.t()*Vinv*e); double a = A.element(0,0);
Matrix B = e.t()*Vinv*e; double b = B.element(0,0);
Matrix C = ones.t()*Vinv*ones; double c = C.element(0,0);
double d = b*c a*a;
Matrix Vinv1=Vinv*ones;
Matrix Vinve=Vinv*e;
Matrix g = (Vinv1*b Vinve*a)*(1.0/d);
Matrix h = (Vinve*c Vinv1*a)*(1.0/d);
Matrix w = g + h*r;
w.Release();
return w;
};

C++ Code 6.3: Calculating the unconstrained frontier portfolio given an expected return using Newmat

Example
Mean variance calculations.
 
0:05
e=
0 :1
 
1 :0 0 :0
V=
0 :0 1 :0

Find the optmal minimum variance portfolio with return r = 0:075.

C++ program:

cout << "Testing portfolio calculation " << endl;

Matrix e(2,1);
e(1,1)=0.05; e(2,1)=0.1;
Matrix V(2,2);
V(1,1)=1.0; V(2,1)=0.0;
V(1,2)=0.0; V(2,2)=1.0;
double r=0.075;
Matrix w = mv calculate portfolio given mean unconstrained(e,V,r);
cout << " suggested portfolio: ";
cout << " w1 = " << w(1,1) << " w2 = " << w(2,1) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Testing portfolio calculation

suggested portfolio: w1 = 0.5 w2 = 0.5

79
#include <itpp/itbase.h>
using namespace itpp;

mat mv calculate portfolio given mean unconstrained(const vec& e,

const mat& V,
const double& r){
int no assets=e.size();
vec one = ones(no assets);
mat Vinv = inv(V); // inverse of V
mat A = one.transpose()*Vinv*e;
double a = A(0,0);
mat B = e.transpose()*Vinv*e;
double b = B(0,0);
mat C = one.transpose()*Vinv*one;
double c = C(0,0);
double d = b*c a*a;
mat Vinv1=Vinv*one;
mat Vinve=Vinv*e;
mat g = (Vinv1*b Vinve*a)*(1.0/d);
mat h = (Vinve*c Vinv1*a)*(1.0/d);
mat w = g + h*r;
return w;
};

C++ Code 6.4: Calculating the unconstrained frontier portfolio given an expected return using IT++

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Chapter 7

Futures algoritms.

Contents
7.1 Pricing of futures contract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

In this we discuss algoritms used in valuing futures contracts.

7.1 Pricing of futures contract.

The futures price of an asset without payouts is the future value of the current price of the assset.

f t = e r (T t ) S t

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double futures price(const double& S, // current price of underlying asset

const double& r, // risk free interest rate
const double& time to maturity) {
return exp(r*time to maturity)*S;
};

C++ Code 7.1: Futures price

Example
Let S = 100 and r = 10%. What is the futures price for a contract with time to maturity of half a year?

C++ program:

double S=100; double r=0.10; double time=0.5;

cout << " futures price = " << futures price(S,r, time) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

futures price = 105.127

81
Chapter 8

Binomial option pricing

Contents
8.1 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
8.2 Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
8.3 Multiperiod binomial pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

8.1 Options
Option and other derivative pricing is one of the prime “success stories” of modern finance. An option is
a derivative security, the cash flows from the security is a function of the price of some other security,
typically called the underlying security. A call option is a right, but not obligation, to buy a given
quantity of the underlying security at a given price, called the exercise price K , within a certain time
interval. A put option is the right, but not obligation, to sell a given quantity of the underlying security
to an agreed excercise price within a given time interval. If an option can only be exercised (used) at a
given date (the time interval is one day), the option is called an European Option. If the option can be
used in a whole time period up to a given date, the option is called American.
An option will only be used if it is valuable to the option holder. In the case of a call option, this is
when the exercise price K is lower than the price one alternatively could buy the underlying security
for, which is the current price of the underlying security. Hence, options have never negative cash flows
at maturity. Thus, for anybody to be willing to offer an option, they must have a cost when entered
into. This cost, or price, is typically called an option premium. As notation, let C signify the price of
a call option, P the price of a put option and S the price of the underlying security. All of these prices
are indexed by time. We typically let 0 be “now” and T the final maturity date of the option. From the
definition of the options, it is clear that at their last possible exercise date, the maturity date, they have
cash flows.

CT = max(0; ST K)
PT = max(0; K ST )
The challenge of option pricing is to determine the option premia C0 (call price) and P0 (put price).

8.2 Pricing
All pricing uses that the cashflows from the derivative is a direct function of the price of the underlying
security. Pricing can therefore be done relative to the price of the underlying security. To price options

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it is necessary to make assumptions about the probability distribution of movements of the underlying
security. We start by considering this in a particularly simple framework, the binomial assumption. The
price of the underlying is currently S0 . The price can next period only take on two values, Su and Sd .

*
 Su




H S0
H
HH
H
Sd
HH
j
H

If one can find all possible future “states,” an enumeration of all possibilities, one can value a security
by constructing artificial “probabilities”, called “state price probabilities,” which one use to find an
artificial expected value of the underlying security, which is then discounted at the risk free interest
rate. The binomial framework is particularly simple, since there are only two possible states. If we
find the “probability” q of one state, we also find the probability of the other as (1 q ). Equation 8.1
demonstrates this calculation for the underlying security.

S0 = e r (qSu + (1 q )Sd ) (8.1)

Now, any derivative security based on this underlying security can be priced using the same “probability”
q . The contribution of binomial option pricing is in actually calculating the number q . To do valuation,
start by introducing constants u and d implicitly defined by Su = uS0 and Sd = dS0 , and you get a
price process as illustrated in figure 8.1.

*
 uS0

S0 
H
HH
dS0
HH
j

Figure 8.1: Binomial Tree

and calculate the artifical “probability” q as

er d
q=
u d
The price of a one-period call option in a binomial framework is shown in Formula 8.1 and implemented
in C++ Code 8.1.
The “state price probability” q is found by an assumption of no arbitrage opportunities. If one has the
possibility of trading in the underlying security and a risk free bond, it is possible to create a portfolio of
these two assets that exactly duplicates the future payoffs of the derivative security. Since this portfolio
has the same future payoff as the derivative, the price of the derivative has to equal the cost of the
duplicating portfolio. Working out the algebra of this, one can find the expression for q as the function
of the up and down movements u and d.
Exercise 8.1.
The price of the underlying security follows the binomial process

83
 Cu = max(0; Su K )
Cd = max(0; Sd K )
C0 = e r (qCu + (1 q )Cd )
er d
q=
u d
Su = uS0 and Sd = dS0 are the possible values for the underlying security next period, u and d are constants, r is the (continously
compounded) risk free interest rate and K is the call option exercise price.

Formula 8.1: The single period binomal call option price

#include <cmath> // standard mathematical library

#include <algorithm> // defining the max() operator
using namespace std;

double option price call european binomial single period( const double& S, // spot price
const double& X, // exercice price
const double& r, // interest rate (per period)
const double& u, // up movement
const double& d){ // down movement
double p up = (exp(r) d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;
double c u = max(0.0,(u*S X));
double c d = max(0.0,(d*S X));
double call price = exp( r)*(p up*c u+p down*c d);
return call price;
};

C++ Code 8.1: Binomial European, one period

Su
 
*

S0


HH
HH
j
H Sd

A one period call option has payoffs

*
 Cu = max(0; Su K )

C0 
H
HH
Cd = max(0; Sd K )
HH
j

1. Show how one can combine a position in the underlying security with a position in risk free bonds to
create a portfolio which exactly duplicates the payoffs from the call.

2. Use this result to show the one period pricing formula for a call option shown in formula 8.1.

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8.3 Multiperiod binomial pricing
Of course, an assumption of only two possible future states next period is somewhat unrealistic, but if
we iterate this assumption, and assume that every date, there are only two possible outcomes next date,
but then, for each of these two outcomes, there is two new outcomes, as illustrated in the next figure:

* u(uSt ) = uuSt





* HuS
 t
 H
  HH
 H
 HH
S t
H
j d(uS ) = u(dS ) = udS
H
t t t
H *


HH 
H 
HH 
j dS
HHt
H
H
HH
H
j d(dSt ) = ddSt
H
H

Iterating this idea a few times more, the number of different terminal states increases markedly, and we
get closer to a realistic distribution of future prices of the underlying at the terminal date. Note that a
crucial assumption to get a picture like this is that the factors u and d are the same on each date.




 H
 H
H
 HH 
H

HH  H HHH
 
H H
 H 

 H  H
HH HH
HH

H H
 H
HH HH  
H 
H
HH HH
H 

HH
H
H

Pricing in a setting like this is done by working backwards, starting at the terminal date. Here we know
all the possible values of the underlying security. For each of these, we calculate the payoffs from the
derivative, and find what the set of possible derivative prices is one period before. Given these, we can
find the option one period before this again, and so on. Working ones way down to the root of the tree,
the option price is found as the derivative price in the first node.
For example, suppose we have two periods, and price a two period call option with exercise price K.

85
 * uuS0





* HuS 0

 H
  H
 H H
 HH
S 0
H
j udS
H
0
H *


HH 
H
HH 
j dS0
H 
HH
HH
H
HH
j ddS0
H

First step: Find terminal payoffs of derivative security:

* Cuu = max(0; Suu

 K)




* HH

  HH
 H
 HH
j C = max(0; duS K )
* du
 H
HH 
HH  
H
HH  
j
H
HH
HH
H
HH
j Cdd max(0; ddS K )
H

Next step: Find the two possible call prices at time 1:

Cu = e r (qCuu + (1 q )Cud )
Cd = e r (qCud + (1 q )Cdd )

Cu

*

C0 
HH
HH
j
H Cd

Final step: Using the two possible payoffs at time 1, Cu and Cd , find option value at time 0:
C0 = e r (qCu + (1 q )Cd )
Thus, binomial pricing really concerns “rolling backward” in a binomial tree, and programming therefore
concerns an efficient way of traversing such a tree. The obvious data structure for describing such a tree
is shown in C++ Code 8.2, where the value in each node is calculated from finding out the number of up
and down steps are used to get to the particular node.
Exercise 8.2.

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#include <vector>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

vector< vector<double> > binomial tree(const double& S0,

const double& u,
const double& d,
const int& no steps){
vector< vector<double> > tree;
for (int i=1;i<=no steps;++i){
vector<double> S(i);
for (int j=0;j<i;++j){
S[j] = S0*pow(u,j)*pow(d,i j 1);
};
tree.push back(S);
};
return tree;
};

C++ Code 8.2: Building a binomial tree

In terms of computational efficiency the approcach of C++ Code 8.2 will not be optimal, since it requires a
lot of calls to the pow() functional call. More efficient would be to carry out the tree building by doing the
multiplication from the previous node, for example the j ’th vector is the j 1’th vector times u, and then
one need to add one more node by multiplying the lowest element by d.

1. Implement such an alternative tree building procedure.

Basing the recursive calculation of a derivative price on a triangular array structure as shown in
C++ Code 8.2 is the most natural approach, but with some cleverness based on understanding the structure
of the binomial tree, we can get away with the more efficienent algorithm that is shown in C++ Code 8.3.
Note that here we only use one vector<double>, not a triangular array as built above.
Example
Let S = 100:0, K = 100:0, r = 0:025, u = 1:05 and d = 1=u.
1. Price one and two period European Call options.

C++ program:

double S = 100.0; double K = 100.0; double r = 0.025;

double u = 1.05; double d = 1/u;
cout << " one period european call = "
<< option price call european binomial single period(S,K,r,u,d) << endl;
int no periods = 2;
cout << " two period european call = "
<< option price call european binomial multi period given ud(S,K,r,u,d,no periods) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

one period european call = 3.64342

two period european call = 5.44255

Exercise 8.3.
Implement pricing of single and multi period binomial put options.

Further reading The derivation of the single period binomial is shown in for example Bossaerts and
Ødegaard (2001), Hull (2011) or McDonald (2013).

87
#include <cmath> // standard mathematical library
#include <algorithm> // defining the max() operator
#include <vector> // STL vector templates
using namespace std;

double option price call european binomial multi period given ud(const double& S, // spot price
const double& K, // exercice price
const double& r, // interest rate (per period)
const double& u, // up movement
const double& d, // down movement
const int& no periods){ // no steps in binomial tree
double Rinv = exp( r); // inverse of interest rate
double uu = u*u;
double p up = (exp(r) d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;
vector<double> prices(no periods+1); // price of underlying
prices[0] = S*pow(d, no periods); // fill in the endnodes.
for (int i=1; i<=no periods; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];
vector<double> call values(no periods+1); // value of corresponding call
for (int i=0; i<=no periods; ++i) { call values[i] = max(0.0, (prices[i] K));}; // call payoffs at maturity
for (int step=no periods 1; step>=0; step) {
for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
call values[i] = (p up*call values[i+1]+p down*call values[i])*Rinv;
};
};
return call values[0];
};

C++ Code 8.3: Binomial multiperiod pricing of European call option

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Chapter 9

Basic Option Pricing, the Black Scholes

formula

Contents
9.1 The formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
9.2 Understanding the why’s of the formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
9.2.1 The original Black Scholes analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.2.2 The limit of a binomial case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.2.3 The representative agent framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.3 Partial derivatives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.3.1 Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.3.2 Other Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
9.3.3 Implied Volatility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
9.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

The pricing of options and related instruments has been a major breakthrough for the use of financial
theory in practical application. Since the original papers of Black and Scholes (1973) and Merton (1973),
there has been a wealth of practical and theoretical applications. We will now consider the orginal Black
Scholes formula for pricing options, how it is calculated and used. For the basic intuition about option
pricing the reader should first read the discussion of the binomial model in the previous chapter, as that
is a much better environment for understanding what is actually calculated.
An option is a derivative security, its value depends on the value, or price, of some other underlying
security, called the underlying security.. Let S denote the value, or price, of this underlying security.
We need to keep track of what time this price is observed at, so let St denote that the price is observed
at time t. A call (put) option gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy (sell) some
underlying asset at a given price K , called the exercise price, on or before some given date T . If the
option is a so called European option, it can only be used (exercised) at the maturity date. If the
option is of the so called American type, it can be used (exercised) at any date up to and including the
maturity date T . If exercised at time T , a call option provides payoff

CT = max(0; ST K)
and a put option provides payoff

PT = max(0; K ST )
The Black Scholes formulas provides analytical solutions for European put and call options, options
which can only be exercised at the options maturity date. Black and Scholes showed that the additional

89
information needed to price the option is the (continously compounded) risk free interest rate r, the
variability of the underlying asset, measured by the standard deviation  of (log) price changes, and
the time to maturity (T t) of the option, measured in years. The original formula was derived under
the assumption that there are no payouts, such as stock dividends, coming from the underlying security
during the life of the option. Such payouts will affection option values, as will become apparent later.

9.1 The formula

Formula 9.1 gives the exact formula for a call option, and the calculation of the same call option is shown
in C++ Code 9.1 and Matlab Code 9.1.

c = SN (d1 ) Ke r(T t) N (d2 )

where
S
1 2
d1 =
ln K + (r +
p 2  )(T t)
 T t
and
p
d2 = d1  T t
Alternatively one can calculate d1 and d2 as
S

ln K + r (T t) 1 p
d1 = p +  T
2
t
 T t
S

ln K + r (T t) 1 p
d2 = p 2
 T t
 T t
S is the price of the underlying security, K the exercise price, r the (continously compounded) risk free interest rate,  the
standard deviation of the underlying asset, t the current date, T the maturity date, T t the time to maturity for the option and
(
)
N the cumulative normal distribution.
Formula 9.1: The Black Scholes formula

#include <cmath> // mathematical C library

#include "normdist.h" // the calculation of the cumularive normal distribution

double option price call black scholes(const double& S, // spot (underlying) price
const double& K, // strike (exercise) price,
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& time) { // time to maturity
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double d1 = (log(S/K)+r*time)/(sigma*time sqrt)+0.5*sigma*time sqrt;
double d2 = d1 (sigma*time sqrt);
return S*N(d1) K*exp( r*time)*N(d2);
};

C++ Code 9.1: Price of European call option using the Black Scholes formula

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function c = black scholes call(S,K,r,sigma,time)
time sqrt = sqrt(time);
d1 = (log(S/K)+r*time)/(sigma*time sqrt)+0.5*sigma*time sqrt;
d2 = d1 (sigma*time sqrt);
c = S * normcdf(d1) K * exp( r*time) * normcdf(d2);
endfunction

Matlab Code 9.1: Price of European call option using the Black Scholes formula

91
Example
Stock in company XYZ is currently trading at 50. Consider a call option on XYZ stock with an exercise price
of K = 50 and time to maturity of 6 months. The volatility of XYZ stock has been estimated to be  = 30%.
The current risk free interest rate (with continous compounding) for six month borrowing is 10%.
1. Determine the option price.
To calculate the price of this option we use the Black Scholes formula with inputs S = 50, K = 50, r = 0:10,
 = 0:3 and (T t) = 0:5.
Matlab program:

S = 100;
K = 100;
r = 0.1;
sigma = 0.1;
time = 1;
c = black scholes call(S,K,r,sigma,time)

Output from Matlab program:

c = 10.308

C++ program:

double S = 50; double K = 50; double r = 0.10;

double sigma = 0.30; double time=0.50;
cout << " Black Scholes call price = ";
cout << option price call black scholes(S, K , r, sigma, time) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

Black Scholes call price = 5.45325

Exercise 9.1.
The Black Scholes price for a put option is:
p = Ke r(T t) N ( d2 ) SN ( d1 )
where d1 and d2 are as for the call option:


ln XS + (r + 12  2 )(T t)
d1 = p
 T t
p
d2 = d1  T t;
S is the price of the underlying secrutity, K the exercise price, r the (continously compounded) risk free
interest rate,  the standard deviation of the underlying asset, T t the time to maturity for the option and
N (
) the cumulative normal distribution.
1. Implement this formula.

9.2 Understanding the why’s of the formula

To get some understanding of the Black Scholes formula and why it works will need to delve in some
detail into the mathematics underlying its derivation. It does not help that there are a number of ways
to prove the Black Scholes formula, depending on the setup. As it turns out, two of these ways are
important to understand for computational purposes, the original Black Scholes continous time way,
and the “limit of a binomial process” way of Cox, Ross, and Rubinstein (1979).

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9.2.1 The original Black Scholes analysis
The primary assumption underlying the Black Scholes analyis concerns the stochastic process governing
the price of the underlying asset. The price of the underlying asset, S , is assumed to follow a geometric
Brownian Motion process, conveniently written in either of the shorthand forms

dS = Sdt + SdZ
or
dS
= dt + dZ
S
where  and  are constants, and Z is Brownian motion.
Using Ito’s lemma, the assumption of no arbitrage, and the ability to trade continuously, Black and
Scholes showed that the price of any contingent claim written on the underlying must solve the partial
differential equation (9.1).

@f @f 1 @ 2 f 2 2
rS + +  S = rf
@t 2 @S 2
(9.1)
@S
For any particular contingent claim, the terms of the claim will give a number of boundary conditions
that determines the form of the pricing formula.
The pde given in equation (9.1), with the boundary condition cT = max(0; ST K ) was shown by Black
and Scholes to have an analytical solution of functional form shown in the Black Scoles formula 9.1.

9.2.2 The limit of a binomial case

Another is to use the limit of a binomial process (Cox et al., 1979). The latter is particularly interesting,
as it allows us to link the Black Scholes formula to the binomial, allowing the binomial framework to be
used as an approximation.

9.2.3 The representative agent framework

A final way to show the BS formula to assume a representative agent and lognormality as was done in
Rubinstein (1976).

9.3 Partial derivatives.

In trading of options, a number of partial derivatives of the option price formula is important.

9.3.1 Delta
The first derivative of the option price with respect to the price of the underlying security is called the
delta of the option price. It is the derivative most people will run into, since it is important in hedging
of options.

@c
= N (d 1 )
@S
C++ Code 9.2 shows the calculation of the delta for a call option.

93
#include <cmath>
#include "normdist.h"

double option price delta call black scholes(const double& S, // spot price
const double& K, // Strike (exercise) price,
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& time){ // time to maturity
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double d1 = (log(S/K)+r*time)/(sigma*time sqrt) + 0.5*sigma*time sqrt;
double delta = N(d1);
return delta;
};

C++ Code 9.2: Calculating the delta of the Black Scholes call option price

9.3.2 Other Derivatives

The remaining derivatives are more seldom used, but all of them are relevant. All of them are listed in
formula 9.3.2.

Delta (
)
@c

= = N (d1 )
@S
Gamma ( )
@2c n (d )
2 = p1
@S S T t
Theta () (careful about which of these you want)
@c 1 1
= Sn(d1 )  p + rKe r(T t) N (d2 )
@ (T t) 2 T t
@c 1 1
= Sn(d1 )  p rKe r(T t) N (d2 )
@t 2 T t
Vega
@c p
= S T tn(d1 )
@
Rho ()
@c
= K ( T t ) e r ( T t) N ( d 2 )
@r
S is the price of the underlying security, K the exercise price, r the (continously compounded) risk free interest rate,  the
 t the current date,
standard deviation of the underlying asset,  T the maturity date and T t the time to maturity
 
for the option.
Rz
n(
) is the normal distribution function n(z ) = p12 e N (
) the cumulative normal distribution N (z ) = 1 n(t)dt
1 2
2z and .

Formula 9.2: Partial derivatives of the Black Scholes call option formula

The calculation of all of these partial derivatives for a call option is shown in C++ Code 9.3.
Example
Consider again six month call options on XYZ stock. The option matures 6 months from now, at which time
the holder of the option can recive one unit of the underlying security by paying the exercise price of K = 50.
The current price of the underlying security is S = 50. The volatility of the underlying security is given as
 = 30%. The current risk free interest rate (with continous compounding) for six month borrowing is 10%.

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#include <cmath>
#include "normdist.h"
using namespace std;

void option price partials call black scholes( const double& S, // spot price
const double& K, // Strike (exercise) price,
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& time, // time to maturity
double& Delta, // partial wrt S
double& Gamma, // second prt wrt S
double& Theta, // partial wrt time
double& Vega, // partial wrt sigma
double& Rho){ // partial wrt r
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double d1 = (log(S/K)+r*time)/(sigma*time sqrt) + 0.5*sigma*time sqrt;
double d2 = d1 (sigma*time sqrt);
Delta = N(d1);
Gamma = n(d1)/(S*sigma*time sqrt);
Theta = (S*sigma*n(d1))/(2*time sqrt) r*K*exp( r*time)*N(d2);
Vega = S * time sqrt*n(d1);
Rho = K*time*exp( r*time)*N(d2);
};

C++ Code 9.3: Calculating the partial derivatives of a Black Scholes call option

1. Calculate the partial derivatives (Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega and Rho) for this option.

To calculate the partial derivatives we use inputs S = 50, K = 50, r = 0:10,  = 0:3 and (T t) = 0 :5 .

C++ program:

cout << " Black Scholes call partial derivatives " << endl;
double S = 50; double K = 50; double r = 0.10;
double sigma = 0.30; double time=0.50;
double Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega, Rho;
option price partials call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma, time, Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega, Rho);
cout << " Delta = " << Delta << endl;
cout << " Gamma = " << Gamma << endl;
cout << " Theta = " << Theta << endl;
cout << " Vega = " << Vega << endl;
cout << " Rho = " << Rho << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Black Scholes call partial derivatives

Delta = 0.633737
Gamma = 0.0354789
Theta = -6.61473
Vega = 13.3046
Rho = 13.1168

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9.3.3 Implied Volatility.
In calculation of the option pricing formulas, in particular the Black Scholes formula, the only unknown
is the standard deviation of the underlying stock. A common problem in option pricing is to find the
implied volatility, given the observed price quoted in the market. For example, given c0 , the price of a
call option, the following equation should be solved for the value of  :

c0 = c(S; K; r; ; T t)
Unfortunately, this equation has no closed form solution, which means the equation must be numerically
solved to find  . What is probably the algorithmic simplest way to solve this is to use a binomial search
algorithm, which is implemented in C++ Code 9.4. We start by bracketing the sigma by finding a high
sigma that makes the BS price higher than the observed price, and then, given the bracketing interval,
we search for the volatility in a systematic way. shows such a calculation.

#include <cmath>
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double option price implied volatility call black scholes bisections(const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& time,
const double& option price){
if (option price<0.99*(S K*exp( time*r))) { // check for arbitrage violations.
return 0.0; // Option price is too low if this happens
};

// simple binomial search for the implied volatility.

// relies on the value of the option increasing in volatility
const double ACCURACY = 1.0e 5; // make this smaller for higher accuracy
const int MAX ITERATIONS = 100;
const double HIGH VALUE = 1e10;
const double ERROR = 1e40;

// want to bracket sigma. first find a maximum sigma by finding a sigma

// with a estimated price higher than the actual price.
double sigma low=1e 5;
double sigma high=0.3;
double price = option price call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma high,time);
while (price < option price) {
sigma high = 2.0 * sigma high; // keep doubling.
price = option price call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma high,time);
if (sigma high>HIGH VALUE) return ERROR; // panic, something wrong.
};
for (int i=0;i<MAX ITERATIONS;i++){
double sigma = (sigma low+sigma high)*0.5;
price = option price call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time);
double test = (price option price);
if (fabs(test)<ACCURACY) { return sigma; };
if (test < 0.0) { sigma low = sigma; }
else { sigma high = sigma; }
};
return ERROR;
};

C++ Code 9.4: Calculation of implied volatility of Black Scholes using bisections

Instead of this simple bracketing, which is actually pretty fast, and will (almost) always find the solution,
we can use the Newton–Raphson formula for finding the root of an equation in a single variable. The
general description of this method starts with a function f () for which we want to find a root.

f (x ) = 0 :

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The function f () needs to be differentiable. Given a first guess x0 , iterate by
f (x i )
xi+1 = xi
f 0 (x i )
until

jf ( x i ) j < 
where  is the desired accuracy.1
In our case

f (x) = cobs cBS ( )

and, each new iteration will calculate

cobs cBS (i )

i+1 = i + @cBS ()
@
C++ Code 9.5 shows the calculation of implied volatility using Newton-Raphson.

#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include "normdist.h"
#include <cmath>
#include <iostream>
double option price implied volatility call black scholes newton(const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& time,
const double& option price) {
if (option price<0.99*(S K*exp( time*r))) { // check for arbitrage violations. Option price is too low if this happens
return 0.0;
};

const int MAX ITERATIONS = 100;

const double ACCURACY = 1.0e 5;
double t sqrt = sqrt(time);

double sigma = (option price/S)/(0.398*t sqrt); // find initial value

for (int i=0;i<MAX ITERATIONS;i++){
double price = option price call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time);
double diff = option price price;
if (fabs(diff)<ACCURACY) return sigma;
double d1 = (log(S/K)+r*time)/(sigma*t sqrt) + 0.5*sigma*t sqrt;
double vega = S * t sqrt * n(d1);
sigma = sigma + diff/vega;
};
return 99e10; // something screwy happened, should throw exception
};

C++ Code 9.5: Calculation of implied volatility of Black Scholes using Newton-Raphson

Note that to use Newton-Raphson we need the derivative of the option price. For the Black-Scholes
formula this is known, and we can use this. But for pricing formulas like the binomial, where the partial
derivatives are not that easy to calculate, simple bisection is the preferred algorithm.
Example
Consider again six month call options on XYZ stock. The option matures 6 months from now, at which time
the holder of the option can recive one unit of the underlying security by paying the exercise price of K = 50.
1 For further discussion of the Newton-Raphson formula and bracketing, a good source is chapter 9 of Press et al. (1992)

97
The current price of the underlying security is S = 50. The current risk free interest rate (with continous
compounding) for six month borrowing is 10%.

1. The current option price is C = 2 :5 . Determine the volatility implicit in this price.

The implied volatility is the  which, input in the Black Scholes formula with these other inputs, will produce
an option price of C = 2:5.
To calculate we use inputs S = 50, K = 50, r = 0:10 and (T t ) = 0 :5 .

C++ program:

double S = 50; double K = 50; double r = 0.10; double time=0.50;

double C=2.5;
cout << " Black Scholes implied volatility using Newton search = ";
cout << option price implied volatility call black scholes newton(S,K,r,time,C) << endl;
cout << " Black Scholes implied volatility using bisections = ";
cout << option price implied volatility call black scholes bisections(S,K,r,time,C) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Black Scholes implied volatility using Newton search = 0.0500427

Black Scholes implied volatility using bisections = 0.0500419

9.4 References
Black and Scholes (1973) Merton (1973)
Gray and Gray (2001) has a simple proof of the formula.

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Chapter 10

Warrants

Contents
10.1 Warrant value in terms of assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
10.2 Valuing warrants when observing the stock value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
10.3 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

A warrant is an option-like security on equity, but it is issued by the same company which has issued
the equity, and when a warrant is exercised, a new stock is issued. This new stock is issued at a the
warrant strike price, which is lower than the current stock price (If it wasn’t the warrant would not be
exercised.) Since the new stock is a a fractional right to all cashflows, this stock issue waters out, or
dilutes, the equity in a company. The degree of dilution is a function of how many warrants are issued.

10.1 Warrant value in terms of assets

Let K be the strike price, n the number of shares outstanding and m the number of warrants issued.
Assume each warrant is for 1 new share, and let At be the current asset value of firm. Suppose all
warrants are exercised simultaneously. Then the assets of the firm increase by the number of warrants
times the strike price of the warrant.

At + mK;
but this new asset value is spread over more shares, since each exercised warrant is now an equity. The
assets of the firm is spread over all shares, hence each new share is worth:
At + mK
m+n
making each exercised warrant worth:
 
At + mK Atn
K= K
m+n m+n n
If we knew the current value of assets in the company, we could value the warrant in two steps:

1. Value the option using the Black Scholes formula and Ant as the current stock price.
2. Multiply the resulting call price with mn+n .

If we letWt be the warrant value, the above arguments are summarized as:
 
n A
Wt = CBS ; K; ; r; (T t) ;
n+m n

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where CBS (
) is the Black Scholes formula.

10.2 Valuing warrants when observing the stock value

However, one does not necessarily observe the asset value of the firm. Typically one only observes the
equity value of the firm. If we let St be the current stock price, the asset value is really:

At = nSt + mWt
Using the stock price, one would value the warrant as
 
n nSt + mWt
Wt = CBS ; K; ; r; (T t)
n+m n
or
n  m 
Wt = CBS St + W ; K; ; r; (T t)
n+m n t
Note that this gives the value of Wt as a function of Wt . One need to solve this equation numerically to
find Wt .
The numerical solution for Wt is done using the Newton-Rhapson method. Let
n  m 
g (W t ) = W t CBS St + Wt ; K; ; r; (T t)
n+m n
Starting with an initial guess for the warrant value Wto , the Newton-Rhapson method is that one iterates
as follows

g (Wti 1)
Wti = Wti 1 1) ;
g 0 (Wti
where i signifies iteration i, until the criterion function g (Wti 1 ) is below some given accuracy . In this
case
m
g 0 (W t ) = 1 N (d )
m+n 1
where
 
St + m
ln K
n Wt
+ (r + 12  2 )(T t)
d1 = p
 T t
An obvious starting value is to set calculate the Black Scholes value using the current stock price, and
multiply it with mm
+n .
C++ Code 10.1 implements this calculation.
Example
A stock is currently priced at S = 48. Consider warrants on the same company with exercise price K = 40 and
time to maturity of six months. The company has n = 10000 shares outstanding, and has issued m = 1000
warrants. The current (continously compounded) risk free interest rate is 8%. Determine the current warrant
price.

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#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include "normdist.h"
#include <cmath>

const double EPSILON=0.00001;

double warrant price adjusted black scholes(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const double& m, // number of warrants outstanding
const double& n){ // number of shares outstanding
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double w = (n/(n+m))*option price call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time);
double g = w (n/(n+m))*option price call black scholes(S+(m/n)*w,K,r,sigma,time);
while (fabs(g)>EPSILON) {
double d1 = (log((S+(m/n))/K)+r*time)/(sigma*time sqrt)+0.5*sigma*time sqrt;
double gprime = 1 (m/n)*N(d1);
w=w g/gprime;
g = w (n/(n+m))*option price call black scholes(S+(m/n)*w,K,r,sigma,time);
};
return w;
};

C++ Code 10.1: Adjusted Black Scholes value for a Warrant

C++ program:

double S = 48; double K = 40; double r = 0.08; double sigma = 0.30;

double time = 0.5; double m = 1000; double n = 10000;
double w = warrant price adjusted black scholes(S,K,r,sigma, time, m, n);
cout << " warrant price = " << w << endl;

Output from C++ program:

warrant price = 10.142

Exercise 10.1.
The solution method assumes that all warrants are exercised simultanously. Can you see where this assumption
is used?

10.3 Readings
McDonald (2013) and Hull (2011) are general references. A problem with warrants is that exercise of all
warrants simultaneously is not necessarily optimal.
Press et al. (1992) discusses the Newton-Rhapson method for root finding.

101
Chapter 11

Extending the Black Scholes formula

Contents
11.1 Adjusting for payouts of the underlying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
11.1.1 Continous Payouts from underlying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
11.1.2 Dividends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
11.2 American options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
11.2.1 Exact american call formula when stock is paying one dividend. . . . . . . . . 105
11.3 Options on futures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
11.3.1 Black’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
11.4 Foreign Currency Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
11.5 Perpetual puts and calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
11.6 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

11.1 Adjusting for payouts of the underlying.

For options on other financial instruments than stocks, we have to allow for the fact that the underlying
may have payouts during the life of the option. For example, in working with commodity options, there
is often some storage costs if one wanted to hedge the option by buying the underlying.

11.1.1 Continous Payouts from underlying.

The simplest case is when the payouts are done continuously. To value an European option, a simple
adjustment to the Black Scholes formula is all that is needed. Let q be the continuous payout of the
underlying commodity.
Call and put prices for European options are then given by formula 11.1, which are implemented in
C++ Code 11.1.
Exercise 11.1.
The price of a put on an underlying security with a continous payout of q is:
p = Ke r(T t) N ( d2 ) Se q(T t) N ( d1 )
1. Implement this formula.

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 c = Se q(T t) N (d1 ) Ke r(T t) N (d2 )
where
S
1 2
d1 =
ln K + (r p q + 2  )(T t)
 T t
p
d2 = d1  T t
S is the price of the underlying secrutity, K the exercise price, r the risk free interest rate, q the (continous) payout and  the
standard deviation of the underlying asset, t the current date, T the maturity date, T t the time to maturity for the option and
(
)
N the cumulative normal distribution.
Formula 11.1: Analytical prices for European call option on underlying security having a payout of q

#include <cmath> // mathematical library

#include "normdist.h" // this defines the normal distribution
using namespace std;

double option price european call payout( const double& S, // spot price
const double& X, // Strike (exercise) price,
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& q, // yield on underlying
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& time) { // time to maturity
double sigma sqr = pow(sigma,2);
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double d1 = (log(S/X) + (r q + 0.5*sigma sqr)*time)/(sigma*time sqrt);
double d2 = d1 (sigma*time sqrt);
double call price = S * exp( q*time)* N(d1) X * exp( r*time) * N(d2);
return call price;
};

C++ Code 11.1: Option price, continous payout from underlying

11.1.2 Dividends.
A special case of payouts from the underlying security is stock options when the stock pays dividends.
When the stock pays dividends, the pricing formula is adjusted, because the dividend changes the value
of the underlying.
The case of continuous dividends is easiest to deal with. It corresponds to the continuous payouts we
have looked at previously. The problem is the fact that most dividends are paid at discrete dates.

European Options on dividend-paying stock.

To adjust the price of an European option for known dividends, we merely subtract the present value of
the dividends from the current price of the underlying asset in calculating the Black Scholes value.
Example
Consider a stock option with the following data given:S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25, time to maturity
is one year. dividend yield = 5%. Dividend payments at times 0:25 and 0:75.

• Determine the option price

103
#include <cmath> // mathematical library
#include <vector>
#include "fin_recipes.h" // define the black scholes price

double option price european call dividends( const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time to maturity,
const vector<double>& dividend times,
const vector<double>& dividend amounts ) {
double adjusted S = S;
for (int i=0;i<dividend times.size();i++) {
if (dividend times[i]<=time to maturity){
adjusted S = dividend amounts[i] * exp( r*dividend times[i]);
};
};
return option price call black scholes(adjusted S,K,r,sigma,time to maturity);
};

C++ Code 11.2: European option price, dividend paying stock

C++ program:

double S = 100.0; double K = 100.0;

double r = 0.1; double sigma = 0.25;
double time=1.0;
double dividend yield=0.05;
vector<double> dividend times; vector<double> dividend amounts;
dividend times.push back(0.25); dividend amounts.push back(2.5);
dividend times.push back(0.75); dividend amounts.push back(2.5);
cout << " european stock call option with contininous dividend = "
<< option price european call payout(S,K,r,dividend yield,sigma,time) << endl;
cout << " european stock call option with discrete dividend = "
<< option price european call dividends(S,K,r,sigma,time,dividend times,dividend amounts) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

european stock call option with contininous dividend = 11.7344

european stock call option with discrete dividend = 11.8094

11.2 American options

American options are much harder to deal with than European ones. The problem is that it may be
optimal to use (exercise) the option before the final expiry date. This optimal exercise policy will affect
the value of the option, and the exercise policy needs to be known when solving the pde. However, the
exercise policy is not known. There is therefore no general analytical solutions for American call and
put options. There are some special cases. For American call options on assets that do not have any
payouts, the American call price is the same as the European one, since the optimal exercise policy is
to not exercise. For American puts this this not the case, it may pay to exercise them early. When
the underlying asset has payouts, it may also pay to exercise an American call option early. There is
one known known analytical price for American call options, which is the case of a call on a stock that
pays a known dividend once during the life of the option, which is discussed next. In all other cases
the American price has to be approximated using one of the techniques discussed in later chapters:
Binomial approximation, numerical solution of the partial differential equation, or another numerical
approximation.

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11.2.1 Exact american call formula when stock is paying one dividend.
When a stock pays dividend, a call option on the stock may be optimally exercised just before the stock
goes ex-dividend. While the general dividend problem is usually approximated somehow, for the special
case of one dividend payment during the life of an option an analytical solution is available, due to
Roll–Geske–Whaley.
If we let S be the stock price, K the exercise price, D1 the amount of dividend paid, t1 the time of
dividend payment, T the maturity date of option, we denote the time to dividend payment 1 = T t1
and the time to maturity  = T t.
A first check of early exercise is:
 
D 1  K 1 e r (T t1 )

If this inequality is fulfilled, early exercise is not optimal, and the value of the option is

c(S e r(t1 t) D1 ; K; r; ; (T t))

where c(
) is the regular Black Scholes formula.
If the inequality is not fulfilled, one performs the calculation shown in Formula 11.2 and implemented in
C++ Code 11.3.

C = (S D1 e r(t1 t) ) (N (b1 ) + N (a1 ; b1 ; )) + Ke r(T t)) N (a2 ; b2 ; ) (K D1 )e r(t1 t) N (b2 )

where
r
(t1 t
=
T t
 
+ (r + 12  2 )
S D1 e q ( 1
ln K
a1 =
 
p
p
a2 = a1  T t
 
S D1 e r ( t 1 + (r + 21  2 )(t1
t)
ln S t)
b1 = p
 (t1 t)
p
b2 = b1  T t
and S solves
 t1 ) = S + D1 K
c(S;
S is the price of the underlying secrutity, K the exercise price, r the risk free interest rate, D1 is the dividend amount and  the
standard deviation of the underlying asset, t the current date, T the maturity date, T t the time to maturity for the option
and N (
) ()
the cumulative normal distribution. N with one argument is the univariate normal cumulative distribution. N with ()
three arguments is the bivariate normal distribution with the correlation between the two normals given as the third arguement.
Formula 11.2: Roll–Geske–Whaley price of american call option paying one fixed dividend

Example
Consider an option on a stock paying one dividend. The relevant data is S = 100, K = 100;r=0.1,  = 0:25,
 = 1:0, 1 = 0:5 and D1 = 10.
Price the option.

105
 C++ program:

double S = 100.0; double K = 100.0;

double r = 0.1; double sigma = 0.25;
double tau = 1.0; double tau1 = 0.5;
double D1 = 10.0;
cout << " american call price with one dividend = "
<< option price american call one dividend(S,K,r,sigma,tau,D1, tau1)<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

american call price with one dividend = 10.0166

Exercise 11.2.
The Black approximation to the price of an call option paying a fixed dividend is an approximation to the
value of the call. Suppose the dividend is paid as some date t1 before the maturity date of the option T .
Blacks approximation calculates the value of two European options using the Black Scholes formula. One
with expiry date equal to the ex dividend date of the options. Another with expiry date equal to the option
expiry, but the current price of the underlying security is adjusted down by the amount of the dividend.

1. Implement Black’s approximation.

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#include <cmath>
#include "normdist.h" // define the normal distribution functions
#include "fin_recipes.h" // the regular black sholes formula

double option price american call one dividend(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& tau,
const double& D1,
const double& tau1){
if (D1 <= K* (1.0 exp( r*(tau tau1)))) // check for no exercise
return option price call black scholes(S exp( r*tau1)*D1,K,r,sigma,tau);
const double ACCURACY = 1e 6; // decrease this for more accuracy
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
double tau sqrt = sqrt(tau);
double tau1 sqrt = sqrt(tau1);
double rho = sqrt(tau1/tau);

double S bar = 0; // first find the S bar that solves c=S bar+D1-K
double S low=0; // the simplest: binomial search
double S high=S; // start by finding a very high S above S bar
double c = option price call black scholes(S high,K,r,sigma,tau tau1);
double test = c S high D1+K;
while ( (test>0.0) && (S high<=1e10) ) {
S high *= 2.0;
c = option price call black scholes(S high,K,r,sigma,tau tau1);
test = c S high D1+K;
};
if (S high>1e10) { // early exercise never optimal, find BS value
return option price call black scholes(S D1*exp( r*tau1),K,r,sigma,tau);
};
S bar = 0.5 * S high; // now find S bar that solves c=S bar-D+K
c = option price call black scholes(S bar,K,r,sigma,tau tau1);
test = c S bar D1+K;
while ( (fabs(test)>ACCURACY) && ((S high S low)>ACCURACY) ) {
if (test<0.0) { S high = S bar; }
else { S low = S bar; };
S bar = 0.5 * (S high + S low);
c = option price call black scholes(S bar,K,r,sigma,tau tau1);
test = c S bar D1+K;
};
double a1 = (log((S D1*exp( r*tau1))/K) +( r+0.5*sigma sqr)*tau) / (sigma*tau sqrt);
double a2 = a1 sigma*tau sqrt;
double b1 = (log((S D1*exp( r*tau1))/S bar)+(r+0.5*sigma sqr)*tau1)/(sigma*tau1 sqrt);
double b2 = b1 sigma * tau1 sqrt;
double C = (S D1*exp( r*tau1)) * N(b1) + (S D1*exp( r*tau1)) * N(a1, b1,rho)
(K*exp( r*tau))*N(a2, b2,rho) (K D1)*exp( r*tau1)*N(b2);
return C;
};

C++ Code 11.3: Option price, Roll–Geske–Whaley call formula for dividend paying stock

107
11.3 Options on futures

11.3.1 Black’s model

For an European option written on a futures contract, we use an adjustment of the Black Scholes solution,
which was developed in Black (1976). Essentially we replace S0 with e r(T t)r F in the Black Scholes
formula, and get the formula shown in 11.3 and implemented in C++ Code 11.4.

c = e r(T t) (F N (d1 ) KN (d2 ))

where
F
1 2
d1 =
ln
p 2  (T t)
K +
 T t
p
d2 = d1  T t
F is the futures price, K is the exercise price, r the risk free interest rate,  the volatility of the futures
price, and T t is the time to maturity of the option (in years).
Formula 11.3: Black’s formula for the price of an European Call option with a futures contract as the
underlying security

#include <cmath> // mathematics library

#include "normdist.h" // normal distribution
using namespace std;

double futures option price call european black( const double& F, // futures price
const double& K, // exercise price
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& time){ // time to maturity
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double d1 = (log (F/K) + 0.5 * sigma sqr * time) / (sigma * time sqrt);
double d2 = d1 sigma * time sqrt;
return exp( r*time)*(F * N(d1) K * N(d2));
};

C++ Code 11.4: Price of European Call option on Futures contract

Example
Price a futures option in the Black setting. Information: F = 50, K = 45, r = 8%,  = 0:2, and time to
maturity is a half year.

C++ program:

double F = 50.0; double K = 45.0;

double r = 0.08; double sigma = 0.2;
double time=0.5;
cout << " european futures call option = "
<< futures option price put european black(F,K,r,sigma,time) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

european futures call option = 0.851476

Exercise 11.3.

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The Black formula for a put option on a futures contract is

p = e r(T t) (KN ( d2 ) F N ( d1 ))
where the varibles are as defined for the call option.

1. Implement the put option price.

11.4 Foreign Currency Options

Another relatively simple adjustment of the Black Scholes formula occurs when the underlying security
is a currency exchange rate (spot rate). In this case one adjusts the Black-Scholes equation for the
interest-rate differential.
Let S be the spot exchange rate, and now let r be the domestic interest rate and rf the foreign interest
rate.  is then the volatility of changes in the exchange rate. The calculation of the price of an European
call option is then shown in formula 11.4 and implented in C++ Code 11.5.

r f ( T t) N ( d
c = Se 1 ) Ke r(T t) N (d2 )
where
ln S


r rf + 12  2 (T t)
d1 = K + p
 T t
p
d2 = d1  T t
S is the spot exchange rate and K the exercise price. r is the domestic interest rate and rf the foreign interest rate.  is the
volatility of changes in the exchange rate. T t is the time to maturity for the option.
Formula 11.4: European currency call

#include <cmath>
#include "normdist.h" // define the normal distribution function

double currency option price call european( const double& S, // exchange rate,
const double& X, // exercise,
const double& r, // r domestic,
const double& r f, // r foreign,
const double& sigma, // volatility,
const double& time){ // time to maturity
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double d1 = (log(S/X) + (r r f+ (0.5*sigma sqr)) * time)/(sigma*time sqrt);
double d2 = d1 sigma * time sqrt;
return S * exp( r f*time) * N(d1) X * exp( r*time) * N(d2);
};

C++ Code 11.5: European Futures Call option on currency

Example
Price a European currency call given the following information S = 50, K = 52, r = 8%, rf = 5%,  = 20%
and time to maturity = 0.5 years.

109
 C++ program:

double S = 50.0; double K = 52.0;

double r = 0.08; double rf=0.05;
double sigma = 0.2; double time=0.5;
cout << " european currency call option = "
<< currency option price call european(S,K,r,rf,sigma,time) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

european currency call option = 2.22556

Exercise 11.4.
The price for an european put for a currency option is

p = Ke r(T t) N ( d2 ) Se r f ( T t) N ( d1 )
1. Implement this formula.

11.5 Perpetual puts and calls

A perpetal option is one with no maturity date, it is inifinitely lived. Of course, only American perpetual
options make any sense, European perpetual options would probably be hard to sell.1 For both puts
and calls analytical formulas has been developed. We consider the price of an American call, and discuss
the put in an exercise. Formula 11.5 gives the analytical solution.

  h1
K h1 1 S
Cp =
h1 1 h1 K
where
s
1 2 2r
 
1 r q r q
h1 = + + 2
2 2 2 2 
S is the current price of the underlying security, K is the exercise price, r is the risk free interest rate, q is the dividend yield and
 is the volatility of the underlying asset.
Formula 11.5: Price for a perpetual call option

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double option price american perpetual call(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& q,
const double& sigma){
double sigma sqr=pow(sigma,2);
double h1 = 0.5 ((r q)/sigma sqr);
h1 += sqrt(pow(((r q)/sigma sqr 0.5),2)+2.0*r/sigma sqr);
double pric=(K/(h1 1.0))*pow(((h1 1.0)/h1)*(S/K),h1);
return pric;
};

C++ Code 11.6: Price for an american perpetual call option

1 Such options would be like the classical April fools present, a perpetual zero coupon bond. . .

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Example
Price a perpetual call, given the following informtation S = 50:0; K = 40:0; r = 0:05; q = 0:02;  = 0:05

C++ program:

double S=50.0; double K=40.0;

double r=0.05; double q=0.02;
double sigma=0.05;
double price = option price american perpetual call(S,K,r,q,sigma);
cout << " perpetual call price = " << price << endl;

Output from C++ program:

perpetual call price = 19.4767

Exercise 11.5.
The price for a perpetual american put is
  h2
K h2 1 S
Pp =
1 h2 h2 K
where
s
1 2 2r
 
1 r q r q
h2 = + 2
2 2 2 2 
1. Implement the calculation of this formula.

11.6 Readings
Hull (2011) and McDonald (2013) are general references. A first formulation of an analytical call price
with dividends was in Roll (1977b). This had some errors, that were partially corrected in Geske (1979),
before Whaley (1981) gave a final, correct formula. See Hull (2011) for a textbook summary. Black
(1976) is the original development of the futures option. The original formulations of European foreign
currency option prices are in Garman and Kohlhagen (1983) and Grabbe (1983). The price of a perpetual
put was first shown in Merton (1973). For a perpetual call see McDonald and Siegel (1986). The notation
for perpetual puts and calls follows the summary in (McDonald, 2013, pg. 393).

111
Chapter 12

Option pricing with binomial approximations

Contents
12.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
12.2 Pricing of options in the Black Scholes setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
12.2.1 European Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
12.2.2 American Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
12.2.3 Matlab implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
12.3 How good is the binomial approximation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
12.3.1 Estimating partials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
12.4 Adjusting for payouts for the underlying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
12.5 Pricing options on stocks paying dividends using a binomial approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
12.5.1 Checking for early exercise in the binomial model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
12.5.2 Proportional dividends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
12.5.3 Discrete dividends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
12.6 Option on futures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
12.7 Foreign Currency options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
12.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

12.1 Introduction
We have shown binomial calculations given an up and down movement in chapter 8. However, binomial
option pricing can also be viewed as an approximation to a continuous time distribution by judicious
choice of the constants u and d. To do so one has to ask: Is it possible to find a parametrization (choice
of u and d) of a binomial process

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 * uuS





* HuS

 H
  HH
 H
 HH
S
H
j udS
H
H *

HH 
H
HH 
j dS
H 
HH
HH
H H
Hj ddS
H

which has the same time series properties as a (continous time) process with the same mean and volatil-
ity? There is actually any number of ways of constructing this, hence one uses one degree of freedom on
imposing that the nodes reconnect, by imposing u = d1 .
To value an option using this approach, we specify the number n of periods to split the time to maturity
(T t) into, and then calculate the option using a binomial tree with that number of steps.
Given S; X; r; ; T and the number of periods n, calculate
T t

t =
n
p
u = e 
t

p
t
d=e
We also redefine the “risk neutral probabilities”

R = e r
t
R d
q=
u d
To find the option price, will “roll backwards:” At node t, calculate the call price as a function of the
two possible outcomes at time t + 1. For example, if there is one step,

*
 Cu = max(0; Su X )



 C0
H H
HH
H
Cd = max(0; Sd X )
HH
j
H

find the call price at time 0 as

C0 = e r (qCu + (1 q )Cd )
With more periods one will “roll backwards” as discussed in chapter 8

12.2 Pricing of options in the Black Scholes setting

Consider options on underlying securities not paying dividend.

113
12.2.1 European Options
For European options, binomial trees are not that much used, since the Black Scholes model will give
the correct answer, but it is useful to see the construction of the binomial tree without the checks for
early exercise, which is the American case.
The computer algorithm for a binomial in the following merits some comments. There is only one vector
of call prices, and one may think one needs two, one at time t and another at time t + 1. (Try to write
down the way you would solve it before looking at the algorithm below.) But by using the fact that the
branches reconnect, it is possible to get away with the algorithm below, using one less array. You may
want to check how this works. It is also a useful way to make sure one understands binomial option
pricing.

#include <cmath> // standard mathematical library

#include <algorithm> // defining the max() operator
#include <vector> // STL vector templates
using namespace std;

double option price call european binomial( const double& S, // spot price
const double& K, // exercice price
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& t, // time to maturity
const int& steps){ // no steps in binomial tree
double R = exp(r*(t/steps)); // interest rate for each step
double Rinv = 1.0/R; // inverse of interest rate
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps)); // up movement
double uu = u*u;
double d = 1.0/u;
double p up = (R d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;
vector<double> prices(steps+1); // price of underlying
prices[0] = S*pow(d, steps); // fill in the endnodes.
for (int i=1; i<=steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];
vector<double> call values(steps+1); // value of corresponding call
for (int i=0; i<=steps; ++i) call values[i] = max(0.0, (prices[i] K)); // call payoffs at maturity
for (int step=steps 1; step>=0; step) {
for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
call values[i] = (p up*call values[i+1]+p down*call values[i])*Rinv;
};
};
return call values[0];
};

C++ Code 12.1: Option price for binomial european

12.2.2 American Options

An American option differs from an European option by the exercise possibility. An American option
can be exercised at any time up to the maturity date, unlike the European option, which can only be
exercised at maturity. In general, there is unfortunately no analytical solution to the American option
problem, but in some cases it can be found. For example, for an American call option on non-dividend
paying stock, the American price is the same as the European call.
It is in the case of American options, allowing for the possibility of early exercise, that binomial approx-
imations are useful. At each node we calculate the value of the option as a function of the next periods
prices, and then check for the value exercising of exercising the option now
C++ Code 12.2 illustrates the calculation of the price of an American call.

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#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double option price call american binomial( const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& t,
const int& steps) {
double R = exp(r*(t/steps));
double Rinv = 1.0/R;
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps));
double d = 1.0/u;
double p up = (R d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;

vector<double> prices(steps+1); // price of underlying

prices[0] = S*pow(d, steps); // fill in the endnodes.
double uu = u*u;
for (int i=1; i<=steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];

vector<double> call values(steps+1); // value of corresponding call

for (int i=0; i<=steps; ++i) call values[i] = max(0.0, (prices[i] K)); // call payoffs at maturity

for (int step=steps 1; step>=0; step) {

for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
call values[i] = (p up*call values[i+1]+p down*call values[i])*Rinv;
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
call values[i] = max(call values[i],prices[i] K); // check for exercise
};
};
return call values[0];
};

C++ Code 12.2: Price of American call option using a binomial approximation

Actually, for this particular case, the american price will equal the european.

115
12.2.3 Matlab implementation
To illustrate differences between Matlab and C++, consider the two implementations in Matlab Code 12.1
and Matlab Code 12.2. The calculation of a put is more compact, with less loops, by some judicious use
of array indexing.

function c = bin am call( S, K, r, sigma,t,steps)

R = exp(r*(t/steps));
Rinv = 1.0/R;
u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps));
d = 1.0/u;
p up = (R d)/(u d);
p down = 1.0 p up;
prices = zeros(steps+1);

prices(1) = S*(d^steps);
uu = u*u;
for i=2:steps
prices(i) = uu*prices(i 1);
end

call values = max(0.0, (prices K));

for step=steps: 1:1
for i=1:step+1
call values(i) = (p up*call values(i+1)+p down*call values(i))*Rinv;
prices(i) = d*prices(i+1);
call values(i) = max(call values(i),prices(i) K);
end
end
c= call values(1);
end

Matlab Code 12.1: Price of American call using a binomial approximation

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function p = bin am put( S, K, r, sigma, t, steps)
R = exp(r*(t/steps));
Rinv = 1.0/R;
u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps));
d = 1.0/u;
p up = (R d)/(u d);
p down = 1.0 p up;

prices = zeros(steps+1,1);
prices(1) = S*(d^steps);
uu = u*u;
for i=2:steps+1
prices(i) = uu*prices(i 1);
end
values = max(0.0, (K prices));
for step=steps: 1:1
values = Rinv * ( p up*values(2:step+1) + p down*values(1:step) );
prices = u*prices(1:step);
values = max(values,K prices);
end
p=values(1);
end

Matlab Code 12.2: Price of American put using a binomial approximation

117
Example
You are given the following information about an option: S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25 and time to
maturity is 1 year. Price American calls and puts using binomial approximations with 100 steps.

C++ program:

double S = 100.0; double K = 100.0;

double r = 0.1; double sigma = 0.25;
double time=1.0; int no steps = 100;
cout << " european call= " << option price call european binomial(S,K,r,sigma,time,no steps) << endl;
cout << " american call= " << option price call american binomial(S,K,r,sigma,time,no steps) << endl;
cout << " american put = " << option price put american binomial(S,K,r,sigma,time,no steps) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

european call= 14.9505

american call= 14.9505
american put = 6.54691

Matlab program:

S=100;
K=100;
r=0.1;
sigma=0.25;
time=1;
no steps=100;
C = bin am call(S,K,r,sigma,time,no steps)
P = bin am put(S,K,r,sigma,time,no steps)

Output from Matlab program:

C = 14.951
P = 6.5469

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12.3 How good is the binomial approximation?
To illustrate the behaviour of the binomial approximation figure 12.1 plots a comparison with the bino-
mial approximation as a function of n, the number of steps in the binomial approximation, and the true
(Black Scholes) value of the option. Note the “sawtooth” pattern, the binomial approximation jumps
back and forth around the true value for small values of n, but rapidly moves towards the Black Scholes
value as the n increases.

Figure 12.1: Illustrating convergence of binomial to Black Scholes

17

16.5

16

15.5
c

15

14.5

14

13.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
n
binomial Black Scholes

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12.3.1 Estimating partials.
It is always necessary to calculate the partial derivatives as well as the option price. Let us start with
Delta, the derivative of the option price with respect to the underlying. The binomial methods gives us
ways to approximate these as well. How to find them in the binomial case are described in Hull (2011).
The implementation in C++ Code 12.3 is for the non–dividend case.

#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double option price delta american call binomial(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& t,
const int& no steps){ // steps in binomial

double R = exp(r*(t/no steps));

double Rinv = 1.0/R;
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/no steps));
double d = 1.0/u;
double uu= u*u;
double pUp = (R d)/(u d);
double pDown = 1.0 pUp;

vector<double> prices (no steps+1);

prices[0] = S*pow(d, no steps);
for (int i=1; i<=no steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];

vector<double> call values (no steps+1);

for (int i=0; i<=no steps; ++i) call values[i] = max(0.0, (prices[i] K));

for (int CurrStep=no steps 1 ; CurrStep>=1; CurrStep) {

for (int i=0; i<=CurrStep; ++i) {
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
call values[i] = (pDown*call values[i]+pUp*call values[i+1])*Rinv;
call values[i] = max(call values[i], prices[i] K); // check for exercise
};
};
double delta = (call values[1] call values[0])/(S*u S*d);
return delta;
};

C++ Code 12.3: Delta

Calculation of all the derivatives are shown in C++ Code 12.4

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#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include "fin_recipes.h"

void option price partials american call binomial(const double& S, // spot price
const double& K, // Exercise price,
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& time, // time to maturity
const int& no steps, // steps in binomial
double& delta, // partial wrt S
double& gamma, // second prt wrt S
double& theta, // partial wrt time
double& vega, // partial wrt sigma
double& rho){ // partial wrt r
vector<double> prices(no steps+1);
vector<double> call values(no steps+1);
double delta t =(time/no steps);
double R = exp(r*delta t);
double Rinv = 1.0/R;
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(delta t));
double d = 1.0/u;
double uu= u*u;
double pUp = (R d)/(u d);
double pDown = 1.0 pUp;
prices[0] = S*pow(d, no steps);
for (int i=1; i<=no steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];
for (int i=0; i<=no steps; ++i) call values[i] = max(0.0, (prices[i] K));
for (int CurrStep=no steps 1; CurrStep>=2; CurrStep) {
for (int i=0; i<=CurrStep; ++i) {
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
call values[i] = (pDown*call values[i]+pUp*call values[i+1])*Rinv;
call values[i] = max(call values[i], prices[i] K); // check for exercise
};
};
double f22 = call values[2];
double f21 = call values[1];
double f20 = call values[0];
for (int i=0;i<=1;i++) {
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
call values[i] = (pDown*call values[i]+pUp*call values[i+1])*Rinv;
call values[i] = max(call values[i], prices[i] K); // check for exercise
};
double f11 = call values[1];
double f10 = call values[0];
prices[0] = d*prices[1];
call values[0] = (pDown*call values[0]+pUp*call values[1])*Rinv;
call values[0] = max(call values[0], S K); // check for exercise on first date
double f00 = call values[0];
delta = (f11 f10)/(S*u S*d);
double h = 0.5 * S * ( uu d*d);
gamma = ( (f22 f21)/(S*(uu 1)) (f21 f20)/(S*(1 d*d)) ) / h;
theta = (f21 f00) / (2*delta t);
double diff = 0.02;
double tmp sigma = sigma+diff;
double tmp prices = option price call american binomial(S,K,r,tmp sigma,time,no steps);
vega = (tmp prices f00)/diff;
diff = 0.05;
double tmp r = r+diff;
tmp prices = option price call american binomial(S,K,tmp r,sigma,time,no steps);
rho = (tmp prices f00)/diff;
};

C++ Code 12.4: Hedge parameters

121
Example
Given the following information: S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25 and time to maturity is 1 year, Use
100 steps in the binomial approximation.

1. Estimate all the “greeks” for the option: delta(
), gamma, theta, vega and rho.

C++ program:

double S = 100.0; double K = 100.0;

double r = 0.1; double sigma = 0.25;
double time=1.0; int no steps = 100;
double delta, gamma, theta, vega, rho;
option price partials american call binomial(S,K,r, sigma, time, no steps,
delta, gamma, theta, vega, rho);
cout << " Call price partials " << endl;
cout << " delta = " << delta << endl;
cout << " gamma = " << gamma << endl;
cout << " theta = " << theta << endl;
cout << " vega = " << vega << endl;
cout << " rho = " << rho << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Call price partials

delta = 0.699792
gamma = 0.0140407
theta = -9.89067
vega = 34.8536
rho = 56.9652

Exercise 12.1.
Consider an American call option on non-dividend paying stock, where S = 100, K = 100,  = 0:2,
(T t) = 1 and r = 0:1.
1. Calculate the price of this option using Black Scholes

2. Calculate the price using a binomial approximation, using 10, 100 and 1000 steps in the approximation.

3. Discuss sources of differences in the estimated prices.

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12.4 Adjusting for payouts for the underlying
The simplest case of a payout is the similar one to the one we saw in the Black Scholes case, a continous
payout of y . This y needs to be brought into the binomial framework. Here we use it to adjust the
probability:
p

t = (T t)=n
u = e 
t
1
d=
u
e(r y)
t d
pu =
u d
pd = 1 pu
For example, the last node

C0 = e r
t (pu Cu + (1 pu )Cd )

#include <cmath> // standard mathematical library

#include <algorithm> // defines the max() operator
#include <vector> // STL vector templates
using namespace std;

double option price call american binomial( const double& S, // spot price
const double& K, // exercice price
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& y, // continous payout
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& t, // time to maturity
const int& steps) { // no steps in binomial tree
double R = exp(r*(t/steps)); // interest rate for each step
double Rinv = 1.0/R; // inverse of interest rate
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps)); // up movement
double uu = u*u;
double d = 1.0/u;
double p up = (exp((r y)*(t/steps)) d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;
vector<double> prices(steps+1); // price of underlying
prices[0] = S*pow(d, steps);
for (int i=1; i<=steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1]; // fill in the endnodes.

vector<double> call values(steps+1); // value of corresponding call

for (int i=0; i<=steps; ++i) call values[i] = max(0.0, (prices[i] K)); // call payoffs at maturity

for (int step=steps 1; step>=0; step) {

for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
call values[i] = (p up*call values[i+1]+p down*call values[i])*Rinv;
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
call values[i] = max(call values[i],prices[i] K); // check for exercise
};
};
return call values[0];
};

C++ Code 12.5: Binomial option price with continous payout

123
12.5 Pricing options on stocks paying dividends using a binomial approximation

12.5.1 Checking for early exercise in the binomial model.

If the underlying asset is a stock paying dividends during the maturity of the option, the terms of the
option is not adjusted to reflect this cash payment, which means that the option value will reflect the
dividend payments.
In the binomial model, the adjustment for dividends depend on whether the dividends are discrete or
proportional.

12.5.2 Proportional dividends.

For proportional dividends, we simply multiply with an adjustment factor the stock prices at the ex–
dividend date, the nodes in the binomial tree will “link up” again, and we can use the same “rolling back”
procedure.

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#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include <iostream>

double option price call american proportional dividends binomial(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no steps,
const vector<double>& dividend times,
const vector<double>& dividend yields) {
// note that the last dividend date should be before the expiry date, problems if dividend at terminal node
int no dividends = int(dividend times.size());
if (no dividends == 0) {
return option price call american binomial(S,K,r,sigma,time,no steps); // price w/o dividends
};
double delta t = time/no steps;
double R = exp(r*delta t);
double Rinv = 1.0/R;
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(delta t));
double uu= u*u;
double d = 1.0/u;
double pUp = (R d)/(u d);
double pDown = 1.0 pUp;
vector<int> dividend steps(no dividends); // when dividends are paid
for (int i=0; i<no dividends; ++i) {
dividend steps[i] = (int)(dividend times[i]/time*no steps);
};
vector<double> prices(no steps+1);
vector<double> call prices(no steps+1);
prices[0] = S*pow(d, no steps); // adjust downward terminal prices by dividends
for (int i=0; i<no dividends; ++i) { prices[0]*=(1.0 dividend yields[i]); };
for (int i=1; i<=no steps; ++i) { prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1]; };
for (int i=0; i<=no steps; ++i) call prices[i] = max(0.0, (prices[i] K));

for (int step=no steps 1; step>=0; step) {

for (int i=0;i<no dividends;++i) { // check whether dividend paid
if (step==dividend steps[i]) {
for (int j=0;j<=(step+1);++j) {
prices[j]*=(1.0/(1.0 dividend yields[i]));
};
};
};
for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
call prices[i] = (pDown*call prices[i]+pUp*call prices[i+1])*Rinv;
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
call prices[i] = max(call prices[i], prices[i] K); // check for exercise
};
};
return call prices[0];
};

C++ Code 12.6: Binomial option price of stock option where stock pays proportional dividends

125
12.5.3 Discrete dividends
The problem is when the dividends are constant dollar amounts. In that case the nodes of the binomial
tree do not “link up,” and the number of branches increases dramatically, which means that the time to
do the calculation is increased.
The algorithm presented in C++ Code 12.7 implements this case, with no linkup, by constructing a bi-
nomial tree up to the ex-dividend date, and then, at the terminal nodes of that tree, call itself with
one less dividend payment, and time to maturity the time remaining at the ex-dividend date. Doing
that calculates the value of the option at the ex-dividend date, which is then compared to the value of
exercising just before the ex-dividend date. It is a instructive example of using recursion in simplifying
calculations, but as with most recursive solutions, it has a cost in computing time. For large binomial
trees and several dividends this procedure is costly in computing time.

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#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include <iostream>
double option price call american discrete dividends binomial(const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& t,
const int& steps,
const vector<double>& dividend times,
const vector<double>& dividend amounts) {
int no dividends = int(dividend times.size());
if (no dividends==0) return option price call american binomial(S,K,r,sigma,t,steps);// just do regular
int steps before dividend = (int)(dividend times[0]/t*steps);
const double R = exp(r*(t/steps));
const double Rinv = 1.0/R;
const double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps));
const double d = 1.0/u;
const double pUp = (R d)/(u d);
const double pDown = 1.0 pUp;
double dividend amount = dividend amounts[0];
vector<double> tmp dividend times(no dividends 1); // temporaries with
vector<double> tmp dividend amounts(no dividends 1); // one less dividend
for (int i=0;i<(no dividends 1);++i){
tmp dividend amounts[i] = dividend amounts[i+1];
tmp dividend times[i] = dividend times[i+1] dividend times[0];
};
vector<double> prices(steps before dividend+1);
vector<double> call values(steps before dividend+1);
prices[0] = S*pow(d, steps before dividend);
for (int i=1; i<=steps before dividend; ++i) prices[i] = u*u*prices[i 1];
for (int i=0; i<=steps before dividend; ++i){
double value alive
= option price call american discrete dividends binomial(prices[i] dividend amount,K, r, sigma,
t dividend times[0],// time after first dividend
steps steps before dividend,
tmp dividend times,
tmp dividend amounts);
call values[i] = max(value alive,(prices[i] K)); // compare to exercising now
};
for (int step=steps before dividend 1; step>=0; step) {
for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
call values[i] = (pDown*call values[i]+pUp*call values[i+1])*Rinv;
call values[i] = max(call values[i], prices[i] K);
};
};
return call values[0];
};

C++ Code 12.7: Binomial option price of stock option where stock pays discrete dividends

127
Example
Given the following information S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25 and time to maturity is 1 year,
Calculate option price with two different assumptions about dividends:

1. Continuous payout d = 0:02.

2. Discrete payout, d = 0:025 at times 0:25 and 0:75.

C++ program:

double S = 100.0; double K = 100.0;

double r = 0.10; double sigma = 0.25;
double time=1.0;
int no steps = 100;
double d=0.02;
cout << " call price with continuous dividend payout = "
<< option price call american binomial(S,K,r,d,sigma,time,no steps) << endl;
vector<double> dividend times; vector<double> dividend yields;
dividend times.push back(0.25); dividend yields.push back(0.025);
dividend times.push back(0.75); dividend yields.push back(0.025);
cout << " call price with proportial dividend yields at discrete dates = "
<< option price call american proportional dividends binomial(S,K,r,sigma,time,no steps,
dividend times, dividend yields)
<< endl;
vector<double> dividend amounts; dividend amounts.push back(2.5); dividend amounts.push back(2.5);
cout << " call price with proportial dividend amounts at discrete dates = "
<< option price call american discrete dividends binomial(S,K,r,sigma,time,no steps,
dividend times, dividend amounts)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

call price with continuous dividend payout = 13.5926

call price with proportial dividend yields at discrete dates = 11.8604
call price with proportial dividend amounts at discrete dates = 12.0233

12.6 Option on futures

For American options, because of the feasibility of early exercise, the binomial model is used to approx-
imate the option value for both puts and calls.
Example
F = 50:0; K = 45:0; r = 0:08; sigma = 0:2, time=0.5, no steps=100; Price the futures option

C++ program:

double F = 50.0; double K = 45.0;

double r = 0.08; double sigma = 0.2;
double time=0.5;
int no steps=100;
cout << " european futures call option = "
<< futures option price call american binomial(F,K,r,sigma,time,no steps) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

european futures call option = 5.74254

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#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double futures option price call american binomial(const double& F, // price futures contract
const double& K, // exercise price
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& time, // time to maturity
const int& no steps) { // number of steps
vector<double> futures prices(no steps+1);
vector<double> call values (no steps+1);
double t delta= time/no steps;
double Rinv = exp( r*(t delta));
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t delta));
double d = 1.0/u;
double uu= u*u;
double pUp = (1 d)/(u d); // note how probability is calculated
double pDown = 1.0 pUp;
futures prices[0] = F*pow(d, no steps);
int i;
for (i=1; i<=no steps; ++i) futures prices[i] = uu*futures prices[i 1]; // terminal tree nodes
for (i=0; i<=no steps; ++i) call values[i] = max(0.0, (futures prices[i] K));
for (int step=no steps 1; step>=0; step) {
for (i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
futures prices[i] = d*futures prices[i+1];
call values[i] = (pDown*call values[i]+pUp*call values[i+1])*Rinv;
call values[i] = max(call values[i], futures prices[i] K); // check for exercise
};
};
return call values[0];
};

C++ Code 12.8: Pricing an american call on an option on futures using a binomial approximation

129
12.7 Foreign Currency options
For American options, the usual method is approximation using binomial trees, checking for early exercise
due to the interest rate differential.

#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double currency option price call american binomial(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& r f,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no steps) {
vector<double> exchange rates(no steps+1);
vector<double> call values(no steps+1);
double t delta= time/no steps;
double Rinv = exp( r*(t delta));
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t delta));
double d = 1.0/u;
double uu= u*u;
double pUp = (exp((r r f)*t delta) d)/(u d); // adjust for foreign int.rate
double pDown = 1.0 pUp;
exchange rates[0] = S*pow(d, no steps);
int i;
for (i=1; i<=no steps; ++i) {
exchange rates[i] = uu*exchange rates[i 1]; // terminal tree nodes
}
for (i=0; i<=no steps; ++i) call values[i] = max(0.0, (exchange rates[i] K));
for (int step=no steps 1; step>=0; step) {
for (i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
exchange rates[i] = d*exchange rates[i+1];
call values[i] = (pDown*call values[i]+pUp*call values[i+1])*Rinv;
call values[i] = max(call values[i], exchange rates[i] K); // check for exercise
};
};
return call values[0];
};

C++ Code 12.9: Pricing an american call on an option on currency using a binomial approximation

Example
Price a futures currency option with the following information: S = 50; K = 52; r = 0:08; rf = 0:05;  = 0:2,
time=0.5, number of steps = 100.

C++ program:

double S = 50.0; double K = 52.0;

double r = 0.08; double rf=0.05;
double sigma = 0.2; double time=0.5;
int no steps = 100;
cout << " european currency option call = "
<< currency option price call american binomial(S,K,r,rf,sigma,time,no steps) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

european currency option call = 2.23129

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12.8 References
The original source for binomial option pricing was the paper by Cox et al. (1979). Textbook discussions
are in Cox and Rubinstein (1985), Bossaerts and Ødegaard (2001) and Hull (2011).

131
Chapter 13

Finite Differences

Contents
13.1 Explicit Finite differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
13.2 European Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
13.3 American Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
13.4 Implicit finite differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
13.5 An example matrix class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
13.6 Finite Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
13.7 American Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
13.8 European Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
13.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

13.1 Explicit Finite differences

The method of choice for any engineer given a differential equation to solve is to numerically approximate
it using a finite difference scheme, which is to approximate the continous differential equation with a
discrete difference equation, and solve this difference equation.

13.2 European Options.

For European options we do not need to use the finite difference scheme, but we show how one would find
the european price for comparison purposes. We show the case of an explicit finite difference scheme in
C++ Code 13.1. A problem with the explicit version is that it may not converge for certain combinations
of inputs.

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#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double option price put european finite diff explicit(const double& S,

const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no S steps,
const int& no t steps) {
double sigma sqr = pow(sigma,2);
int M=no S steps; if ((no S steps%2)==1) { ++M; } // need no S steps to be even:
double delta S = 2.0*S/M;
vector<double> S values(M+1);
for (unsigned m=0;m<=M;m++) { S values[m] = m*delta S; };
int N=no t steps;
double delta t = time/N;

vector<double> a(M);
vector<double> b(M);
vector<double> c(M);
double r1=1.0/(1.0+r*delta t);
double r2=delta t/(1.0+r*delta t);
for (unsigned int j=1;j<M;j++){
a[j] = r2*0.5*j*( r+sigma sqr*j);
b[j] = r1*(1.0 sigma sqr*j*j*delta t);
c[j] = r2*0.5*j*(r+sigma sqr*j);
};
vector<double> f next(M+1);
for (unsigned m=0;m<=M;++m) { f next[m]=max(0.0,X S values[m]); };
double f[M+1];
for (int t=N 1;t>=0; t) {
f[0]=X;
for (unsigned m=1;m<M;++m) {
f[m]=a[m]*f next[m 1]+b[m]*f next[m]+c[m]*f next[m+1];
};
f[M] = 0;
for (unsigned m=0;m<=M;++m) { f next[m] = f[m]; };
};
return f[M/2];
};

C++ Code 13.1: Explicit finite differences calculation of european put option

133
13.3 American Options.
We now compare the American versions of the same algoritms, the only difference being the check for
exercise at each point. C++ Code 13.2 shows the C++ code for an american put option and Matlab Code 13.1
shows the same implemented in Matlab.

#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double option price put american finite diff explicit( const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no S steps,
const int& no t steps) {
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
int M=no S steps+(no S steps%2); // need no S steps to be even:
double delta S = 2.0*S/M;
vector<double> S values(M+1);
for (int m=0;m<=M;m++) { S values[m] = m*delta S; };
int N=no t steps;
double delta t = time/N;

vector<double> a(M);
vector<double> b(M);
vector<double> c(M);
double r1=1.0/(1.0+r*delta t);
double r2=delta t/(1.0+r*delta t);
for (int j=1;j<M;j++){
a[j] = r2*0.5*j*( r+sigma sqr*j);
b[j] = r1*(1.0 sigma sqr*j*j*delta t);
c[j] = r2*0.5*j*(r+sigma sqr*j);
};
vector<double> f next(M+1);
for (int m=0;m<=M;++m) { f next[m]=max(0.0,K S values[m]); };
vector<double> f(M+1);
for (int t=N 1;t>=0; t) {
f[0]=K;
for (int m=1;m<M;++m) {
f[m]=a[m]*f next[m 1]+b[m]*f next[m]+c[m]*f next[m+1];
f[m] = max(f[m],K S values[m]); // check for exercise
};
f[M] = 0;
for (int m=0;m<=M;++m) { f next[m] = f[m]; };
};
return f[M/2];
};

C++ Code 13.2: Explicit finite differences calculation of american put option

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function P = findiff exp am put(S,K,r,sigma,time,no S steps,no t steps)
sigma sqr = sigma^2;
M=no S steps + rem(no S steps,2); # need no S steps to be even:
delta S = 2*S/M;
S values = delta S * (0:M)’;
N=no t steps;
delta t = time/N;

r1=1/(1+r*delta t);
r2=delta t/(1+r*delta t);

a=zeros(M 1,1);
b=zeros(M 1,1);
c=zeros(M 1,1);
for j=1:M 1
a(j) = r2*0.5*j*( r+sigma sqr*j);
b(j) = r1*(1.0 sigma sqr*j*j*delta t);
c(j) = r2*0.5*j*(r+sigma sqr*j);
endfor
f next = max(0,K S values);
for t=N 1: 1:0
f = [ K; a.*f next(1:M 1)+b.*f next(2:M)+c.*f next(3:M+1); 0];
f = max(f,K S values);
f next=f;
endfor
P=f(1+M/2);
endfunction

Matlab Code 13.1: Explicit finite differences calculation of American put option

135
Example
Given the following parameters: S = 50, K = 50, r = 10% and  = 0:4. The time to maturity is 0.4167.
Price European and American put option prices using finite differences with 20 steps in the S dimension and
11 steps in the time dimenstion.

C++ program:

double S = 50.0;
double K = 50.0;
double r = 0.1;
double sigma = 0.4;
double time=0.4167;
int no S steps=20;
int no t steps=11;
cout << " explicit finite differences, european put price = ";
cout << option price put european finite diff explicit(S,K,r,sigma,time,no S steps,no t steps)
<< endl;
cout << " explicit finite differences, american put price = ";
cout << option price put american finite diff explicit(S,K,r,sigma,time,no S steps,no t steps)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

explicit finite differences, european put price = 4.03667

explicit finite differences, american put price = 4.25085

Readings Brennan and Schwartz (1978) is one of the first finance applications of finite differences.
Section 14.7 of Hull (1993) has a short introduction to finite differences. Wilmott, Dewynne, and Howison
(1994) is an exhaustive source on option pricing from the perspective of solving partial differential
equations.

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13.4 Implicit finite differences
What really distinguishes C++ from standard C is the ability to extend the language by creating classes
and collecting these classes into libraries. A library is a collection of classes and routines for one particular
purpose. We have already seen this idea when creating the date and term_structure classes. However,
one should not necessarily always go ahead and create such classes from scratch. It is just as well to use
somebody else’s class, as long as it is correct and well documented and fulfills a particular purpose.

13.5 An example matrix class

Use Newmat as an example matrix class.

13.6 Finite Differences

We use the case of implicit finite difference calculations to illustrate matrix calculations in action.
The method of choice for any engineer given a differential equation to solve is to numerically approximate
it using a finite difference scheme, which is to approximate the continous differential equation with a
discrete difference equation, and solve this difference equation.
In the following we implement implicit finite differences. Explicit finite differences was discussed earlier,
we postponed the implicit case to now because it is much simplified by a matrix library.

13.7 American Options

Let us first look at how this pricing is implemented in Matlab. Matlab Code 13.2 shows the implementa-
tion. Implementation of the same calculation in C++ Code 13.3 using the Newmat library and C++ Code 13.4
using IT++.

function P = findiff imp am put(S,K,r,sigma,time,no S steps,no t steps)

sigma sqr = sigma^2;
M=no S steps + rem(no S steps,2); # need no S steps to be even:
delta S = 2.0*S/double(M);
S values = delta S* (1:M+1)’;
N=no t steps;
delta t = time/N;
A = zeros(M+1,M+1);
A(1,1)=1.0;
for j=2:M
A(j,j 1) = 0.5*j*delta t*(r sigma sqr*j);
A(j,j) = 1.0 + delta t*(r+sigma sqr*j*j);
A(j,j+1) = 0.5*j*delta t*( r sigma sqr*j);
endfor
A(M+1,M+1)=1.0;
B = max(0,K S values);
F = inv(A)*B;
for t=N 1: 1:1
B = F;
F = inv(A)*B;
F=max(F,K S values);
endfor
P= F(M/2);
endfunction

Matlab Code 13.2: Calculation of price of American put using implicit finite differences

137
#include <cmath>
#include "newmat.h" // definitions for newmat matrix library
using namespace NEWMAT;

#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

double option price put american finite diff implicit(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no S steps,
const int& no t steps) {
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
int M=no S steps + (no S steps%2); // need no S steps to be even:
// int M=no S steps; if ((no S steps%2)==1) { ++M; }; // need no S steps to be even:
double delta S = 2.0*S/double(M);
double S values[M+1];
for (int m=0;m<=M;m++) { S values[m] = m*delta S; };
int N=no t steps;
double delta t = time/N;

BandMatrix A(M+1,1,1); A=0.0;

A.element(0,0) = 1.0;
for (int j=1;j<M;++j) {
A.element(j,j 1) = 0.5*j*delta t*(r sigma sqr*j); // a[j]
A.element(j,j) = 1.0 + delta t*(r+sigma sqr*j*j); // b[j];
A.element(j,j+1) = 0.5*j*delta t*( r sigma sqr*j); // c[j];
};
A.element(M,M)=1.0;
ColumnVector B(M+1);
for (int m=0;m<=M;++m){ B.element(m) = max(0.0,K S values[m]); };
ColumnVector F=A.i()*B;
for(int t=N 1;t>0; t) {
B = F;
F = A.i()*B;
for (int m=1;m<M;++m) { // now check for exercise
F.element(m) = max(F.element(m), K S values[m]);
};
};
return F.element(M/2);
};

C++ Code 13.3: Calculation of price of American put using implicit finite differences with the Newmat
matrix library

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#include <cmath>
//#include <vector>
//#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

#include <itpp/base/vec.h>
#include <itpp/base/mat.h>
#include <itpp/base/matfunc.h>

using namespace itpp;

double option price put american finite diff implicit itpp(const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no S steps,
const int& no t steps) {
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
int M=no S steps + (no S steps%2); // need no S steps to be even:

double delta S = 2.0*S/double(M);

double S values[M+1];
for (int m=0;m<=M;m++) { S values[m] = m*delta S; };
int N=no t steps;
double delta t = time/N;

mat A(M+1,M+1);
A.zeros();
A(0,0) = 1.0;
for (int j=1;j<M;++j) {
A(j,j 1) = 0.5*j*delta t*(r sigma sqr*j); // a[j]
A(j,j) = 1.0 + delta t*(r+sigma sqr*j*j); // b[j];
A(j,j+1) = 0.5*j*delta t*( r sigma sqr*j); // c[j];
};
A(M,M)=1.0;
vec B(M+1);
for (int m=0;m<=M;++m){ B(m) = max(0.0,K S values[m]); };
mat InvA = inv(A);
vec F=InvA*B;
for(int t=N 1;t>0; t) {
B = F;
F = InvA*B;
for (int m=1;m<M;++m) { // now check for exercise
F(m) = max(F(m), K S values[m]);
};
};
return F(M/2);
};

C++ Code 13.4: Calculation of price of American put using implicit finite differences with the IT++ matrix
library

139
13.8 European Options
For European options we do not need to use the finite difference scheme, but for comparison purposes
C++ Code 13.5 show how one would find the European price.

#include <cmath>
#include "newmat.h" // definitions for newmat matrix library
using namespace NEWMAT;

#include <vector> // standard STL vector template

#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

double option price put european finite diff implicit(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no S steps,
const int& no t steps) {
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
int M=no S steps + (no S steps%2); // need no S steps to be even:
// int M=no S steps; if ((no S steps%2)==1) { ++M; }; // need no S steps to be even:
double delta S = 2.0*S/M;
vector<double> S values(M+1);
for (int m=0;m<=M;m++) { S values[m] = m*delta S; };
int N=no t steps;
double delta t = time/N;

BandMatrix A(M+1,1,1); A=0.0;

A.element(0,0) = 1.0;
for (int j=1;j<M;++j) {
A.element(j,j 1) = 0.5*j*delta t*(r sigma sqr*j); // a[j]
A.element(j,j) = 1.0 + delta t*(r+sigma sqr*j*j); // b[j];
A.element(j,j+1) = 0.5*j*delta t*( r sigma sqr*j); // c[j];
};
A.element(M,M)=1.0;
ColumnVector B(M+1);
for (int m=0;m<=M;++m){ B.element(m) = max(0.0,K S values[m]); };
ColumnVector F=A.i()*B;
for(int t=N 1;t>0; t) {
B = F;
F = A.i()*B;
};
return F.element(M/2);
};

C++ Code 13.5: Calculation of price of European put using implicit finite differences

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Exercise 13.1.
The routines above uses direct multiplication with the inverse of A. Are there alternative, numerically more
stable ways of doing it?
Example
Given the parameters S = 50, K = 50, r = 0:1,  = 0:4, time=0.5, no S steps=200; no t steps=200;
1. Price European put options using both Black Scholes and implicit finite differences.

2. Price the American put option using implicit finite differences.

C++ program:

double S = 50.0; double K = 50.0;

double r = 0.1; double sigma = 0.4; double time=0.5;
int no S steps=200; int no t steps=200;
cout << " black scholes put price = " << option price put black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time)<< endl;
cout << " implicit Euro put price = ";
cout << option price put european finite diff implicit(S,K,r,sigma,time,no S steps,no t steps) << endl;
cout << " implicit American put price = ";
cout << option price put american finite diff implicit(S,K,r,sigma,time,no S steps,no t steps) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

black scholes put price = 4.35166

implicit Euro put price = 4.34731
implicit American put price = 4.60064

Matlab program:

S = 50.0;
K = 50.0;
r = 0.1;
sigma = 0.4;
time=0.5;
no S steps=200;
no t steps=200;
P= findiff imp am put(S,K,r,sigma,time,no S steps,no t steps)

Output from Matlab program:

P = 4.6006

Exercise 13.2.
The Newmat library is only one of a large number of available matrix libraries, both public domain and
commercial offerings. Look into alternative libraries and replace Newmat with one of these alternative libraries.
What needs changing in the option price formulas?

13.9 References
Hull (2011). See the natbib documentation.

141
Chapter 14

Option pricing by simulation

Contents
14.1 Simulating lognormally distributed random variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
14.2 Pricing of European Call options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
14.3 Hedge parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
14.4 More general payoffs. Function prototypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
14.5 Improving the efficiency in simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
14.5.1 Control variates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
14.5.2 Antithetic variates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
14.6 More exotic options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
14.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

We now consider using Monte Carlo methods to estimate the price of an European option, and let us
first consider the case of the “usual” European Call, which can priced by the Black Scholes equation.
Since there is already a closed form solution for this case, it is not really necessary to use simulations,
but we use the case of the standard call for illustrative purposes.
At maturity, a call option is worth

cT = max(0; ST X)
At an earlier date t, the option value will be the expected present value of this.

ct = E [P V (max(0; ST X )]
Now, an important simplifying feature of option pricing is the “risk neutral result,” which implies that
we can treat the (suitably transformed) problem as the decision of a risk neutral decision maker, if we
also modify the expected return of the underlying asset such that this earns the risk free rate.

ct = e r(T t) E  [max(0; ST X )];

where E  [
] is a transformation of the original expectation. One way to estimate the value of the call is
to simulate a large number of sample values of ST according to the assumed price process, and find the
estimated call price as the average of the simulated values. By appealing to a law of large numbers, this
average will converge to the actual call value, where the rate of convergence will depend on how many
simulations we perform.

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14.1 Simulating lognormally distributed random variables
Lognormal variables are simulated as follows. Let x~ be normally distributed with mean zero and variance
one. If St follows a lognormal distribution, then the one-period-later price St+1 is simulated as

St+1 = St e(r
1
2 2 )+x~ ;

or more generally, if the current time is t and terminal date is T , with a time between t and T of (T t),
2 )(T t)+ T tx~
p
S T = S t e(r
1
2

Simulation of lognormal random variables is illustrated by C++ Code 14.1.

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
#include "normdist.h"

double simulate lognormal random variable(const double& S, // current value of variable

const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatitily
const double& time) { // time to final date
double R = (r 0.5 * pow(sigma,2) )*time;
double SD = sigma * sqrt(time);
return S * exp(R + SD * random normal());
};

C++ Code 14.1: Simulating a lognormally distributed random variable

14.2 Pricing of European Call options

For the purposes of doing the Monte Carlo estimation of the price of an European call

ct = e r(T t) E [max(0; ST X )];

note that here one merely need to simulate the terminal price of the underlying, ST , the price of the
underlying at any time between t and T is not relevant for pricing. We proceed by simulating lognormally
distributed random variables, which gives us a set of observations of the terminal price ST . If we let
ST;1 ; ST;2 ; ST;3 ; : : : ST;n denote the n simulated values, we will estimate E  [max(0; ST X )] as the average
of option payoffs at maturity, discounted at the risk free rate.
!
n
X
c^t = e r(T t) max (0; ST;i X)
i=1

C++ Code 14.2 shows the implementation of a Monte Carlo estimation of an European call option.
Example
Given S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25, time=1. Use 5000 simulations. Price put and call option using
Black Scholes and simulation.

143
#include <cmath> // standard mathematical functions
#include <algorithm> // define the max() function
using namespace std;
#include "normdist.h" // definition of random number generator

double option price call european simulated( const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no sims){
double R = (r 0.5 * pow(sigma,2))*time;
double SD = sigma * sqrt(time);
double sum payoffs = 0.0;
for (int n=1; n<=no sims; n++) {
double S T = S* exp(R + SD * random normal());
sum payoffs += max(0.0, S T K);
};
return exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs/double(no sims));
};

C++ Code 14.2: European Call option priced by simulation

C++ program:

double S=100.0; double K=100.0; double r=0.1; double sigma=0.25;

double time=1.0; int no sims=5000;
cout << " call: black scholes price = " << option price call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time) << endl;
cout << " simulated price = "
<< option price call european simulated(S,K,r,sigma,time,no sims) << endl;
cout << " put: black scholes price = " << option price put black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time) << endl;
cout << " simulated price = "
<< option price put european simulated(S,K,r,sigma,time, no sims) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

call: black scholes price = 14.9758

simulated price = 14.8404
put: black scholes price = 5.45954
simulated price = 5.74588

14.3 Hedge parameters

It is of course, just as in the standard case, desirable to estimate hedge parameters as well as option
prices. We will show how one can find an estimate of the option delta, the first derivative of the call
price with respect to the underlying security:
= @c t
@S . To understand how one goes about estimating
this, let us recall that the first derivative of a function f is defined as the limit

f (x + h ) f (x )
f 0 (x) = lim
h! 0 h
Thinking of f (S ) as the option price formula ct = f (S ; X; r; ; (T t)), we see that we can evaluate the
option price at two different values of the underlying, S and S + q , where q is a small quantity, and
estimate the option delta as

f (S + q ) f (S )


b =
q

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In the case of Monte Carlo estimation, it is very important that this is done by using the same sequence
of random variables to estimate the two option prices with prices of the underlying S and S + q .
C++ Code 14.3 implements this estimation of the option delta.

#include <cmath> // standard mathematical functions

#include <algorithm> // define the max() function
using namespace std;
#include "normdist.h" // definition of random number generator

double option price delta call european simulated(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const int& no sims){
double R = (r 0.5 * pow(sigma,2))*time;
double SD = sigma * sqrt(time);
double sum payoffs = 0.0;
double sum payoffs q = 0.0;
double q = S*0.01;
for (int n=1; n<=no sims; n++) {
double Z = random normal();
double S T = S* exp(R + SD * Z);
sum payoffs += max(0.0, S T K);
double S T q = (S+q)* exp(R + SD * Z);
sum payoffs q += max(0.0, S T q K);
};
double c = exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs/no sims);
double c q = exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs q/no sims);
return (c q c)/q;
};

C++ Code 14.3: Estimate Delta of European Call option priced by Monte Carlo

One can estimate other hedge parameters in a simular way.

Example
Given S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25, time=1. Use 5000 simulations. Calculate deltas of put and call
option using Black Scholes and simulation.

C++ program:

double S=100.0; double K=100.0; double r=0.1; double sigma=0.25;

double time=1.0; int no sims=5000;
cout << " call: bs delta = " << option price delta call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time)
<< " sim delta = " << option price delta call european simulated(S,K,r,sigma,time,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " put: bs delta = " << option price delta put black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time)
<< " sim delta = " << option price delta put european simulated(S,K,r,sigma,time,no sims)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

call: bs delta = 0.700208 sim delta = 0.701484

put: bs delta = -0.299792 sim delta = -0.307211

145
14.4 More general payoffs. Function prototypes
The above shows the case for a call option. If we want to price other types of options, with different
payoffs we could write similar routines for every possible case. But this would be wasteful, instead
a bit of thought allows us to write option valuations for any kind of option whose payoff depend on
the value of the underlying at maturity, only. Let us now move toward a generic routine for pricing
derivatives with Monte Carlo. This relies on the ability of C++ to write subroutines which one call with
function prototypes, i.e. that in the call to to the subroutine/function one provides a function instead
of a variable. Consider pricing of standard European put and call options. At maturity each option only
depend on the value of the underlying ST and the exercise price X through the relations

CT = max(ST X; 0)
PT = max(X ST ; 0)
C++ Code 14.4 shows two C++ functions which calculates this.

#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

double payoff call(const double& S,

const double& K){
return max(0.0,S K);
};

double payoff put (const double& S,

const double& K) {
return max(0.0,K S);
};

C++ Code 14.4: Payoff call and put options

The interesting part comes when one realises one can write a generic simulation routine to which one
provide one of these functions, or some other function describing a payoff which only depends on the
price of the underlying and some constant. C++ Code 14.5 shows how this is done.

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double derivative price simulate european option generic(const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const double& price, const double& X),
const int& no sims) {
double sum payoffs=0;
for (int n=0; n<no sims; n++) {
double S T = simulate lognormal random variable(S,r,sigma,time);
sum payoffs += payoff(S T,K);
};
return exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs/no sims);
};

C++ Code 14.5: Generic simulation pricing

Note the presence of the line

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 double payoff(const double& S, const double& K),

in the subroutine call. When this function is called, the calling program will need to provide a function
to put there, such as the Black Scholes example above. The next example shows a complete example of
how this is done.
Example
Given S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25, time=1, no sims=5000.
C++ program:

double S = 100; double K = 100; double r = 0.1;

double sigma = 0.25; double time = 1.0; int no sims = 50000;
cout << "Black Scholes call option price = " << option price call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time) << endl;
cout << "Simulated call option price = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,K,r,sigma,time,payoff call,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << "Black Scholes put option price = " << option price put black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time) << endl;
cout << "Simulated put option price = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,K,r,sigma,time,payoff put,no sims)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

Black Scholes call option price = 14.9758

Simulated call option price = 14.995
Black Scholes put option price = 5.45954
Simulated put option price = 5.5599

As we see, even with as many as 50,000 simuations, the option prices estimated using Monte Carlo still
differs substantially from the “true” values.

14.5 Improving the efficiency in simulation

There are a number of ways of “improving” the implementation of Monte Carlo estimation such that the
estimate is closer to the true value.

14.5.1 Control variates.

One is the method of control variates. The idea is simple. When one generates the set of terminal values
of the underlying security, one can value several derivatives using the same set of terminal values. What
if one of the derivatives we value using the terminal values is one which we have an analytical solution
to? For example, suppose we calculate the value of an at the money European call option using both
the (analytical) Black Scholes formula and Monte Carlo simulation. If it turns out that the Monte Carlo
estimate overvalues the option price, we think that this will also be the case for other derivatives valued
using the same set of simulated terminal values. We therefore move the estimate of the price of the
derivative of interest downwards.
Thus, suppose we want to value an European put and we use the price of an at the money European
call as the control variate. Using the same set of simulated terminal values ST;i , we estimate the two
options using Monte Carlo as:
!
n
X
p^t = e r ( T t) max (0; X ST;i )
i=1

147
 !
n
X
c^t = e r ( T t) max (0; ST;i X)
i=1

We calculate the Black Scholes value of the call c^bs

t , and calculate pt , the estimate of the put price with
cv
a control variate adjustment, as follows

p^cv bs c^ )
t = p^t + (ct t

One can use other derivatives than the at-the-money call as the control variate, the only limitation being
that it has a tractable analytical solution.
C++ Code 14.6 shows the implementation of a Monte Carlo estimation using an at-the-money European
call as the control variate.

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double
derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(const double& S,
const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const double& S,
const double& X),
const int& no sims) {
double c bs = option price call black scholes(S,S,r,sigma,time);// price an at the money Black Scholes call
double sum payoffs=0;
double sum payoffs bs=0;
for (int n=0; n<no sims; n++) {
double S T= simulate lognormal random variable(S,r,sigma,time);
sum payoffs += payoff(S T,X);
sum payoffs bs += payoff call(S T,S); // simulate at the money Black Scholes price
};
double c sim = exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs/no sims);
double c bs sim = exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs bs/no sims);
c sim += (c bs c bs sim);
return c sim;
};

C++ Code 14.6: Generic with control variate

14.5.2 Antithetic variates.

An alternative to using control variates is to consider the method of antithetic variates. The idea behind
this is that Monte Carlo works best if the simulated variables are “spread” out as closely as possible to
the true distribution. Here we are simulating unit normal random variables. One property of the normal
is that it is symmetric around zero, and the median value is zero. Why don’t we enforce this in the
simulated terminal values? An easy way to do this is to first simulate a unit random normal variable
Z , and then use both Z and Z to generate the lognormal random variables. C++ Code 14.7 shows the
implementation of this idea.
Boyle (1977) shows that the efficiency gain with antithetic variates is not particularly large. There are
other ways of ensuring that the simulated values really span the whole sample space, sometimes called
“pseudo Monte Carlo.”

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#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include "normdist.h"
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double
derivative price simulate european option generic with antithetic variate(const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const double& S,
const double& X),
const int& no sims) {
double R = (r 0.5 * pow(sigma,2) )*time;
double SD = sigma * sqrt(time);
double sum payoffs=0;
for (int n=0; n<no sims; n++) {
double x=random normal();
double S1 = S * exp(R + SD * x);
sum payoffs += payoff(S1,K);
double S2 = S * exp(R + SD * ( x));
sum payoffs += payoff(S2,K);
};
return exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs/(2*no sims));
};

C++ Code 14.7: Generic with antithetic variates

149
Example
Given S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25, time=1, no sims=50000. Price put and call option using Black
Scholes and simulation. The simulation is to use both control variates and anthitetic methods.

C++ program:

double S = 100; double K = 100; double r = 0.1;

double sigma = 0.25; double time = 1; int no sims = 50000;
cout << "Black Scholes call option price = "
<< option price call black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time) << endl;
cout << "Simulated call option price = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,K,r,sigma,time, payoff call,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << "Simulated call option price, CV = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff call,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << "Simulated call option price, AV = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with antithetic variate(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff call,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << "Black Scholes put option price = " << option price put black scholes(S,K,r,sigma,time) << endl;
cout << "Simulated put option price = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,K,r,sigma,time,payoff put,no sims) << endl;
cout << "Simulated put option price, CV = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff put,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << "Simulated put option price, AV = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with antithetic variate(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff put,no sims)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

Black Scholes call option price = 14.9758

Simulated call option price = 14.995
Simulated call option price, CV = 14.9758
Simulated call option price, AV = 14.9919
Black Scholes put option price = 5.45954
Simulated put option price = 5.41861
Simulated put option price, CV = 5.42541
Simulated put option price, AV = 5.46043

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14.6 More exotic options
These generic routines can also be used to price other options. Any European option that only depends
on the terminal value of the price of the underlying security can be valued. Consider the binary options
discussed by e.g. Hull (2011). An cash or nothing call pays a fixed amount Q if the price of the asset is
above the exercise price at maturity, otherwise nothing. An asset or nothing call pays the price of the
asset if the price is above the exercise price at maturity, otherwise nothing. Both of these options are
easy to implement using the generic routines above, all that is necesary is to provide the payoff functions
as shown in C++ Code 14.8.

double payoff cash or nothing call(const double& S,

const double& K){
if (S>=K) return 1;
return 0;
};

double payoff asset or nothing call(const double& S,

const double& K){
if (S>=K) return S;
return 0;
};

C++ Code 14.8: Payoff binary options

Now, many exotic options are not simply functions of the terminal price of the underlying security, but
depend on the evolution of the price from “now” till the terminal date of the option. For example options
that depend on the average of the price of the underlying (Asian options). For such cases one will have
to simulate the whole path. We will return to these cases in the chapter on pricing of exotic options.
Example
Given S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25, time=1. Use 5000 simulations. Price cash or nothing option
with Q = 1.
Price asset or nothing option.
In both cases compare results using control variate and anthitetic methods.

151
 C++ program:

double S=100.0; double K=100.0; double r=0.1; double sigma=0.25;

double time=1.0; int no sims=5000;
cout << " cash or nothing, Q=1: "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff cash or nothing call,
no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " control variate "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff cash or nothing call,
no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " antithetic variate "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with antithetic variate(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff cash or nothing call,
no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " asset or nothing: "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff asset or nothing call,
no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " control variate "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff asset or nothing call,
no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " antithetic variate "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with antithetic variate(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff asset or nothing call,
no sims)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

cash or nothing, Q=1: 0.547427

control variate 1.02552
antithetic variate 0.549598
asset or nothing: 70.5292
control variate 69.8451
antithetic variate 70.2205

Exercise 14.1.
Consider the pricing of an European Call option as implemented in code 14.2, and the generic formula for
pricing with Monte Carlo for European options that only depend on the terminal value of the underlying
security, as implemented in code 14.5.
Note the difference in the implementation of the lognormal simulation of terminal values. Why can one argue
that the first implementation is more efficient than the other?

14.7 References
Boyle (1977) is a good early source on the use of the Monte Carlo technique for pricing derivatives.
Simulation is also covered in Hull (2011).

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Chapter 15

Pricing American Options – Approximations

Contents
15.1 The Johnson (1983) approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
15.2 An approximation to the American Put due to Geske and Johnson (1984) . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
15.3 A quadratic approximation to American prices due to Barone–Adesi and Whaley. . . . . . . . . . 159
15.4 An alternative approximation to american options due to Bjerksund and Stensland (1993) . . . . 162
15.5 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

There has been developed some useful approximations to various specific options. It is of course Amer-
ican options that are approximated. We will look at a number of approximations, both for their intrinsic
usefulness, but also as examples of different approaches to generating an approximated value. The first
we will look at is the Johnson (1983) approximation to an American put. This is a purely empirical
approach to estimating the functional forms, with parameters estimated using regressions. The Geske
and Johnson (1984) approach is to view the American option as a the limit of a sequence of Bermudan
options with increasing number of exercise dates. The American value is found by interpolating forward
the Bermudan values. The Barone-Adesi and Whaley (1987) approximation decomposes the American
option into two, the European value, and the early exercise premium. The early exercise premium is
relatively small, and is easier to approximate. Finally, the Bjerksund and Stensland (1993) is an example
of bounding the option value by finding a lower bound on its value. A typical approach to doing so is
to specify some (suboptimal) exercise strategy. As soon as the exercise strategy is known, the option is
easily valued.
Approximations are useful, but they should be used with caution. Typically, an approximation works
well within a range of parameter values, but can go seriously wrong for some unfortunate combination
of parameters. The user is well advised to to consider alternative approximations, and at a minimum
use the price of the corresponding European option as a “sanity check” in the calculations. (In fact, in
several of the following routines values are checked against Black Scholes values.)

15.1 The Johnson (1983) approximation

An early attempt at an analytical approximation to the price of an American put is provided by Johnson
(1983). Formula 15.1 provides the details, and C++ Code 15.1 provides the implementation.
Example
Using the parameters r = 0:125, S = 1:1, X = 1,  = 0:5 and time to maturity of one year, calculate the
price of an american call using the Johnson (1983) approximation.

153
  
P (X ) = p Xer(T t) + (1 )p (X )
 l
r (T t) ln(S=Sc )
= ; where l=
a 0 r (T t) + a 1 ln(X=Sc )
 2 (T t)
 m
Sc = X ; m= = 2r= 2
b0  2 (T t) + b1
where
1+
The constants a0 , a1 , b1 and b2 are constants. Their parameter values are estimated as

a0 = 3:9649 a1 = 0:032325
b0 = 1:040803 b1 = 0:00963
S: Current value of underlying security. X: Exercise price of american put. : Volatility of underlying. r: risk freee interest rate.
(T )
t : Time to maturity for option.
Formula 15.1: The functional form of the Johnson (1983) approximation to the value of an American put

C++ program:

double r=0.125; double S=1.1; double X=1;

double sigma=0.5; double time = 1;
cout << " American put price using Johnson approximation = "
<< option price american put approximated johnson(S, X, r, sigma, time)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

American put price using Johnson approximation = 0.11582

Barone-Adesi (2005) notes that this approximation is inaccurate outside of the parameter range consid-
ered in the paper.

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#include <cmath>
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double option price american put approximated johnson( const double& S,

const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time ){
double sigma sqr=pow(sigma,2);
double a0= 3.9649 ;
double a1 = 0.032325;
double b0 = 1.040803;
double b1 = 0.00963;
double gamma = 2*r/sigma sqr;
double m = (sigma sqr*time)/(b0*sigma sqr*time+b1);
double Sc = X * pow (((gamma)/(1+gamma)),m);
double l = (log(S/Sc))/(log(X/Sc) );
double alpha = pow( ( (r*time)/(a0*r*time+a1) ), l );
double P = alpha*option price put black scholes(S,X*exp(r*time),r,sigma,time)
+ (1 alpha)*option price put black scholes(S,X,r,sigma,time);
double p=option price put black scholes(S,X,r,sigma,time); // for safety use the Black Scholes as lower bound
return max(p,P);
};

C++ Code 15.1: The Johnson (1983) approximation to an american put price

155
15.2 An approximation to the American Put due to Geske and Johnson (1984)
Geske and Johnson (1984) develop an approximation for the American put problem. The solution
technique is to view the American put as an sequence of Bermudan options, with the number of exercise
dates increasing. The correct value is the limit of this sequence.
Define Pi to be the price of the put option with i dates of exercise left. P1 is then the price of an
european option, with the one exercise date the expiry date. P2 is the price of an option that can be
exercised twice, once halfway between now and expiry, the other at expiry. Geske-Johnson shows how
these options may be priced, and then develops a sequence of approximate prices that converges to the
correct price. An approximation involving 3 option evaluations is

7 1
P^ = P3 + (P3 P2 ) (P P1 )
2 2 2
To calculate these, first define
 

ln S +
q r + 12  2  p
d1 (q;  ) = p
 
; d2 (q;  ) = d1  

and
r
1 1 2
12 = p ; 13 = p ; 23 =
2 3 3
In this notation, P1 is the ordinary (european) Black Scholes value:
P1 = Xe rT N
1 ( d2 (X; T )) SN1 (d1 (X; T ))
To calculate P2 :
     
r T2 N T T
P2 = Xe 1 d2 S T2 ; SN1 d1 S T2 ;
2 2
       
rT N T T
+ Xe 2 d2 S T2 ; 2 ; d2 (X; T ); 12 SN2 d1 S T2 ; ; d1 (X; T ) ; 12
2
and S T2 solves
 
T
S=X p S; X; ; r;  = S T2
2
To calculate P3 :
     
r T3 N T T
P3 = Xe 1 d2 S T3 ; SN1 d1 S T3 ;
3 3
     
r 23T N T 2T
+ Xe 2 d2 S T3 ; 3 ; d2 S 23T ; 3 ; 12
     
T 2T
SN2 d1 S T3 ; ; d1 S 23T ; ; 12
3 3
     
rT N T 2T
+ Xe 3 d1 S T3 ; 3 ; d1 S 23T ; 3 ; d1 (X; T ); 12 ; 13 ; 23
     
T 2T
SN3 d2 S T3 ; ; d2 S 23T ; ; d2 (X; T ); 12 ; 13 ; 23
3 3

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where the critical stock prices solves
 
2T
S=X P2 S; X; ; r;  = S T=3
3
 
T
S=X p S; X; ; r;  = S 2T=3
3
The main issue in implementation of this formula (besides keeping the notation straight) is the evaluta-
tion of P3 , since it involves the evaluation of a trivariate normal cumulative distribution. The evaluation
of N3 () is described later, since it involves calls to external routines for numerical intergration.
To solve for
 
T
S=X p S; X; ; r;  = S T2
2
involves Newton steps. Define
 
T
g (S ) = S X + p S; X; ; r; 
2
Iterate on S
g
Si = Si
g0
until g is equal to zero with some given tolerance.

157
#include <cmath>
#include "normdist.h"
#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include <iostream>

const double ACCURACY=1e 6;

inline double d1(const double& S,const double& X, const double& r, const double& sigma, const double& tau){
return (log(S/X) + (r+0.5*pow(sigma,2))*tau)/(sigma*sqrt(tau));
};

inline double d2(const double& S, const double& X, const double& r, const double& sigma, const double& tau){
return d1(S,X,r,sigma,tau) sigma*sqrt(tau);
};

inline double calcP2(const double& S, const double& X, const double& r, const double& sigma, const double& time,
const double& t2, const double& S2 bar, const double& rho12){
double P2 = X*exp( r*t2)*N( d2(S,S2 bar,r,sigma,t2));
P2 = S*N( d1(S,S2 bar,r,sigma,t2));
P2 += X*exp( r*time)*N(d2(S,S2 bar,r,sigma,t2), d2(S,X,r,sigma,time), rho12);
P2 = S*N(d1(S,S2 bar,r,sigma,t2), d1(S,X,r,sigma,time), rho12);
return P2;
};

double option price american put approximated geske johnson( const double& S, const double& X, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time ){
double P1 = option price put black scholes(S,X,r,sigma,time);
double rho12=1.0/sqrt(2.0); double rho13=1.0/sqrt(3.0); double rho23=sqrt(2.0/3.0);
double t2 = time/2.0; double t23 = time*2.0/3.0; double t3 = time/3.0;
double Si=S; double S2 bar=S;
double g=1; double gprime=1;
while (fabs(g)>ACCURACY){
g=Si X+option price put black scholes(Si,X,r,sigma,t2);
gprime=1.0+option price delta put black scholes(Si,X,r,sigma,t2);
S2 bar=Si;
Si=Si g/gprime;
};
double P2 = calcP2(S,X,r,sigma,time,t2,S2 bar,rho12);
P2=max(P1,P2); // for safety, use one less step as lower bound
double S23 bar=S2 bar;
g=1;
while (fabs(g)>ACCURACY){
g=Si X+option price put black scholes(Si,X,r,sigma,t23);
gprime=1.0+option price delta put black scholes(Si,X,r,sigma,t23);
S23 bar=Si;
Si=Si g/gprime;
};
double S3 bar=S23 bar;
g=1;
while (fabs(g)>ACCURACY){
g=Si X+option price put black scholes(Si,X,r,sigma,t3);
gprime=1.0+option price delta put black scholes(Si,X,r,sigma,t3);
S3 bar=Si;
Si=Si g/gprime;
};
double P3 = X * exp( r*t3) * N( d2(S,S3 bar,r,sigma,t3));
P3 = S * N( d1(S,S3 bar,r,sigma,t3));
P3 += X*exp( r*time)*N(d2(S,S3 bar,r,sigma,t3), d2(S,S23 bar,r,sigma,t23), rho12);
P3 = S*N(d1(S,S3 bar,r,sigma,t3), d1(S,S23 bar,r,sigma,t23), rho12);
P3 += X*exp( r*t23)*N3(d1(S,S3 bar,r,sigma,t3),d1(S,S23 bar,r,sigma,t23), d1(S,X,r,sigma,time),rho12, rho13, rho23);
P3 = S*N3(d2(S,S3 bar,r,sigma,t3),d2(S,S23 bar,r,sigma,t23), d2(S,X,r,sigma,time),rho12, rho13, rho23);
P3=max(P2,P3); // for safety, use one less step as lower bound
return P3+3.5*(P3 P2) 0.5*(P2 P1);
};

C++ Code 15.2: Geske Johnson approximation of American put

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15.3 A quadratic approximation to American prices due to Barone–Adesi and
Whaley.
We now discuss an approximation to the option price of an American option on a commodity, described
in Barone-Adesi and Whaley (1987) (BAW).1 The commodity is assumed to have a continuous payout
b. The starting point for the approximation is the (Black-Scholes) stochastic differential equation valid
for the value of any derivative with price V .

1 2 2
 S VS S + bSVS rV + Vt = 0 (15.1)
2
Here V is the (unknown) formula that determines the price of the contingent claim. For an European
option the value of V has a known solution, the adjusted Black Scholes formula. For American options,
which may be exercised early, there is no known analytical solution.
To do their approximation, BAW decomposes the American price into the European price and the early
exercise premium

C (S; T ) = c(S; T ) + "C (S; T )

Here "C is the early exercise premium. The insight used by BAW is that "C must also satisfy the same
partial differential equation. To come up with an approximation BAW transformed equation (15.1) into
one where the terms involving Vt are neglible, removed these, and ended up with a standard linear
homeogenous second order equation, which has a known solution.
The functional form of the approximation is shown in formula 15.2.

c(S; T ) + A2 S
q2 S < S
C (S; T ) = S if
S X if S  S
where
r !
1 4M
q2 = (N 1) + (N 1)2 +
2 K
S  
A2 = 1 e(b r)(T t) N (d1 (S  ))
q2
2r 2b
M = 2 ; N = 2 ; K ( T ) = 1 e r ( T t)
 
and S  solves
S  
S  X = c (S  ; T ) + 1 e(b r)(T t) N (d1 (S  ))
q2
Notation: S Stock price. X: Exercise price.
Formula 15.2: The functional form of the Barone Adesi Whaley approximation to the value of an American
call

In implementing this formula, the only problem is finding the critical value S. This is the classical
problem of finding a root of the equation

S  
g (S  ) = S  X c(S  ) 1 e(b r)(T t) N (d1 (S  )) = 0
q2
1 The approximation is also discussed in Hull (2011).

159
This is solved using Newton’s algorithm for finding the root. We start by finding a first “seed” value S0 .
The next estimate of Si is found by:

g ()
Si+1 = Si
g0
At each step we need to evaluate g () and its derivative g 0 ().
1  
g (S ) = S X c(S ) S 1 e(b r)(T t) N (d1 )
q2
1   1
g 0 (S ) = (1
q2
) 1 e(b r)(T t) N (d1 ) + (e(b r)(T t) n(d1 ))
q2
p1
 T t
where c(S ) is the Black Scholes value for commodities. Code 15.3 shows the implementation of this
formula for the price of a call option.
Example
Consider the following set of parameters, used as an example in the Barone-Adesi and Whaley (1987) paper:
S = 100, X = 100,  = 0:20, r = 0:08, b = 0:04.
1. Price a call option with time to maturity of 3 months.

C++ program:

double S = 100; double X = 100; double sigma = 0.20;

double r = 0.08; double b = 0.04; double time = 0.25;
cout << " Call price using Barone-Adesi Whaley approximation = "
<< option price american call approximated baw(S,X,r,b,sigma,time) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

Call price using Barone-Adesi Whaley approximation = 5.74339

Exercise 15.1.
The Barone-Adesi – Whaley insight can also be used to value a put option, by approximating the value of the
early exercise premium. For a put option the approximation is
S
q1 S > S 
P (S ) = p(S; T ) + A1 S  if
X S if S  S 
S 
A1 = (1 e(b r)(T t) N ( d1 (S  ))
q1
One again solves iteratively for S  , for example by Newton’s procedure, where now one would use
S 
g (S ) = X S p(S ) + 1 e(b r)(T t) N ( d1 )
q1
1   1 1
g 0 (S ) = ( 1) 1 e(b r)(T t) N ( d1 ) + e(b r)(T t) p n( d1 )
q1 q1  T t
1. Implement the calculation of the price of an American put option using the BAW approach.

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#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;
#include "normdist.h" // normal distribution
#include "fin_recipes.h" // define other option pricing formulas

const double ACCURACY=1.0e 6;

double option price american call approximated baw( const double& S,

const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& b,
const double& sigma,
const double& time) {
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double nn = 2.0*b/sigma sqr;
double m = 2.0*r/sigma sqr;
double K = 1.0 exp( r*time);
double q2 = ( (nn 1)+sqrt(pow((nn 1),2.0)+(4*m/K)))*0.5;

double q2 inf = 0.5 * ( (nn 1) + sqrt(pow((nn 1),2.0)+4.0*m)); // seed value from paper
double S star inf = X / (1.0 1.0/q2 inf);
double h2 = (b*time+2.0*sigma*time sqrt)*(X/(S star inf X));
double S seed = X + (S star inf X)*(1.0 exp(h2));

int no iterations=0; // iterate on S to find S star, using Newton steps

double Si=S seed;
double g=1;
double gprime=1.0;
while ((fabs(g) > ACCURACY)
&& (fabs(gprime)>ACCURACY) // to avoid exploding Newton’s
&& ( no iterations++<500)
&& (Si>0.0)) {
double c = option price european call payout(Si,X,r,b,sigma,time);
double d1 = (log(Si/X)+(b+0.5*sigma sqr)*time)/(sigma*time sqrt);
g=(1.0 1.0/q2)*Si X c+(1.0/q2)*Si*exp((b r)*time)*N(d1);
gprime=( 1.0 1.0/q2)*(1.0 exp((b r)*time)*N(d1))
+(1.0/q2)*exp((b r)*time)*n(d1)*(1.0/(sigma*time sqrt));
Si=Si (g/gprime);
};
double S star = 0;
if (fabs(g)>ACCURACY) { S star = S seed; } // did not converge
else { S star = Si; };
double C=0;
double c = option price european call payout(S,X,r,b,sigma,time);
if (S>=S star) {
C=S X;
}
else {
double d1 = (log(S star/X)+(b+0.5*sigma sqr)*time)/(sigma*time sqrt);
double A2 = (1.0 exp((b r)*time)*N(d1))* (S star/q2);
C=c+A2*pow((S/S star),q2);
};
return max(C,c); // know value will never be less than BS value
};

C++ Code 15.3: Barone Adesi quadratic approximation to the price of a call option

161
15.4 An alternative approximation to american options due to Bjerksund and
Stensland (1993)
Bjerksund and Stensland (1993) provides an alternative approximation to the price of American options.
Their approximation is an example of calculating a lower bound for the option value. Their valua-
tion relies on using an exercise strategy that is known, and although suboptimal, close enough to the
(unknown) exercise strategy that the approximated value is
The corresponding put option can be estimated as

P (S; X; T; r; b;  ) = C (X; S; T; r b; b;  )

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The call option is found as

C (S; K; T; r; b;  ; X ) = (X )S (X )'(S; T j ; X; X ) + '(S; T j1; X; X )

'(S; T j1; K; X ) X'(S; T j0; X; X ) + X'(S; T j0; K; X )
where

(X ) = ( X K )X
s
1 2
   
1 b b r
= + +2 2
2 2 2 2 
   
X
'(S; T j ; H; X ) = e S N (d 1 ) N (d2 )
S
 
1
= r+ b+ ( 1) 2 T
2
ln(S=H ) + b + ( 1 2

d1 = p 2 ) T
 T
ln(X 2 =SH ) + b + ( 1 ) 2
T
d2 = p 2
 T
2b
 = 2 + (2 1)

 
XT = B0 + B1 B0 )(1 eh(T )
 p  B0

h (T ) = bT + 2 T
B1 B0
or (suggested in a later paper Bjerksund and Stensland (2002))
 p  K2

h (T ) = bT + 2 T
B1 B0

B1 = K
1
   
r
B0 = max K; K
r b
S: Price of underlying security. K: Exercise price.

Formula 15.3: The Bjerksund and Stensland (1993) lower bound approximation to the value of an Amer-
ican Call

163
#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include <cmath>
#include "normdist.h"

inline double phi(double S, double T, double gamma, double H, double X, double r, double b, double sigma){
double sigma sqr=pow(sigma,2);
double kappa = 2.0*b/sigma sqr + 2.0*gamma 1.0;
double lambda = ( r + gamma * b + 0.5*gamma*(gamma 1.0)*sigma sqr)*T; // check this, says lambda in text
double d1= (log(S/H)+(b+(gamma 0.5)*sigma sqr)*T)/(sigma*sqrt(T));
double d2= (log((X*X)/(S*H))+(b+(gamma 0.5)*sigma sqr)*T)/(sigma*sqrt(T));
double phi = exp(lambda) * pow(S,gamma) * (N(d1) pow((X/S),kappa) * N(d2));
return phi;
};

double option price american call approximated bjerksund stensland( const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& b,
const double& sigma,
const double& T ){
double sigma sqr=pow(sigma,2);
double B0=max(K,(r/(r b)*K));
double beta = (0.5 b/sigma sqr) + sqrt( pow((b/sigma sqr 0.5),2) + 2.0 * r/sigma sqr);
double Binf = beta/(beta 1.0)*K;
double hT= (b*T + 2.0*sigma*sqrt(T))*((K*K)/(Binf B0));
double XT = B0+(Binf B0)*(1.0 exp(hT));
double alpha = (XT K)*pow(XT, beta);
double C=alpha*pow(S,beta);
C = alpha*phi(S,T,beta,XT,XT,r,b,sigma);
C += phi(S,T,1,XT,XT,r,b,sigma);
C = phi(S,T,1,K,XT,r,b,sigma) ;
C = K*phi(S,T,0,XT,XT,r,b,sigma);
C += K*phi(S,T,0,K,XT,r,b,sigma);
double c=option price european call payout(S,K,r,b,sigma,T); // for safety use the Black Scholes as lower bound
return max(c,C);
};

C++ Code 15.4: Approximation of American Call due to Bjerksund and Stensland (1993)

#include "fin_recipes.h"

double option price american put approximated bjerksund stensland( const double& S,
const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& q,
const double& sigma,
const double& T ){
return option price american call approximated bjerksund stensland(X,S,r (r q),r q,sigma,T);
};

C++ Code 15.5: Approximation of American put due to Bjerksund and Stensland (1993)

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Exercise 15.2.
An option is “At the Money Forward” if the forward price F equals the exercise price.

1. Show that a reasonable approximation to the Black Scholes value of a call option on a non-dividend
paying asset that is “At the Money Forward” is
p
C = 0 :4  T tP V (F )
where F is the forward price, P V (
) signifies the present value operator, T t is the time to maturity
and  is the volatility.

15.5 Readings
See Broadie and Detemple (1996) for some comparisions of various approximations. A survey of the
pricing of options, including American options, is Broadie and Detemple (2004). Barone-Adesi (2005)
summarizes the history of approximating the American put.

165
Chapter 16

Average, lookback and other exotic options

Contents
16.1 Bermudan options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
16.2 Asian options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
16.3 Lookback options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
16.4 Monte Carlo Pricing of options whose payoff depend on the whole price path . . . . . . . . . . . 172
16.4.1 Generating a series of lognormally distributed variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
16.5 Control variate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
16.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

We now look at a type of options that has received a lot of attention in later years. The distinguishing
factor of these options is that they depend on the whole price path of the underlying security between
today and the option maturity.

16.1 Bermudan options

A Bermudan option is, as the name implies,1 a mix of an European and American option. It is a
standard put or call option which can only be exercised at discrete dates throughout the life of the
option. The simplest way to do the pricing of this is again the binomial approximation, but now, instead
of checking at every node whether it is optimal to exercise early, only check at the nodes corresponding
to the potential exercise times. C++ Code 16.1 shows the calculation of the Bermudan price using binomial
approximations. The times as which exercise can happen is passed as a vector argument to the routine,
and in the binomial a list of which nodes exercise can happen is calculated and checked at every step.
Example
Price a Bermudan put. The following informaton is given S = 80, K = 100 r = 0.20; time = 1;  = 0:25,
steps = 500, q = 0:0, Potential exercise times = 0,25, 0.5 and 0.75.
1 Since Bermuda is somewhere between America and Europe...

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C++ program:

double S=80; double K=100; double r = 0.20;

double time = 1.0; double sigma = 0.25;
int steps = 500;
double q=0.0;
vector<double> potential exercise times; potential exercise times.push back(0.25);
potential exercise times.push back(0.5); potential exercise times.push back(0.75);
cout << " Bermudan put price = "
<< option price put bermudan binomial(S,K,r,q,sigma,time,potential exercise times,steps)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

Bermudan put price = 15.8869

167
#include <cmath> // standard C mathematical library
#include <algorithm> // defines the max() operator
#include <vector> // STL vector templates
using namespace std;

double option price put bermudan binomial( const double& S,

const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& q,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const vector<double>& potential exercise times,
const int& steps) {
double delta t=time/steps;
double R = exp(r*delta t);
double Rinv = 1.0/R;
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(delta t));
double uu = u*u;
double d = 1.0/u;
double p up = (exp((r q)*delta t) d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;
vector<double> prices(steps+1);
vector<double> put values(steps+1);

vector<int> potential exercise steps; // create list of steps at which exercise may happen
for (int i=0;i<potential exercise times.size();++i){
double t = potential exercise times[i];
if ( (t>0.0)&&(t<time) ) {
potential exercise steps.push back(int(t/delta t));
};
};

prices[0] = S*pow(d, steps); // fill in the endnodes.

for (int i=1; i<=steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];
for (int i=0; i<=steps; ++i) put values[i] = max(0.0, (X prices[i])); // put payoffs at maturity
for (int step=steps 1; step>=0; step) {
bool check exercise this step=false;
for (int j=0;j<potential exercise steps.size();++j){
if (step==potential exercise steps[j]) { check exercise this step=true; };
};
for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
put values[i] = (p up*put values[i+1]+p down*put values[i])*Rinv;
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
if (check exercise this step) put values[i] = max(put values[i],X prices[i]);
};
};
return put values[0];
};

C++ Code 16.1: Binomial approximation to Bermudan put option

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16.2 Asian options
The payoff depends on the average of the underlying price. An average price call has payoff

CT = max(0; S X );
where S is the average of the underlying in the period between t and T .
Another Asian is the average strike call

CT = max(0; ST S)
There are different types of Asians depending on how the average S is calculated. For the case of S being
lognormal and the average S being a geometric average, there is an analytic formula due to Kemna and
Vorst (1990). Hull (2011) also discusses this case. It turns out p
that one can calculate this option using
the regular Black Scholes formula adjusting the volatility to = 3 and the dividend yield to
 
1 1
r + q + 2
2 6
in the case of continous sampling of the underlying price distribution.
C++ Code 16.2 shows the calculation of the analytical price of an Asian geometric average price call.

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
#include "normdist.h" // normal distribution definitions

double
option price asian geometric average price call(const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& q,
const double& sigma,
const double& time){
double sigma sqr = pow(sigma,2);
double adj div yield=0.5*(r+q+sigma sqr/6.0);
double adj sigma=sigma/sqrt(3.0);
double adj sigma sqr = pow(adj sigma,2);
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double d1 = (log(S/K) + (r adj div yield + 0.5*adj sigma sqr)*time)/(adj sigma*time sqrt);
double d2 = d1 (adj sigma*time sqrt);
double call price = S * exp( adj div yield*time)* N(d1) K * exp( r*time) * N(d2);
return call price;
};

C++ Code 16.2: Analytical price of an Asian geometric average price call

Example
Relevant parameters: S = 100, K = 100, q = 0, r = 0:06,  = 0:25 and time to maturity is one year. Price
an Asian geometric average price call.

C++ program:

double S=100; double K=100; double q=0;

double r=0.06; double sigma=0.25; double time=1.0;
cout << " Analytical geometric average = "
<< option price asian geometric average price call(S,K,r,q,sigma,time)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

Analytical geometric average = 6.74876

169
16.3 Lookback options
The payoff from lookback options depend on the maximum or minimum of the underlying achieved
through the period. The payoff from the lookback call is the terminal price of the undelying less the
minimum value

CT = max(0; ST min S )
 2[t;T ]

For this particular option an analytical solution has been found, due to Goldman, Sosin, and Gatto
(1979), which is shown in Formula 16.1 and implemented in C++ Code 16.3.

2  2 Y1
 
C = Se q(T t) N (a1 ) Se q(T t) N ( a1 ) Smin e r(T t) N (a2 ) e N ( a3)
2(r q ) 2(r q )
 
ln S
Smin + (r q + 12  2 )(T t)
a1 = p
 T t
p
a2 = a1  T t
 

ln S
Smin + r + q + 12  2 (T t)
a3 = p
 T t
 
2 r q 1  2
ln S
2 Smin
Y1 =
2
Formula 16.1: Analytical formula for a lookback call

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
#include "normdist.h"

double option price european lookback call(const double& S,

const double& Smin,
const double& r,
const double& q,
const double& sigma,
const double& time){
if (r==q) return 0;
double sigma sqr=sigma*sigma;
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double a1 = (log(S/Smin) + (r q+sigma sqr/2.0)*time)/(sigma*time sqrt);
double a2 = a1 sigma*time sqrt;
double a3 = (log(S/Smin) + ( r+q+sigma sqr/2.0)*time)/(sigma*time sqrt);
double Y1 = 2.0 * (r q sigma sqr/2.0)*log(S/Smin)/sigma sqr;
return S * exp( q*time)*N(a1) S*exp( q*time)*(sigma sqr/(2.0*(r q)))*N( a1)
Smin * exp( r*time)*(N(a2) (sigma sqr/(2*(r q)))*exp(Y1)*N( a3));
};

C++ Code 16.3: Price of lookback call option

Example
Parameters S = 100, Smin = S q = 0, r = 0:06,  = 0:346, time = 1.0, Price an European lookback call.

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C++ program:

double S=100; double Smin=S; double q = 0; double r = 0.06;

double sigma = 0.346; double time = 1.0;
cout << " Lookback call price = "
<< option price european lookback call(S,Smin,r,q,sigma,time) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

Lookback call price = 27.0713

171
16.4 Monte Carlo Pricing of options whose payoff depend on the whole price
path
Monte Carlo simulation can be used to price a lot of different options. The limitation is that the options
should be European. American options can not be priced by simulation methods. There is (at least) two
reasons for this. First, the optimal exercise policy would have to be known. But if the exercise policy
was known there would be an analytical solution. Second, approximations using Monte Carlo relies on
a law of large numbers. But if some of the sample paths were removed, the LLN would be invalidated.
In chapter 14 we looked at a general simulation case where we wrote a generic routine which we passed
a payoff function to, and the payoff function was all that was necessary to define an option value. The
payoff function in that case was a function of the terminal price of the underlying security. The only
difference to the previous case is that we now have to generate a price sequence and write the terminal
payoff of the derivative in terms of that, instead of just generating the terminal value of the underlying
security from the lognormal assumption.

16.4.1 Generating a series of lognormally distributed variables

Recall that one will generate lognormally distributed variables as
p
2 )(T t)+ T tx~
S T = S t e(r
1
2

where the current time is t and terminal date is T. To simulate a price sequence one splits this period
into say N periods, each of length

T t

t =
N

-
t t +
t t + 2
t t + 3
t


T Time

Each step in the simulated price sequence is

2 )
+
p
tx~
St+
t = St e(r
1
2

C++ Code 16.4 shows how one would simulate a sequence of lognormally distributed variables.
This code is then used in the generic routine to do calculations, as shown in C++ Code 16.5.
To price an option we are then only in need of a definition of a payoff function. We consider a couple of
examples. One is the case of an Asian option, shown in C++ Code 16.6.2
Another is the payoff for a lookback, shown in C++ Code 16.7.3

2 Note the use of the accumulate() function, which is part of the C++ standard.
3 Note the use of the min_element() and max_element functions, which are part of the C++ standard.

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#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
#include "normdist.h"

vector<double>
simulate lognormally distributed sequence(const double& S,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time, // time to final date
const int& no steps){ // number of steps
vector<double> prices(no steps);
double delta t = time/no steps;
double R = (r 0.5*pow(sigma,2))*delta t;
double SD = sigma * sqrt(delta t);
double S t = S; // initialize at current price
for (int i=0; i<no steps; ++i) {
S t = S t * exp(R + SD * random normal());
prices[i]=S t;
};
return prices;
};

C++ Code 16.4: Simulating a sequence of lognormally distributed variables

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double
derivative price simulate european option generic(const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const vector<double>& prices, const double& X),
const int& no steps,
const int& no sims) {
double sum payoffs=0;
for (int n=0; n<no sims; n++) {
vector<double>prices = simulate lognormally distributed sequence(S,r,sigma,time,no steps);
sum payoffs += payoff(prices,K);
};
return exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs/no sims);
};

C++ Code 16.5: Generic routine for pricing European options

173
#include <cmath>
#include <numeric>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double payoff arithmetric average call(const vector<double>& prices, const double& K) {

double sum=accumulate(prices.begin(), prices.end(),0.0);
double avg = sum/double(prices.size());
return max(0.0,avg K);
};

double payoff geometric average call(const vector<double>& prices, const double& K) {

double logsum=log(prices[0]);
for (unsigned i=1;i<prices.size();++i){ logsum+=log(prices[i]); };
double avg = exp(logsum/double(prices.size()));
return max(0.0,avg K);
};

C++ Code 16.6: Payoff function for Asian call option

#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

double payoff lookback call(const vector<double>& prices, const double& unused variable) {
double m = *min element(prices.begin(),prices.end());
return prices.back() m; // always positive or zero
};

double payoff lookback put(const vector<double>& prices, const double& unused variable) {
double m = *max element(prices.begin(),prices.end());
return m prices.back(); // max is always larger or equal.
};

C++ Code 16.7: Payoff function for lookback option

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16.5 Control variate
As discussed in chapter 14, a control variate is a price which we both have an analytical solution of and
find the Monte Carlo price of. The differences between these two prices is a measure of the bias in the
Monte Carlo estimate, and is used to adjust the Monte Carlo estimate of other derivatives priced using
the same random sequence.
C++ Code 16.8 shows the Black Scholes price used as a control variate. An alternative could have been
the analytical lookback
price, or the analytical solution for a geometric average price call shown earlier.

#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double
derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(const double& S,
const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const vector<double>& prices,
const double& X),
const int& no steps,
const int& no sims) {
double c bs = option price call black scholes(S,S,r,sigma,time);// price an at the money Black Scholes call
double sum payoffs=0;
double sum payoffs bs=0;
for (int n=0; n<no sims; n++) {
vector<double> prices = simulate lognormally distributed sequence(S,r,sigma,time, no steps);
double S1= prices.back();
sum payoffs += payoff(prices,K);
sum payoffs bs += payoff call(S1,S); // simulate at the money Black Scholes price
};
double c sim = exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs/no sims);
double c bs sim = exp( r*time) * (sum payoffs bs/no sims);
c sim += (c bs c bs sim);
return c sim;
};

C++ Code 16.8: Control Variate

Example
Using the parameters S = 100, K = 120, r = 0:10, time = 1.0  = 0:25, no sims = 10000, no steps = 250,
q = 0, price arithmetric and geometric average calls by generic simulation.

175
 C++ program:

cout << "Testing general simulation of European options " << endl;
double S=100; double K=120; double r = 0.10;
double time = 1.0; double sigma = 0.25; int no sims = 10000; int no steps = 250;
double q=0;
cout << " simulated arithmetric average "
<< " S= " << S << " r= " << r << " price="
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff arithmetric average call,
no steps,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " simulated geometric average = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,K,r,sigma,time,
payoff geometric average call,
no steps,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " analytical lookback put = "
<< option price european lookback put(S,S,r,q,sigma,time)
<< endl;
cout << " simulated lookback put = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,0,r,sigma,time,
payoff lookback put,
no steps,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " analytical lookback call = "
<< option price european lookback call(S,S,r,q,sigma,time)
<< endl;
cout << " simulated lookback call = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic(S,0,r,sigma,time,
payoff lookback call,
no steps,no sims)
<< endl;
cout << " simulated lookback call using control variates = "
<< derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(S,0,r,sigma,time,
payoff lookback call,
no steps,no sims)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

Testing general simulation of European options

simulated arithmetric average S= 100 r= 0.1 price=1.49696
simulated geometric average = 1.38017
analytical lookback put = 16.2665
simulated lookback put = 14.9846
analytical lookback call = 22.8089
simulated lookback call = 21.9336
simulated lookback call using control variates = 22.0685

16.6 References
Exotic options are covered in Hull (2011). Rubinstein (1993) has an extensive discussion of analytical
solutions to various exotic options. Gray and Gray (2001) also looks at some analytical solutions.

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Chapter 17

Generic binomial pricing

Contents
17.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
17.2 Delta calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

17.1 Introduction
In earlier chapters we have seen a large number of different versions of the binomial pricing formula. In
this chapter we see how we can build a framework for binomial pricing that lets us write a single generic
routine that can be used for a binomial approximation of all sorts of derivatives. The important feature
that lets us write such a generic routine is that the only place the terms of the derivative appears in
the calculation is the calculation of the value at each node. Consider the binomial approximation of an
American call in Chapter 12’s C++ Code 12.2, repeated below as C++ Code 17.1 for convenience.
The terms of the derivative only appears when calculating the value at the nodes, where the calculation
max(prices[]-K,0) appears. The key to building a generic binomial routine lies in replacing this
calculation with a generic routine. C++ Code 17.2 shows how the generic ruotine is implemented.

177
#include <cmath> // standard mathematical library
#include <algorithm> // defines the max() operator
#include <vector> // STL vector templates
using namespace std;

double option price call american binomial( const double& S, // spot price
const double& X, // exercice price
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& t, // time to maturity
const int& steps) { // no steps in binomial tree
double R = exp(r*(t/steps)); // interest rate for each step
double Rinv = 1.0/R; // inverse of interest rate
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps)); // up movement
double d = 1.0/u;
double p up = (R d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;

vector<double> prices(steps+1); // price of underlying

prices[0] = S*pow(d, steps); // fill in the endnodes.
double uu = u*u;
for (int i=1; i<=steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];

vector<double> call values(steps+1); // value of corresponding call

for (int i=0; i<=steps; ++i) call values[i] = max(0.0, (prices[i] X)); // call payoffs at maturity

for (int step=steps 1; step>=0; step) {

for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
call values[i] = (p up*call values[i+1]+p down*call values[i])*Rinv;
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
call values[i] = max(call values[i],prices[i] X); // check for exercise
};
};
return call values[0];
};

C++ Code 17.1: Binomial price of American Call

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#include <cmath> // standard mathematical library
#include <algorithm> // defines the max() operator
#include <vector> // STL vector templates
using namespace std;

double option price generic binomial( const double& S,

const double& K,
double generic payoff(const double& S, const double& K),
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& t,
const int& steps) {
double R = exp(r*(t/steps)); // interest rate for each step
double Rinv = 1.0/R; // inverse of interest rate
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps)); // up movement
double d = 1.0/u;
double p up = (R d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;

vector<double> prices(steps+1); // price of underlying

prices[0] = S*pow(d, steps); // fill in the endnodes.
double uu = u*u;
for (int i=1; i<=steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];

vector<double> values(steps+1); // value of corresponding call

for (int i=0; i<=steps; ++i) values[i] = generic payoff(prices[i],K); // payoffs at maturity

for (int step=steps 1; step>=0; step) {

for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
values[i] = (p up*values[i+1]+p down*values[i])*Rinv; // value by not exercising
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
values[i] = max(values[i],generic payoff(prices[i],K)); // check for exercise
};
};
return values[0];
};

C++ Code 17.2: Generic binomial calculation

179
Using this routine is then merely a matter of providing a definition of the derivative payoff. C++ Code 17.3
shows how the payoffs are defined for standard put and call options. Pricing American put and call
options is then merely a matter of supplying these payoff definitions to the generic binomial routine.

#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

double payoff call(const double& S, const double& K){

return max(0.0,S K);
};

double payoff put (const double& S, const double& K) {

return max(0.0,K S);
};

C++ Code 17.3: Payoff definitions for put and call options

Example
Consider American call and put option on non-dividend paying stock, where S = 100, K = 100,  = 0:2,
(T t) = 1 and r = 0:1.
1. Price the options using binomial approximations with 100 steps.

C++ program:

double S = 100.0;
double K = 100.0;
double r = 0.1;
double sigma = 0.25;
double time to maturity=1.0;
int steps = 100;
cout << " american call price = "
<< option price generic binomial(S,K,payoff call, r, sigma, time to maturity, steps)
<< endl;
cout << " american put price = "
<< option price generic binomial(S,K,payoff put, r, sigma, time to maturity, steps)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

american call price = 14.9505

american put price = 6.54691

More exotic options can also be calculated using the same approach. For example, C++ Code 17.4 shows
payoff definitions for two binary options, options that pay off one dollar if the price of the underlying is
above K (call) or below K (put). The typical such option is European, the check for whether the option
is in the money happens at maturity, but one can also think of cases where the binary option pays off
one dollar as soon as S , the price of the underlying, hits the “barrier” K .
Example
Consider binary options that pays one dollar if the price S of the underlying increases to K or above during
some time period. Suppose the current price of the underlying is S = 100. Using  = 0:2, (T t) = 1 and
r = 0:1, price such a binary option when K = 120.

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double payoff binary call(const double& S, const double& K){
if (S>=K) return 1;
return 0;
};

double payoff binary put(const double& S, const double& K){

if (S<=K) return 1;
return 0;
};

C++ Code 17.4: Payoff definitions for binomial options

C++ program:

double S = 100.0;
double K = 120.0;
double r = 0.1;
double sigma = 0.25;
double time to maturity=1.0;
int steps = 100;
cout << " binary option price = "
<< option price generic binomial(S,K,payoff binary call, r, sigma, time to maturity, steps)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

binary option price = 0.498858

181
17.2 Delta calculation
Deltas and other greeks are calculated using the same style of generic routine. C++ Code 17.5 shows how
to calculate delta using the same generic approach.

#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double option price delta generic binomial(const double& S,

const double& K,
double generic payoff(const double& S, const double& K),
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& t,
const int& no steps){
double R = exp(r*(t/no steps));
double Rinv = 1.0/R;
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/no steps));
double d = 1.0/u;
double uu= u*u;
double pUp = (R d)/(u d);
double pDown = 1.0 pUp;

vector<double> prices (no steps+1);

prices[0] = S*pow(d, no steps);
for (int i=1; i<=no steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];

vector<double> values (no steps+1);

for (int i=0; i<=no steps; ++i) values[i] = generic payoff(prices[i],K);

for (int CurrStep=no steps 1 ; CurrStep>=1; CurrStep) {

for (int i=0; i<=CurrStep; ++i) {
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
values[i] = (pDown*values[i]+pUp*values[i+1])*Rinv;
values[i] = max(values[i], generic payoff(prices[i],K));
};
};
double delta = (values[1] values[0])/(S*u S*d);
return delta;
};

C++ Code 17.5: Generic binomial calculation of delta

Exercise 17.1.
The generic routines discussed in this chapter have been for American options. How would you modify them
to account for European options?

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Chapter 18

Trinomial trees

Contents
18.1 Intro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
18.2 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
18.3 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

18.1 Intro
A trinomial tree is similar to a binomial tree, just with one more branch. At each point of time there
are three possible future values of the underlying S .

*
 Su = uS0
 


S0 
HH
-
Sm = S0
H
HH
Sd = dS0
H
Hj
H

18.2 Implementation
A trinomial tree can be implemented with various parameterizations. We will show the calulation using
the following parameterization:
p
u = e 3
t
1
e=
u
r
2
 

t 1
pu = r q +
12 2 2 6
2
pm =
3
r
2
 

t 1
pu = r q +
12 2 2 6

183
We calculate the option price using the usual roll back procedure with the continuation value

e r
t ( p u f u + p m f m + p d f d )

#include <vector>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double option price put american trinomial( const double& S,

const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& q,
const double& sigma,
const double& t,
const int& steps) {
double delta t = t/steps;
double Rinv = exp( r*(delta t));
double sigma sqr=pow(sigma,2);

double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(3.0*delta t));

double d = 1.0/u;
double p u = 1.0/6.0 + sqrt(delta t/(12.0*sigma sqr)) * (r q 0.5*sigma sqr);
double p m = 2.0/3.0;
double p d = 1.0/6.0 sqrt(delta t/(12.0*sigma sqr)) * (r q 0.5*sigma sqr);

vector< vector<double> > Stree; // price of underlying in a tree

vector<double> Svec;
Svec.push back(S);
for (int step=1;step<=steps;++step){
Stree.push back(Svec);
Svec.insert(Svec.begin(),Svec[0]*d); // use the fact that only the extreme values change.
Svec.push back(Svec[Svec.size() 1]*u);
};
int m = int(Svec.size());
vector<double> values next = vector<double>(m); // value of option next step
for (int i=0; i<m; ++i) values next[i] = max(0.0, K Svec[i]); // call payoffs at maturity
vector<double> values;
for (int step=steps 1; step>=0; step) {
m = int(Stree[step].size());
values = vector<double> (m); // value of option
for (int i=0; i<m; ++i) {
values[i] = (p u*values next[i+2]+p m*values next[i+1] + p d*values next[i])*Rinv;
values[i] = max(values[i],K Stree[step][i]); // check for exercise
};
values next=values;
};
return values[0];
};

C++ Code 18.1: Price of american put using a trinomial tree

Example
You are given the following information about an option: S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:1,  = 0:25 and time to
maturity is 1 year. Price an American put using a trinomial approximation with 100 steps.

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function P = opt price trinom am put(S, K, r, q, sigma, t, steps)
delta t = t/steps;
sigma sqr=sigma^2;
Rinv = exp( r*delta t);
u = exp(sigma*sqrt(3.0*delta t));
d = 1.0/u;
p u = 1/6 + sqrt(delta t/(12*sigma sqr)) * (r q 0.5*sigma sqr);
p m = 2/3;
p d = 1/6 sqrt(delta t/(12*sigma sqr)) * (r q 0.5*sigma sqr);

Svec = [ S ];
Stree = [ Svec ];
Su = S;
Sd = S;
for step=1:steps+1
Su = Su*u;
Sd = Sd*d;
Svec = [ Sd; Svec; Su ];
Stree=[ [Stree; zeros(2,step)] Svec ];
end
values next = max(0,K Svec);
for step = steps: 1:0
m = 2*step+1;
values = Rinv*(p u*values next(3:m+2)+p m*values next(2:m+1)+p d*values next(1:m));
values = max(values, K Stree(1:m,step+1));
values next = values;
end
end
P = values;
end

Matlab Code 18.1: Price of american put using a trinomial tree

C++ program:

double S = 100.0; double K = 100.0;

double r = 0.1; double q = 0; double sigma = 0.25;
double time=1.0; int no steps = 100;
cout << " american put = " << option price put american trinomial(S,K,r,q,sigma,time,no steps) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

american put = 6.52719

Exercise 18.1.
In the code for the trinomial tree the price of the underlying is put into a triangular data structure. This can
be collapsed into a single array, since the only changes when you add one step is to add one price at the top
and at the bottom. If you keep track of the top and bottom of the current array you can access the prices of
the underlying through some clever indexing into the single vector of prices of the underlying.
Exercise 18.2.
Similarly to the binomial case, one can build a generic trinomial tree where the payoff function is passed as a
parameter to the routine. Implement such a generic trinomial tree.

18.3 Further reading

Hull (2011)

185
Chapter 19

Alternatives to the Black Scholes type option

formula

Contents
19.1 Merton’s Jump diffusion model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
19.2 Hestons pricing formula for a stochastic volatility model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

A large number of alternative formulations to the Black Scholes analysis has been proposed. Few of
them have seen any widespread use, but we will look at some of these alternatives.

19.1 Merton’s Jump diffusion model.

Merton (1976) has proposed a model where in addition to a Brownian Motion term, the price process of
the underlying is allowed to have jumps. The risk of these jumps is assumed to not be priced.
In the following we look at an implementation of a special case of Merton’s model, described in (Hull,
1993, pg 454), where the size of the jump has a normal distribution.  and  are parameters of the
jump distribution. The price of an European call option is given in Formula 19.1 and implemented in
C++ Code 19.1
1 e 0  (  0  ) n
X
c= CBS (S; X; rn ; n2 ; T t)
n=0
n!
where

 =T t
0 = (1 + )
CBS (
) is the Black Scholes formula, and
n 2
n2 =  2 +

n ln(1 + )
rn = r  +

Formula 19.1: The option pricing formula of the Merton (1976) model

In implementing this formula, we need to terminate the infinite sum at some point. But since the

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factorial function is growing at a much higher rate than any other, that is no problem, terminating at
nabout n = 50 should be on the conservative side. To avoid numerical difficulties, use the following
method for calculation of
0 0 !! !
e  ( 0  )n e  ( 0  )n n
X
= exp ln = exp 0  + n ln(0  ) ln i
n! n! i=1

#include <cmath>
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double option price call merton jump diffusion( const double& S,

const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time to maturity,
const double& lambda,
const double& kappa,
const double& delta) {
const int MAXN=50;
double tau=time to maturity;
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
double delta sqr = delta*delta;
double lambdaprime = lambda * (1+kappa);
double gamma = log(1+kappa);
double c = exp( lambdaprime*tau)*option price call black scholes(S,X,r lambda*kappa,sigma,tau);
double log n = 0;
for (int n=1;n<=MAXN; ++n) {
log n += log(double(n));
double sigma n = sqrt( sigma sqr+n*delta sqr/tau );
double r n = r lambda*kappa+n*gamma/tau;
c += exp( lambdaprime*tau+n*log(lambdaprime*tau) log n)*
option price call black scholes(S,X,r n,sigma n,tau);
};
return c;
};

C++ Code 19.1: Mertons jump diffusion formula

Example
Price an option using Merton’s jump diffusion formula, using the parameters
S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:05,  = 0:3,  = 0:5,  = 0:5,  = 0:5.
time to maturity=1.

C++ program:

double S=100; double K=100; double r=0.05;

double sigma=0.3; double time to maturity=1;
double lambda=0.5; double kappa=0.5; double delta=0.5;
cout << " Merton Jump diffusion call = "
<< option price call merton jump diffusion(S,K,r,sigma,time to maturity,lambda,kappa,delta)
<< endl;
Output from C++ program:

Merton Jump diffusion call = 23.2074

187
19.2 Hestons pricing formula for a stochastic volatility model
Heston (1993) relaxes the Black-Scholes assumption of a constant volatility by introducing a stochastic
volatility. He finds exact solutions for European options.
Let S be the stock price and v the volatility. These two variables are assumed to follow joint stochastic
processes.
 p 
dSp(t) = Sdt p
+ v (t)Sdz1 (t)
d v (t) = v (t)dt + v (t)Sdz2 (t)
The two processes z1 and z2 have correlation . Rewrite the process for the volatility as
p
dv (t) =  ( v (t)) dt +  v (t)dz2
Let (S; v; t) be the price of volatility risk. Under a constant interest rate r
P (t; T ) = e r(T t)
Consider a call option with strike price K. Its price is given by Formula 19.2.

Price of Call option using Hestons formula The option price is

C (s; v; t) = SP1 KP (t; T )P2

where
1 1 1 e
Z  i ln(K ) f 
j (x; v; T; )
Pj (x; v; T; ln(K )) = + Re d
2  0 i
fj (x; v; T; ) = eC (;)+D(;)v+ix
  
a 1 ged
C (; ) = ri + 2 (bj i + d) 2 ln
 1 g
 
bj i + d 1 ed
D(; ) =
2 1 ged
1 1
u1 = ; u2 =
2 2
a = 
b1 =  +   b2 =  + 
x = ln(S )
bj i + d
g=
bj i d
q
d = (i bj )2  2 (2uj i 2 )
Notation: S: price of undelying security. K: exercise price.

The implementation of this pricing formula has some instructive C++ features. First, it illustrates cal-
culations of of complex variables. Complex numbers is part of the C++ standard, and are accessed by
including the

#include <complex>

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statement. Complex numbers are templated, it is necessary to specify what type of floating point type
to use, such as complex<double> or complex<double double>.
To evaluate the price it is also necessary to do a numerical integration. In the calculation this is solved
by a call to an external routine. We use a routine provided by the Gnu GSL project.1
Example
Given the following set of parameters: S = 100, K = 100, r = 0:01, v = 0:01,  = 0:5,  = 0,  = 2,  = 0,
 = 0:01 and  = 0:01, price a call option using the Heston formula

C++ program:

double S=100; double K=100; double r=0.01; double v=0.01;

double tau=0.5; double rho=0; double kappa=2; double lambda=0.0;
double theta=0.01; double sigma=0.01;
cout << "heston call price "
<< heston call option price( S, K, r, v, tau, rho, kappa, lambda, theta, sigma) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

heston call price 3.06944

1 An example alternatives would have been Numerical Recipes in C++’s quadrature.

189
#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
#include <complex>
using namespace std;
#include "gsl/gsl_integration.h"

struct heston parms {double K; double x; double r; double v; double tau; double kappa; double theta;
double rho; double sigma; double lambda; int j;};

extern "C"{
double heston integrand j(double phi, void *p){
struct heston parms* parms = (struct heston parms*)p;
double K = (parms >K); double x = (parms >x);
double v = (parms >v); double r = (parms >r);
double kappa = (parms >kappa);
double theta = (parms >theta);
double rho = (parms >rho);
double sigma = (parms >sigma);
double lambda = (parms >lambda);
double tau = (parms >tau);
double j = (parms >j);
double sigma sqr = pow(sigma,2);
double uj; double bj;
if (j==1){ uj=0.5; bj=kappa+lambda rho*sigma; }
else { uj= 0.5; bj=kappa+lambda; };
complex <double> i(0,1);
double a = kappa*theta;
complex<double> d = sqrt( pow(rho*sigma*phi*i bj,2) sigma sqr*(2*uj*phi*i pow(phi,2)) );
complex<double> g = (bj rho*sigma*phi*i+d)/(bj rho*sigma*phi*i d);
complex<double> C = r*phi*i*tau+(a/sigma sqr)*((bj rho*sigma*phi*i+d)*tau 2.0*log((1.0 g*exp(d*tau))/(1.0 g)));
complex<double> D = (bj rho*sigma*phi*i+d)/sigma sqr * ( (1.0 exp(d*tau))/(1.0 g*exp(d*tau)) );
complex<double> f1 = exp(C+D*v+i*phi*x);
complex<double> F = exp( phi*i*log(K))*f1/(i*phi);
return real(F);
};};

inline double heston Pj(double S, double K, double r, double v, double tau, double sigma,
double kappa, double lambda, double rho, double theta, int j){
double x=log(S);
struct heston parms parms = { K, x, r, v, tau, kappa, theta, rho, sigma, lambda, j};
size t n=10000;
gsl integration workspace* w = gsl integration workspace alloc(n);
gsl function F;
F.function = &heston integrand j;
F.params=&parms;
double result, error;
gsl integration qagiu(&F,0,1e 7,1e 7,n,w,&result,&error); // integral to infinity starting at zero
return 0.5 + result/M PI;
};

double heston call option price(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r, const double& v,
const double& tau, const double& rho, const double& kappa,
const double& lambda, const double& theta, const double& sigma){
double P1 = heston Pj(S,K,r,v,tau,sigma,kappa,lambda,rho,theta,1);
double P2 = heston Pj(S,K,r,v,tau,sigma,kappa,lambda,rho,theta,2);
double C=S*P1 K*exp( r*tau)*P2;
return C;
};

C++ Code 19.2: Hestons pricing formula for a stochastic volatility model

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Chapter 20

Pricing of bond options, basic models

Contents
20.1 Black Scholes bond option pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
20.2 Binomial bond option pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

The area of fixed income securities is one where a lot of work is being done in creating advanced
mathematical models for pricing of financial securities, in particular fixed income derivatives. The focus
of the modelling in this area is on modelling the term structure of interest rates and its evolution over
time, which is then used to price both bonds and fixed income derivatives. However, in some cases one
does not need the machinery of term structure modelling which we’ll look at in later chapters, and price
derivatives by modelling the evolution of the bond price directly.
Specifically, suppose that the price of a Bond follows a Geometric Brownian Motion process, just like the
case we have studied before. This is not a particularly realistic assumption for the long term behaviour
of bond prices, since any bond price converges to the bond face value at the maturity of the bond. The
Geometric Brownian motion may be OK for the case of short term options on long term bonds.

20.1 Black Scholes bond option pricing

Given the assumed Brownian Motion process, prices of European Bond Options can be found using the
usual Black Scholes formula, as shown in C++ Code 20.1 for a zero coupon bond and C++ Code 20.2 for the
case of an option on a coupon bond.

#include <cmath>
#include "normdist.h"

double bond option price put zero black scholes(const double& B,

const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time){
double time sqrt = sqrt(time);
double d1 = (log(B/X)+r*time)/(sigma*time sqrt) + 0.5*sigma*time sqrt;
double d2 = d1 (sigma*time sqrt);
double p = X * exp( r*time) * N( d2) B * N( d1);
return p;
};

C++ Code 20.1: Black scholes price for European put option on zero coupon bond

191
#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
#include "normdist.h"
#include "fin_recipes.h"

double bond option price put coupon bond black scholes( const double& B,
const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const vector<double> coupon times,
const vector<double> coupon amounts){
double adjusted B=B;
for (unsigned int i=0;i<coupon times.size();i++) {
if (coupon times[i]<=time) {
adjusted B = coupon amounts[i] * exp( r*coupon times[i]);
};
};
return bond option price put zero black scholes(adjusted B,X,r,sigma,time);
};

C++ Code 20.2: Black scholes price for European put option on coupon bond

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20.2 Binomial bond option pricing
Since we are in the case of geometric Brownian motion, the usual binomial approximation can be used to
price American options, where the bond is the underlying security. C++ Code 20.3 shows the calculation
of a put price

#include <cmath> // standard mathematical library

#include <algorithm> // defining the max() operator
#include <vector> // STL vector templates
using namespace std;

double bond option price put american binomial( const double& B, // Bond price
const double& K, // exercise price
const double& r, // interest rate
const double& sigma, // volatility
const double& t, // time to maturity
const int& steps){ // no steps in binomial tree
double R = exp(r*(t/steps)); // interest rate for each step
double Rinv = 1.0/R; // inverse of interest rate
double u = exp(sigma*sqrt(t/steps)); // up movement
double uu = u*u;
double d = 1.0/u;
double p up = (R d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;
vector<double> prices(steps+1); // price of underlying
vector<double> put values(steps+1); // value of corresponding put

prices[0] = B*pow(d, steps); // fill in the endnodes.

for (int i=1; i<=steps; ++i) prices[i] = uu*prices[i 1];
for (int i=0; i<=steps; ++i) put values[i] = max(0.0, (K prices[i])); // put payoffs at maturity
for (int step=steps 1; step>=0; step) {
for (int i=0; i<=step; ++i) {
put values[i] = (p up*put values[i+1]+p down*put values[i])*Rinv;
prices[i] = d*prices[i+1];
put values[i] = max(put values[i],(K prices[i])); // check for exercise
};
};
return put values[0];
};

C++ Code 20.3: Binomial approximation to american put bond option price

193
Example
Parameters: B = 100, K = 100, r = 0:05,  = 0:1, time=1.
There is also a coupon bond with the the same bond price, but paying coupon of 0:5 at date 1.
1. Price a an European put option on the zero coupon bond using Black Scholes.

2. Price a an European put option on the coupon coupon bond using Black Scholes.

3. Price a an European put option on the zero coupon bond using binomial approximation with 100 steps.

C++ program:

double B=100;
double K=100;
double r=0.05;
double sigma=0.1;
double time=1;
cout << " zero coupon put option price = "
<< bond option price put zero black scholes(B,K,r,sigma,time) << endl;

vector<double> coupon times; coupon times.push back(0.5);

vector<double> coupons; coupons.push back(1);
cout << " coupon bond put option price = "
<< bond option price put coupon bond black scholes(B,K,r,sigma,time,coupon times,coupons);
cout << endl;

int steps=100;
cout << " zero coupon american put option price, binomial = "
<< bond option price put american binomial(B,K,r,sigma,time,steps) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

zero coupon put option price = 1.92791

coupon bond put option price = 2.22852
zero coupon american put option price, binomial = 2.43282

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Chapter 21

Credit risk

Contents
21.1 The Merton Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
21.2 Issues in implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Option pricing has obvious applications to the pricing of risky bonds.

21.1 The Merton Model

This builds on the Black and Scholes (1973) and Merton (1973) framework to find the value of the debt
issued by the firm. The ideas were already in Black and Scholes, who discussed the view of the firm as
a call option.
Assume debt structure: There is a single debt issue. Debt is issued as a zero coupon bond. The bond is
due on a given date T .
Assuming the firm value V follows the usual Brownian motion proces, debt is found as a closed form
solution, similar in structure to the Black Scholes equation for a call option.
Easiest seen from the interpretation of firm debt as the price of risk free debt, minus the value of a put
option.
Price debt by the price B of risk free debt, and then subtract the price of the put, using the Black
Scholes formula.
The Black Scholes formula for a call option is

c = S
N ( d 1 ) K
e r ( T t) N ( d 2 )
where
S
1
d1 =
ln K + (r +
p 2 )(T t)
 T t
p
d2 = d1  T t
N (
) = The cumulative normal distribution

p = Ke r(T t) N ( d2 ) SN ( d1 )
In the context here, reinterpret S as V , firm value. The put is priced as

p = Ke r(T t) N ( d2 ) Vt N ( d1 )

195
where
Vt
+ ( r +
1
d1 =
ln K p 2 )(T t)
 T t
Note on interpretation: The spread between risky and risk free debt determined solely by the price of
the put option.
Example
The current value of the firm V = 100. The firm has issued one bond with face value 90, which is due to
be paid one year from now. The risk free interest rate is 5% and the volatility of the firms value is 25%.
Determine the value of the debt.

C++ program:

cout << " Credit Risk Calculation " << endl;

double V=100; double F=90; double r=0.05; double T=1; double sigma=0.25;
double p = option price put black scholes(V,F,r,sigma,T);
cout << " Debt value = " << exp( r*T)*F p << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Credit Risk Calculation

Debt value = 81.8592

21.2 Issues in implementation

 Firm value and firm volatility is unobservable.

 The model assumes a simple debt structure, most debt structures tend to be more complex.

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Chapter 22

Term Structure Models

Contents
22.1 The Nelson Siegel term structure approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
22.2 Extended Nelson Siegel models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
22.3 Cubic spline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
22.4 Cox Ingersoll Ross. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
22.5 Vasicek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
22.6 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

We now expand on the analysis of the term structure in chapter 5. As shown there, the term structure
is best viewed as an abstract class providing, as functions of term to maturity, the prices of zero coupon
bonds (discount factors), yield on zero coupon bonds (spot rates) or forward rates. In the earlier case
we considered two particular implementations of the term structure: A flat term structure or a term
structure estimated by linear interpolations of spot rates. We now consider a number of alternative term
structure models. The focus of this chapter is empirical, we consider ways in which on one can specify a
term structure in a lower dimensional way. Essentially we are looking at ways of doing curve-fitting, of
estimating a nonlinear relationship between time and discount factors, or between time and spot rates.
Since the relationship is nonlinear, this is a nontrivial problem. One has to choose a functional form to
estimate, which allows enough flexibility to “fit” the term structure, but not so flexible that it violates
the economic restrictions on the term structure. Here are some considerations.

 Discount factors must be positive. (dt > 0). This is because they are prices, negative prices allow
for abritrage.

 Discount factors must be a nonincreasing function of time. (dt  dt+k 8 k > 0). Again, this is to
avoid arbitrage.

 Nominal interest rates can not be negative. (rt  0 8 t) This is another implication of the absence
of arbitrage opportunities.

 Both discount factors and interest rates must be smooth functions of time.

 The value of a payment today is the payment today. d0 = 1 .

A number of alternative ways of estimating the term structure has been considered. Some are purely
used as interpolation functions, while others are fully specified, dynamic term structure models. Of
the models that follow, the approximating function proposed in Nelson and Siegel (1987) and the cubic
spline used by e.g. McCulloch (1971) are examples of the first kind, and the term structure models of
Cox, Ingersoll, and Ross (1985) and Vasicek (1977) are examples of the second kind.

197
What is the typical use of the functions we consider here? One starts with a set of fixed income securities,
typically a set of treasury bonds. Observing the prices of these bonds, one asks: What set of discount
factors is most likely to have generated the observed prices. Or: What term structure approximations
provides the “best fit” to this set of observed bond prices.

22.1 The Nelson Siegel term structure approximation

Nelson and Siegel (1987) proposes the parameterization shown in FormulaRefns
" #
1 e
t

h t
i
r (t) = 0 + ( 1 + 2 ) t + 2 e 


Notation: t: Time to maturity. r spot interest rate, 0 ; 1 ; 2 and : constants.

Formula 22.1: Nelson and Siegel (1987) parameterization of term structure

The implementation of this calculation is shown in C++ Code 22.1.

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double term structure yield nelson siegel(const double& t,

const double& beta0,
const double& beta1,
const double& beta2,
const double& lambda) {
if (t==0.0) return beta0;
double tl = t/lambda;
double r = beta0 + (beta1+beta2) * ((1 exp( tl))/tl) + beta2 * exp( tl);
return r;
};

C++ Code 22.1: Calculation of the Nelson and Siegel (1987) term structure model

This is wrapped in a term structure class as shown in Header File 22.1 and C++ Code 22.2.

class term structure class nelson siegel : public term structure class {
private:
double beta0 , beta1 , beta2 , lambda ;
public:
term structure class nelson siegel(const double& beta0,
const double& beta1,
const double& beta2,
const double& lambda);
virtual double yield(const double& T) const;
};

Header file 22.1: Header file defining a term structure class wrapper for the Nelson Siegel approximation

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#include "fin_recipes.h"

term structure class nelson siegel::term structure class nelson siegel( const double& b0,
const double& b1,
const double& b2,
const double& l) {
beta0 =b0; beta1 =b1; beta2 =b2; lambda =l;
};

double term structure class nelson siegel::r(const double& t) const {

if (t<=0.0) return beta0 ;
return term structure yield nelson siegel(t,beta0 ,beta1 ,beta2 ,lambda );
};

C++ Code 22.2: Defining a term structure class wrapper for the Nelson Siegel approximation

199
Example
Using the parameters 0 = 0:01, 1 = 0:01, 2 = 0:01,  = 5:0 and t = 1 in the Nelson Siegel approximation,
find the 1 year discount factor and spot rate, and the forward rate between years 1 and 2.

C++ program:

double beta0=0.01; double beta1=0.01; double beta2=0.01; double lambda=5.0;

double t=1.0;
cout << "Example calculations using the Nelson Siegel term structure approximation"
<< endl;
cout << " direct calculation, yield = "
<< term structure yield nelson siegel(t,beta0,beta1,beta2,lambda) << endl;
term structure class nelson siegel ns(beta0,beta1,beta2,lambda);
cout << " using a term structure class" << endl;
cout << " yield (t=1) = " << ns.r(t) << endl;
cout << " discount factor (t=1) = " << ns.d(t) << endl;
cout << " forward rate (t1=1, t2=2) = " << ns.f(1,2) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Example calculations using the Nelson Siegel term structure approximation

direct calculation, yield = 0.0363142
using a term structure class
yield (t=1) = 0.0363142
discount factor (t=1) = 0.964337
forward rate (t1=1, t2=2) = 0.0300602

22.2 Extended Nelson Siegel models

The Nelson and Siegel (1987) model is simple, with parameters with clear obvious economic interpre-
tations. It does have the problem that the term structure shapes that it allows is limited. To allow
for more complex shapes, such as humped shapes, it has been extended in various ways. A popular
approximation was introduced by Lars Svensson, parameterized as shown in Formula 22.2

t ! t ! t !
1 e 1 1 e 1 t 1 e 2 t
r (t) = 0 + 1 t + 2 t e 1 + 3 t e 2

 1 2
Notation: t: Time to maturity. r spot interest rate, 0 ; 1 ; 2 and : constants.

Formula 22.2: Svensson’s extension of the Nelson and Siegel (1987) parameterization of term structure

This is wrapped in a term structure class as shown in Header File 22.2 and C++ Code 22.4.

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#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double term structure yield svensson(const double& t,

const double& beta0,
const double& beta1,
const double& beta2,
const double& beta3,
const double& tau1,
const double& tau2){
if (t==0.0) return beta0;
double r = beta0;
r += beta1* ((1 exp( t/tau1))/(t/tau1)) ;
r += beta2 * ( ((1 exp( t/tau1))/(t/tau1)) exp( t/tau1) );
r += beta3 * ( ((1 exp( t/tau2))/(t/tau2)) exp( t/tau2) );
return r;
};

C++ Code 22.3: Calculation of Svensson’s extended Nelson and Siegel (1987) term structure model

class term structure class svensson:public term structure class {

private:
double beta0 , beta1 , beta2 , beta3 , tau1 , tau2 ;
public:
term structure class svensson(const double& beta0,
const double& beta1,
const double& beta2,
const double& beta3,
const double& tau1,
const double& tau2);
virtual double yield(const double& T) const;
};

Header file 22.2: Header file defining a term structure class wrapper for the Svensson model

#include "fin_recipes.h"

term structure class svensson::term structure class svensson( const double& b0, const double& b1, const double& b2, const double& b3,
const double& tau1, const double& tau2) {
beta0 =b0; beta1 =b1; beta2 =b2; beta3 =b3; tau1 =tau1; tau2 =tau2;
};

double term structure class svensson::r(const double& t) const {

if (t<=0.0) return beta0 ;
return term structure yield svensson(t,beta0 ,beta1 ,beta2 ,beta3 ,tau1 ,tau2 );
};

C++ Code 22.4: Defining a term structure class wrapper for the Svensson model

201
22.3 Cubic spline.
Cubic splines are well known for their good interpolation behaviour. The cubic spline parameterization
was first used by McCulloch (1971) to estimate the nominal term structure. He later added taxes in
McCulloch (1975). The cubic spline was also used by Litzenberger and Rolfo (1984). In this case the
qubic spline is used to approximate the discount factor, not the yields.
K
X
d (t) = 1 + b1 t + c1 t2 + d 1 t3 + Fj (t tj )3 1ft<tj g
j =1

Here 1fAg is the indicator function for an event A, and we have K knots.
To estimate this we need to find the 3 + K parameters:
fb1 ; c 1 ; d 1 ; F 1 ;


; F K g
If the spline knots are known, this is a simple linear regression. C++ Code 22.5 shows the calculation using
this approximation.

#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double term structure discount factor cubic spline(const double& t,

const double& b1,
const double& c1,
const double& d1,
const vector<double>& f,
const vector<double>& knots){
double d = 1.0 + b1*t + c1*(pow(t,2)) + d1*(pow(t,3));
for (int i=0;i<knots.size();i++) {
if (t >= knots[i]) { d += f[i] * (pow((t knots[i]),3)); }
else { break; };
};
return d;
};

C++ Code 22.5: Approximating a discount function using a cubic spline

Header File 22.3 and C++ Code 22.6 wraps this calculations into a term structure class.

#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

class term structure class cubic spline : public term structure class {
private:
double b ; double c ; double d ;
vector<double> f ; vector<double> knots ;
public:
term structure class cubic spline(const double& b, const double& c, const double& d,
const vector<double>& f, const vector<double> & knots);
virtual ˜term structure class cubic spline();
virtual double d(const double& T) const;
};

Header file 22.3: Term structure class wrapping the cubic spline approximation

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#include "fin_recipes.h"

term structure class cubic spline::

term structure class cubic spline ( const double& b, const double& c, const double& d,
const vector<double>& f, const vector<double>& knots) {
b = b; c = c; d = d; f .clear(); knots .clear();
if (f.size()!=knots.size()){ return; };
for (int i=0;i<f.size();++i) {
f .push back(f[i]);
knots .push back(knots[i]);
};
};

double term structure class cubic spline::d(const double& T) const {

return term structure discount factor cubic spline(T,b ,c ,d ,f ,knots );
};

C++ Code 22.6: Term structure class wrapping the cubic spline approximation

203
Example
Using the parameters b = 0 :1 c = 0 :1 , d = 0 :1 ,
2 3
0:01
f =4 0:01 5
0:01
2 3
2
knots = 4 7 5
12

Find short rates and discount factors for 1 year, and the forward rate between 1 and 2 years.

C++ program:

cout << "Example term structure calculations using a cubic spline " << endl;
double b=0.1; double c=0.1; double d= 0.1;
vector<double> f; f.push back(0.01); f.push back(0.01); f.push back( 0.01);
vector<double> knots; knots.push back(2); knots.push back(7); knots.push back(12);
cout << " direct calculation, discount factor (t=1) "
<< term structure discount factor cubic spline(1,b,c,d,f,knots) << endl;
cout << " Using a term structure class " << endl;
term structure class cubic spline cs(b,c,d,f,knots);
cout << " yield (t=1) = " << cs.r(1) << endl;
cout << " discount factor (t=1) = " << cs.d(1) << endl;
cout << " forward (t1=1, t2=2) = " << cs.f(1,2) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Example term structure calculations using a cubic spline

direct calculation, discount factor (t=1) 1.1
Using a term structure class
yield (t=1) = -0.0953102
discount factor (t=1) = 1.1
forward (t1=1, t2=2) = 0.318454

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22.4 Cox Ingersoll Ross.
The Cox et al. (1985) model is the best known example of a continuous time, general equilibrium model
of the term structure. It is commonly used in academic work because it is a general equilibrium model
that still is “simple enough” to let us find closed form expressions for derivative securities.
The short interest rate.
p
dr(t) = ( r(t))dt +  r(t)dW
The discount factor for a payment at time T.

d(t; T ) = A(t; T )e B(t;T )r(t)

where
p
= ( +  )2 + 2  2
" # 2
2 e 2 (++ )(T t)
1 2

A(t; T ) =
( +  + )(e(T t) 1) + 2

and

2 e ( T t) 1
B (t; T ) =
( +  + )(e(T t) 1) + 2
Five parameters: r, the short term interest rate, , the mean reversion parameter, , the “market” risk
parameter,  the long–run mean of the process and  , the variance rate of the process.

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double term structure discount factor cir(const double& t,

const double& r,
const double& kappa,
const double& lambda,
const double& theta,
const double& sigma){
double sigma sqr=pow(sigma,2);
double gamma = sqrt(pow((kappa+lambda),2)+2.0*sigma sqr);
double denum = (gamma+kappa+lambda)*(exp(gamma*t) 1)+2*gamma;
double p=2*kappa*theta/sigma sqr;
double enum1= 2*gamma*exp(0.5*(kappa+lambda+gamma)*t);
double A = pow((enum1/denum),p);
double B = (2*(exp(gamma*t) 1))/denum;
double dfact=A*exp( B*r);
return dfact;
};

C++ Code 22.7: Calculation of the discount factor using the Cox et al. (1985) model

205
#include "fin_recipes.h"

class term structure class cir : public term structure class {

private:
double r ; // interest rate
double kappa ; // mean reversion parameter
double lambda ; // risk aversion
double theta ; // long run mean
double sigma ; // volatility
public:
˜term structure class cir();
term structure class cir(const double& r, const double& k, const double& l,
const double& th, const double& sigma);
virtual double d(const double& T) const;
};

Header file 22.4: Class definition, Cox et al. (1985) model, header file

#include "fin_recipes.h"

//term structure class cir::˜term structure class cir(){;};

term structure class cir::term structure class cir(const double& r, const double& k, const double& l,
const double& th, const double& sigma) {
r =r; kappa =k; lambda =l; theta =th; sigma =sigma;
};

double term structure class cir::d(const double& T) const{

return term structure discount factor cir(T,r ,kappa ,lambda ,theta ,sigma );
};

C++ Code 22.8: Class definition, Cox et al. (1985) model

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Example
Parameters: r = 0:05,  = 0:01,  = 0:1,  = 0:08 and  = 0:0. Use the CIR term structure model. Find
short rate and discount factor for t = 1, and forward rate between years 1 and 2.

C++ program:

cout << "Example calculations using the Cox Ingersoll Ross term structure model " << endl;
double r = 0.05; double kappa=0.01; double sigma=0.1; double theta=0.08; double lambda=0.0;
cout << " direct calculation, discount factor (t=1): "
<< term structure discount factor cir(1, r, kappa, lambda, theta, sigma) << endl;
cout << " using a class " << endl;
term structure class cir cir(r,kappa,lambda,theta,sigma);
cout << " yield (t=1) = " << cir.r(1) << endl;
cout << " discount factor (t=1) = " << cir.d(1) << endl;
cout << " forward (t1=1, t2=2) = " << cir.f(1,2) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Example calculations using the Cox Ingersoll Ross term structure model
direct calculation, discount factor (t=1): 0.951166
using a class
yield (t=1) = 0.0500668
discount factor (t=1) = 0.951166
forward (t1=1, t2=2) = 0.0498756

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22.5 Vasicek

#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double term structure discount factor vasicek(const double& time,

const double& r,
const double& a,
const double& b,
const double& sigma){
double A,B;
double sigma sqr = sigma*sigma;
double aa = a*a;
if (a==0.0){
B = time;
A = exp(sigma sqr*pow(time,3))/6.0;
}
else {
B = (1.0 exp( a*time))/a;
A = exp( ((B time)*(aa*b 0.5*sigma sqr))/aa ((sigma sqr*B*B)/(4*a)));
};
double dfact = A*exp( B*r);
return dfact;
}

C++ Code 22.9: Calculating a discount factor using the Vasicek functional form

#include "fin_recipes.h"

class term structure class vasicek : public term structure class {

private:
double r ; double a ; double b ; double sigma ;
public:
term structure class vasicek(const double& r, const double& a, const double& b, const double& sigma);
virtual double discount factor(const double& T) const;
};

Header file 22.5: Class definition, Vasicek (1977) model

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#include "fin_recipes.h"

term structure class vasicek::term structure class vasicek(const double& r, const double& a,
const double& b, const double& sigma) {
r =r; a =a; b =b; sigma =sigma;
};

double term structure class vasicek::d(const double& T) const{

return term structure discount factor vasicek(T,r ,a ,b ,sigma );
};

C++ Code 22.10: Class definition, Vasicek (1977) model

209
Example
Parameters r = 0:05, a = 0:1, b = 0:1,  = 0:1 Use the Vasicek term structure model. Find short rate and
discount factor for t = 1, and forward rate between years 1 and 2.

C++ program:

cout << "Example term structure calculation using the Vasicek term structure model"
<< endl;
double r=0.05; double a= 0.1; double b=0.1; double sigma=0.1;
cout << " direct calculation, discount factor (t=1): "
<< term structure discount factor vasicek(1, r, a, b, sigma) << endl;
term structure class vasicek vc(r,a,b,sigma);
cout << " using a term structure class " << endl;
cout << " yield (t=1) = " << vc.r(1) << endl;
cout << " discount factor (t=1) = " << vc.d(1) << endl;
cout << " forward rate (t1=1, t2=2) = " << vc.f(1,2) << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Example term structure calculation using the Vasicek term structure model
direct calculation, discount factor (t=1): 0.955408
using a term structure class
yield (t=1) = 0.0456168
discount factor (t=1) = 0.955408
forward rate (t1=1, t2=2) = 0.0281476

22.6 Readings
The methods in this chapter I first studied in my dissertation at Carnegie Mellon University in 1992,
which lead to the paper published as Green and Ødegaard (1997). A textbook treatment of estimation
and fitting of term structure models can be found in (Martinelli, Priaulet, and Priaulet, 2003, Ch 4)

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Chapter 23

Binomial Term Structure models

Contents
23.1 The Rendleman and Bartter model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
23.2 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Pricing bond options with the Black Scholes model, or its binomial approximation, as done in chapter 20,
does not always get it right. For example, it ignores the fact that at the maturity of the bond, the bond
volatility is zero. The bond volatility decreases as one gets closer to the bond maturity. This behaviour
is not captured by the assumptions underlying the Black Scholes assumption. We therefore look at more
complicated term structure models, the unifying theme of which is that they are built by building trees
of the interest rate.

23.1 The Rendleman and Bartter model

The Rendleman and Bartter approach to valuation of interest rate contingent claims (see Rendleman
and Bartter (1979) and Rendleman and Bartter (1980)) is a particular simple one. Essentially, it is
to apply the same binomial approach that is used to approximate options in the Black Scholes world,
but the random variable is now the interest rate. This has implications for multiperiod discounting:
Taking the present value is now a matter of choosing the correct sequence of spot rates, and it may
be necessary to keep track of the whole “tree” of interest rates. Such a tree can then be used to price
various fixed income securities. In the next chapter we illustrate this more generally, here we show a
direct implementation of the original model. C++ Code 23.1 implements the original algorithm for a call
option on a (long maturity) zero coupon bond.

211
#include <cmath>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

double bond option price call zero american rendleman bartter(const double& X,
const double& option maturity,
const double& S,
const double& M, // term structure paramters
const double& interest, // current short interest rate
const double& bond maturity, // time to maturity for underlying bond
const double& maturity payment,
const int& no steps) {
double delta t = bond maturity/no steps;

double u=exp(S*sqrt(delta t));

double d=1/u;
double p up = (exp(M*delta t) d)/(u d);
double p down = 1.0 p up;

vector<double> r(no steps+1);

r[0]=interest*pow(d,no steps);
double uu=u*u;
for (int i=1;i<=no steps;++i){ r[i]=r[i 1]*uu;};
vector<double> P(no steps+1);
for (int i=0;i<=no steps;++i){ P[i] = maturity payment; };
int no call steps=int(no steps*option maturity/bond maturity);
for (int curr step=no steps;curr step>no call steps; curr step) {
for (int i=0;i<curr step;i++) {
r[i] = r[i]*u;
P[i] = exp( r[i]*delta t)*(p down*P[i]+p up*P[i+1]);
};
};
vector<double> C(no call steps+1);
for (int i=0;i<=no call steps;++i){ C[i]=max(0.0,P[i] X); };
for (int curr step=no call steps;curr step>=0; curr step) {
for (int i=0;i<curr step;i++) {
r[i] = r[i]*u;
P[i] = exp( r[i]*delta t)*(p down*P[i]+p up*P[i+1]);
C[i]=max(P[i] X, exp( r[i]*delta t)*(p up*C[i+1]+p down*C[i]));
};
};
return C[0];
};

C++ Code 23.1: RB binomial model for European call on zero coupon bond

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Example
Parameters:K = 950, S = 0:15 and M = 0:05 The interest rate is 10%, The option matures in 4 years, the
bond matures in year 5, with a bond maturity payment of 1000. Price the option on the zero coupon bond
using a Randleman–Bartter approximation with 100 steps.

C++ program:

double K=950; double S=0.15; double M=0.05; double interest=0.10;

double option maturity=4; double bond maturity=5; double bond maturity payment=1000;
int no steps=100;
cout << " Rendleman Bartter price of option on zero coupon bond: ";
cout << bond option price call zero american rendleman bartter( K, option maturity, S, M,
interest, bond maturity,
bond maturity payment, no steps);

Output from C++ program:

Rendleman Bartter price of option on zero coupon bond: 0.00713661

23.2 Readings
General references include Sundaresan (2001).
Rendleman and Bartter (1979) and Rendleman and Bartter (1980) are the original references for building
standard binomial interest rate trees.

213
Chapter 24

Interest rate trees

Contents
24.1 The movement of interest rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
24.2 Discount factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
24.3 Pricing bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
24.4 Callable bond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
24.5 Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

In this chapter we show a way of building interest rate trees and apply it to the pricing of various fixed
income securities. The first need in such a procedure is to specify the future evolution of interest rates.

24.1 The movement of interest rates

We will assume that interest rates follow a Geometric Brownian Motion process

dr = rdt + rdZ
This is the same assumption which was used for stock prices in the Black Scholes case. This leads to
the same binomial approximation, for one period:

* ru


r0 
H
HH
j rd
HH

or several periods:

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 ruu
*
ru
* HH

 H
r0  rud
HH
j
H *

r
HH 
d
HH  
j
HH
HH
j
H rdd

When using this approach it turns out to be useful to keep the whole tree around, we therefore separate
the building of the tree in one routine, as shown in C++ Code 24.1.

#include <vector>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

vector<vector<double> > interest rate trees gbm build(const double& r0,

const double& u,
const double& d,
const int& n){
vector< vector<double> > tree;
vector<double> r(1); r[0]=r0;
tree.push back(r);
for (int i=1;i<=n;++i) {
double rtop=r[r.size() 1]*u;
for (int j=0;j<i;++j){
r[j] = d*r[j];
};
r.push back(rtop);
tree.push back(r);
};
return tree;
};

C++ Code 24.1: Building interest rate tree

function tree = interest rate trees gbm build(r0,u,d,n)

r=[r0];
tree=[r];
rtop=r0;
for i=1:n
rtop = u * rtop;
r = [rtop;d*r];
tree=[ [zeros(1,i);tree] r ];
endfor
endfunction

Matlab Code 24.1: Building interest rate tree

Example
Parameters: r0 10%, u = 1:02, d = 0:99. Build a 2 period interest rate tree.

215
 C++ program:

vector< vector<double> > tree = interest rate trees gbm build(0.1,1.02,0.99,3);

cout << " Interest rate tree: " << endl;
cout << " Time 0: " << tree[0][0] << endl;
cout << " Time 1: " << tree[1][0] << " " << tree[1][1] << endl;
cout << " Time 2: " << tree[2][0] << " " << tree[2][1] << " " << tree[2][2] << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Interest rate tree:

Time 0: 0.1
Time 1: 0.099 0.102
Time 2: 0.09801 0.10098 0.10404

24.2 Discount factors

We want to price bonds and other fixed income securities, which contains sets of future cash flows.
Instead of interest rates we need prices, not interest rates, i.e. discount factors. The interest rate tree
therefore needs to be used to generate discount factors, which needs to be specified at every point of the
tree, and for all relevant maturities. Let d(t; T ) be the discount factor at time t for a time T payment.
If we at time 0 want to price cash flows at time 2, we need the following set of discount factors

*
 du (1; 2)
 

 d(0; 2)

HH
H
HH
dd (1; 2)
H
Hj
H

In constructing trees of discount we need one additional piece of information, q , which are used as follows:

d(0; 2) = e r0 (qd
u (1; 2) + (1 + q )dd (1; 2))

The parameter q serves the same purpose as the state price probability, but it is found differently.
Exercise 24.1.
Given the prices of two discount bonds, with maturities 1 and 2, how would you back out q ?
Exercise 24.2.
Suppose you have q and the tree of short interest rates. How would you calculate the t-period spot rate?

24.3 Pricing bonds

Pricing straight bonds is then just a matter of the usual recursive valuation
Example
Parameters: r0 10%, u = 1:02, d = 0:99. Let q = 0 :5 . Determine the price of a 3 period coupon bond
with coupon of 10 and face value of 100.

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#include <vector>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double interest rate trees gbm value of cashflows(const vector<double>& cflow,

const vector< vector<double> >& r tree,
const double& q){
int n = int(cflow.size());
vector< vector<double> > values(n);
vector<double> value(n);
for (int i=0;i<n;i++){ value[i]=cflow[n 1]; };
values[n 1]=value;
for (int t=n 1;t>0; t){
vector<double> value(t,0.0);
for (int i=0;i<t;++i){
value[i]=cflow[t 1]+exp( r tree[t 1][i])*(q*values[t][i]+(1 q)*values[t][i+1]);
};
values[t 1]=value;
};
return values[0][0];
};

C++ Code 24.2: Valuing cash flows

C++ program:

double r0=0.1;
double u=1.02; double d=0.99;
int n=3;
double q=0.5;
vector< vector<double> > tree = interest rate trees gbm build(r0,u,d,n);
vector<double> cashflows;
cashflows.push back(0); cashflows.push back(10); cashflows.push back(10); cashflows.push back(110);
cout << "Bond price B = " << interest rate trees gbm value of cashflows(cashflows,tree,q);

Output from C++ program:

Bond price B = 98.5997

Exercise 24.3.
The example just presented assumes cash flows dates matches the dates of interest rate changes. How would
you modify the code to allow for differences in timing of interest rate changes and cashflows. Or can you do
this alternatively, by adjusting the inputs to the routine?

217
24.4 Callable bond
A slightly more involved example is a callable bond.

#include <vector>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double interest rate trees gbm value of callable bond(const vector<double>& cflows,
const vector< vector<double> >& r tree,
const double& q,
const int& first call time,
const double& call price){
int n = int(cflows.size());
vector< vector<double> > values(n);
vector<double> value(n);
for (int i=0;i<n;i++){ value[i]=cflows[n 1]; };
values[n 1]=value;
for (int t=n 1;t>0; t){
vector<double> value(t,0.0);
for (int i=0;i<t;++i){
value[i]=cflows[t 1]+exp( r tree[t 1][i])*(q*values[t][i]+(1 q)*values[t][i+1]);
if (t>=first call time){ value[i]=min(value[i],call price); };
};
values[t 1]=value;
};
return values[0][0];
};

C++ Code 24.3: Valuing callable bond

Example
Construct a short rate lattice for periods (years) 0 through 9 with an initial rate of r0 = 6% and with successive
rates determined by a multiplicative factors u = 1:2 or d = 0:9. Assign q = 0:5.

1. Using this lattice, find the value of a 10-year 6% bond.

2. Suppose this bond can be called by the issuing party at any time after 5 years. (When the bond is
called, the face value plus the currently due coupon are paid at that time and the bond is canceled.)
What is the fair value of this bond?

The interest rate lattice:

step: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
nodes: 31.0
25.8 23.2
21.5 19.3 17.4
17.9 16.1 14.5 13.1
14.9 13.4 12.1 10.9 9.8
12.4 11.2 10.1 9.1 8.2 7.3
10.4 9.3 8.4 7.6 6.8 6.1 5.5
8.6 7.8 7.0 6.3 5.7 5.1 4.6 4.1
7.2 6.5 5.8 5.2 4.7 4.3 3.8 3.4 3.1
6.0 5.4 4.9 4.4 3.9 3.5 3.2 2.9 2.6 2.3

1. Valuing the noncallable bond

The cash flow lattice

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 step: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
nodes: 106
6 106
6 6 106
6 6 6 106
6 6 6 6 106
6 6 6 6 6 106
6 6 6 6 6 6 106
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 106
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 106
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 106
0 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 106
The value lattice:
step: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
nodes: 106.00
83.78 106.00
73.14 90.04 106.00
68.67 82.27 95.06 106.00
67.84 79.28 89.93 99.02 106.00
69.38 79.32 88.46 96.19 102.11 106.00
72.59 81.45 89.45 96.14 101.20 104.49 106.00
77.07 85.09 92.19 98.04 102.39 105.15 106.32 106.00
82.57 89.88 96.24 101.37 105.10 107.37 108.21 107.71 106.00
88.89 95.59 101.29 105.79 108.96 110.78 111.29 110.57 108.77 106.00
89.90 102.03 107.13 111.05 113.70 115.09 115.26 114.32 112.38 109.56 106.00
The value of the bond is B = 89:90.
2. The callable will be called when the value of the bond is above par, because the issuing company can
issue a bond at a lower interest rate.
The following set of values is calculated
step: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
nodes: 106.00
83.78 106.00
73.14 90.04 106.00
68.67 82.27 95.06 106.00
67.84 79.28 89.93 99.02 106.00
69.38 79.32 88.46 96.19 102.11 106.00
72.59 81.45 89.45 96.14 101.20 104.49 106.00
77.07 85.08 92.18 98.01 102.32 105.00 106.00 106.00
82.53 89.80 96.08 101.03 104.42 106.00 106.00 106.00 106.00
88.70 95.21 100.56 104.39 106.36 106.00 106.00 106.00 106.00 106.00
89.35 101.05 105.44 108.22 109.19 108.31 106.00 106.00 106.00 106.00 106.00
The value of the bond is B = 89:35.

219
 C++ program:

double r0=0.06;
double u=1.2; double d=0.9;
int n=10;
double q=0.5;
vector< vector<double> > tree = interest rate trees gbm build(r0,u,d,n);
vector<double> cashflows;
cashflows.push back(0);
for (int t=1;t<=9;++t){ cashflows.push back(6); };
cashflows.push back(106);
cout << "Straight bond price = " << interest rate trees gbm value of cashflows(cashflows,tree,q) << endl;
int first call time = 6;
double call price = 106;
cout << "Callable bond price = "
<< interest rate trees gbm value of callable bond(cashflows,tree,q, first call time, call price) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

Straight bond price = 89.9017

Callable bond price = 89.2483

Exercise 24.4.
How would you price a call option on a coupon bond in this setting?

24.5 Readings
General references include Sundaresan (2001).
Rendleman and Bartter (1979) and Rendleman and Bartter (1980) are the original references for building
standard binomial interest rate trees.

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Chapter 25

Building term structure trees using the Ho

and Lee (1986) approach

25.1 Intro
In this section we build interest rate trees following the orgiginal paper of Ho and Lee (1986). We will
follow the analysis in the paper, and use it to illustrate how yu can build trees of more complex term
structures than the simple binomial trees of the interest rate. The selling point of the original paper was
that one could fit an initial term structure and then specify an evolution of the term structure consistent
with this initial term structure.

25.2 Building trees of term structures

25.3 Ho Lee term structure class

221
#include "fin_recipes.h"

class term structure class ho lee : public term structure class {

private:
term structure class* initial term ;
int n ;
int i ;
double delta ;
double pi ;
public:
term structure class ho lee(term structure class* fitted term,
const int & n,
const int & i,
const double& lambda,
const double& pi);
double d(const double& T) const;
};

vector< vector<term structure class ho lee> >

term structure ho lee build term structure tree(term structure class* initial,
const int& no steps,
const double& delta,
const double& pi);

double price european call option on bond using ho lee(term structure class* initial,
const double& delta,
const double& pi,
const vector<double>& underlying bond cflow times,
const vector<double>& underlying bond cflows,
const double& K,
const double& option time to maturity);

Header file 25.1: Term structure class for Ho-Lee

#include "fin_recipes.h"

term structure class ho lee::term structure class ho lee(term structure class* fitted term,
const int & n,
const int & i,
const double& delta,
const double& pi){
initial term =fitted term;
n =n;
i =i;
delta =delta;
pi =pi;
};

C++ Code 25.1: Term structure class for Ho-Lee

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#include "fin_recipes.h"
//#include “term structure class ho lee.h”

inline double hT(const double& T, const double& delta, const double& pi){
return (1.0/(pi+(1 pi)*pow(delta,T)));
};

double term structure class ho lee::d(const double& T) const{

double d=(*initial term ).d(T+n )/(*initial term ).d(n );
for (int j=1;j<n ;++j){
d *= hT(T+(n j),delta ,pi ) / hT(n j,delta ,pi ) ;
};
d *= hT(T,delta ,pi )*pow(delta ,T*(n i ));
return d;
};

C++ Code 25.2: Term structure class for Ho-Lee, calculation of discount function

#include "fin_recipes.h"

vector< vector<term structure class ho lee> >

term structure ho lee build term structure tree(term structure class* initial,
const int& no steps,
const double& delta,
const double& pi){
vector< vector<term structure class ho lee> > hl tree;
for (int t=0;t<5;++t){
hl tree.push back(vector<term structure class ho lee>());
for (int j=0;j<=t;++j){
term structure class ho lee hl(initial,t,j,delta,pi);
hl tree[t].push back(hl);
};
};
return hl tree;
};

C++ Code 25.3: Building a term structure tree

223
25.4 Pricing things
We now have access to what we need to do pricing through the recursive relationship

C (n; i) = [C (n + 1; i + 1) + (1  )C (n + i; i)] Pi(n) (1)

where C (n; i) is the value of a security at time n at node i.
What we are pricing are typically state and time-contingent claims to cash flows. Let us illustrate pricing
of an (European) call option on some underlying bond. Suppose this bond is risk free. Its cash flows
at each future date does not depend on the state, but the timing of cash flows changes as you move
in the tree. It is therefore necessary to some way figure out at date t: What are the future cash flows
when you want to price the underlying bond at that date. We build a small class that contains this
information, and use it, together with the term structures in the individual nodes, to find the bond price
at each node. The value of the bond at the different nodes change because the term structure you use
for discounting is changing. This bond price is then used to find the option value at each node.

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#include "fin_recipes.h"

class time contingent cash flows{

public:
vector<double> times;
vector<double> cash flows;
time contingent cash flows(const vector<double>& in times, const vector<double>& in cflows){
times=in times; cash flows=in cflows;
};
int no cflows(){ return int(times.size()); };
};

vector<time contingent cash flows>

build time series of bond time contingent cash flows(const vector<double>& initial times,
const vector<double>& initial cflows){
vector<time contingent cash flows> vec cf;
vector<double> times = initial times;
vector<double> cflows = initial cflows;
while (times.size()>0){
vec cf.push back(time contingent cash flows(times,cflows));
vector<double> tmp times;
vector<double> tmp cflows;
for (int i=0;i<times.size();++i){
if (times[i] 1.0>=0.0) {
tmp times.push back(times[i] 1);
tmp cflows.push back(cflows[i]);
};
};
times = tmp times; cflows = tmp cflows;
};
return vec cf;
};

double price european call option on bond using ho lee(term structure class* initial, const double& delta, const double& pi,
const vector<double>& underlying bond cflow times,
const vector<double>& underlying bond cflows,
const double& K, const double& time to maturity){
int T = int(time to maturity+0.0001);
vector<vector<term structure class ho lee> > hl tree
= term structure ho lee build term structure tree(initial,T+1,delta,pi);
vector<time contingent cash flows> vec cf
= build time series of bond time contingent cash flows(underlying bond cflow times, underlying bond cflows);

vector<double> values(T+1);
for (int i=0;i<=T;++i){
values[i]=max(0.0,bonds price(vec cf[T+1].times, vec cf[T+1].cash flows, hl tree[T+1][i]) K);
};
for (int t=T;t>=0; t){
vector<double> values this(t+1);
for (int i=0;i<=t;++i){ values this[i]=(pi*values[i+1]+(1.0 pi)*values[i])*hl tree[t][i].d(1); };
values=values this;
};
return values[0];
};

C++ Code 25.4: Pricing of European call option on straight bond using Ho-Lee

225
Example
You are pricing options on a 5 year zero coupon risk free bond. The options are European calls with a time
to maturity of 3 years.
You will price the options using a Ho-Lee approach with parameters  = 0:5 and  = 0:98.
Price the option using two different assumptions about the current term structure:

1. The term structure is flat with an interest rate of 10% (continously compounded).

2. The current term structure has been estimated using a Nelson Siegel parameterization with parameters
0 = 0:09, 1 = 0:01, 2 = 0:01 and  = 5:0.
C++ program:

double delta=0.98;
double pi=0.5;
double r=0.1;
term structure class* initial=new term structure class flat(r);
vector<double> times; times.push back(5.0);
vector<double> cflows; cflows.push back(100);
double K=80;
double time to maturity=3;
cout << " Flat term structure " << endl;
cout << " c= " << price european call option on bond using ho lee(initial,delta, pi, times,cflows,K,time to maturity);
cout << endl;
delete (initial);
double beta0=0.09; double beta1=0.01; double beta2=0.01; double lambda=5.0;
initial = new term structure class nelson siegel(beta0,beta1,beta2,lambda);
cout << " Nelson Siegel term structure " << endl;
cout << " c= " << price european call option on bond using ho lee(initial,delta, pi, times,cflows,K,time to maturity);
cout << endl;

Output from C++ program:

Flat term structure

c= 6.46323
Nelson Siegel term structure
c= 6.33238

Exercise 25.1.
What changes do you need to make to C++ Code 25.4 to price an American call option instead of an European
call?
Exercise 25.2.
If you for example want to price a bond, you need to keep track of intermediate payments of coupon.
Implement such a procedure. To see that it is correct us it to price a (straight) bond and then compare the
value calculated in the tree with the value using the current term structure. Then modify the code to build
in a callable bond feature. What additional informaiton must be kept track of?
Exercise 25.3.
In the Ho and Lee (1986) paper there is a typo in equation (22). Can you see what it is?

25.5 References
The discussion in this chapter follows closely the original paper Ho and Lee (1986)

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Chapter 26

Term Structure Derivatives

Contents
26.1 Vasicek bond option pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

26.1 Vasicek bond option pricing

If the term structure model is Vasicek’s model there is a solution for the price of an option on a zero
coupon bond, due to Jamshidan (1989).
Under Vacisek’s model the process for the short rate is assumed to follow.

dr = a(b r)dt + dZ

where a, b and  are constants. We have seen earlier how to calculate the discount factor in this case.
We now want to consider an European Call option in this setting.
Let P (t; s) be the time t price of a zero coupon bond with a payment of $1 at time s (the discount factor).
The price at time t of a European call option maturing at time T on on a discount bond maturing at
time s is (See Jamshidan (1989) and Hull (1993))

P (t; s)N (h) XP (t; T )N (h P )

where
1 P (t; s) 1
h= ln + P
P P (t; T )X 2
P = v (t; T )B (T; s)
1 e a (T t )
B (t; T ) =
a
 2 (1 e a(T t) )
v (t; T )2 =
2a
In the case of a = 0,
p
v (t; T ) =  T t
p
 P =  (s T ) T t
Example
Parameters: a = 0:1, b = 0:1,  = 0:02, r = 0:05, X = 0:9. Price a Vacicek call on a zero.

227
#include "normdist.h"
#include "fin_recipes.h"
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

double bond option price call zero vasicek(const double& X, // exercise price
const double& r, // current interest rate
const double& option time to maturity,
const double& bond time to maturity,
const double& a, // parameters
const double& b,
const double& sigma){
double T t = option time to maturity;
double s t = bond time to maturity;
double T s = s t T t;
double v t T;
double sigma P;
if (a==0.0) {
v t T = sigma * sqrt ( T t ) ;
sigma P = sigma*T s*sqrt(T t);
}
else {
v t T = sqrt (sigma*sigma*(1 exp( 2*a*T t))/(2*a));
double B T s = (1 exp( a*T s))/a;
sigma P = v t T*B T s;
};
double h = (1.0/sigma P) * log (term structure discount factor vasicek(s t,r,a,b,sigma)/
(term structure discount factor vasicek(T t,r,a,b,sigma)*X) )
+ sigma P/2.0;
double c = term structure discount factor vasicek(s t,r,a,b,sigma)*N(h)
X*term structure discount factor vasicek(T t,r,a,b,sigma)*N(h sigma P);
return c;
};

C++ Code 26.1: Bond option pricing using the Vasicek model

C++ program:

double a = 0.1; double b = 0.1; double sigma = 0.02; double r = 0.05; double X=0.9;
cout << " Vasicek call option price "
<< bond option price call zero vasicek(X,r,1,5,a,b,sigma) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

Vasicek call option price 0.000226833

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Chapter 27

Date (and time) revisited - the BOOST

libraries

In the introduction we used the construction of a date class as an example of building a nontrivial (and
useful) class. However, even if we follow the hints in the exercises, and use the operating system utilities
for dealing with dates, at some point such a “homespun” date class needs to be replaced with something
more reliable.
The date class that is most likely to spring to the programmers’ minds these days is one provided by
the Boost C++ library. Let us therefore use this opportunity to introduce the Boost libraries, and show
some examples of date usage. The Boost libraries are collections of C++ libraries, many of which may at
some point become part of the C++ standard.1 One of the most useful of the Boost libraries are complete
libraries for date (gregorian) and date and time (date_time.
We are not going to go into detail here, we limit ourselves to showing some examples of usage:
1 Ten Boost libraries actually became part of the latest C++ standard (C++-11). If you have a recent C++ implementation,

the Boost libraries are typically included.

229
 C++ program:

#include "boost/date_time/gregorian/gregorian.hpp"
#include "boost/date_time/posix_time/posix_time.hpp"
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
using namespace boost::gregorian;
using namespace boost::posix time;

void ex date time(){

boost::gregorian::date d(2014,4,1); // creating a date
cout << " date: " << d << endl;

boost::posix time::ptime dt;

stringstream ss("2014-mar-01 10:01:01.01");
ss >> dt;
cout << " date time just created: " << dt << endl;

ptime now = second clock::local time(); //get the current time from the clock
date today = now.date(); //Get the date part out of the time
cout << " today: " << today << endl;
date tommorrow = today + days(1); // add one date
ptime tommorrow start(tommorrow); //midnight
time duration remaining = tommorrow start now;
std::cout << "Time left till midnight: " << to simple string(remaining) << std::endl;
}

Output from C++ program:

date: 2014-Apr-01
date time just created: 2014-Mar-01 10:01:01.010000
today: 2014-Jun-30
Time left till midnight: 10:19:33

27.1 References
The Boost homepage is at http://www.boost.org/

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Appendix A

Normal Distribution approximations.

Contents
A.1 The normal distribution function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
A.2 The cumulative normal distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
A.3 Multivariate normal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
A.4 Calculating cumulative bivariate normal probabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
A.5 Simulating random normal numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
A.6 Cumulative probabilities for general multivariate distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
A.7 Implementation in C++11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
A.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

We will in general not go into detail about more standard numerical problems not connected to finance,
there are a number of well known sources for such, but we show the example of calculations involving
the normal distribution.

A.1 The normal distribution function

The nurmal distribution function
x2
n (x ) = e 2

is calculated as

#include <cmath> // c library of math functions

using namespace std; // which is part of the standard namespace

// most C compilers define PI, but just in case it doesn’t

#ifndef PI
#define PI 3.141592653589793238462643
#endif

double n(const double& z) { // normal distribution function

return (1.0/sqrt(2.0*PI))*exp( 0.5*z*z);
};

C++ Code A.1: The normal distribution function

231
A.2 The cumulative normal distribution
The solution of a large number of option pricing formulas are written in terms of the cumulative normal
distribution. For a random variable x the cumulative probability is the probability that the outcome
is lower than a given value z . To calculate the probability that a normally distubuted random variable
with mean 0 and unit variance is less than z , N (z ), one have to evaluate the integral
Z z Z z
Prob(x  z ) = N (z ) =
x2
n(x)dx = e 2 dx
1 1
There is no explicit closed form solution for calculation of this integral, but a large number of well known
approximations exists. Abramowiz and Stegun (1964) is a good source for these approximations. The
following is probably the most used such approximation, it being pretty accurate and relatively fast.
The arguments to the function are assumed normalized to a (0,1) distribution.

#include <cmath> // math functions.

using namespace std;

double N(const double& z) {

if (z > 6.0) { return 1.0; }; // this guards against overflow
if (z < 6.0) { return 0.0; };

double b1 = 0.31938153;
double b2 = 0.356563782;
double b3 = 1.781477937;
double b4 = 1.821255978;
double b5 = 1.330274429;
double p = 0.2316419;
double c2 = 0.3989423;

double a=fabs(z);
double t = 1.0/(1.0+a*p);
double b = c2*exp(( z)*(z/2.0));
double n = ((((b5*t+b4)*t+b3)*t+b2)*t+b1)*t;
n = 1.0 b*n;
if ( z < 0.0 ) n = 1.0 n;
return n;
};

C++ Code A.2: The cumulative normal

A.3 Multivariate normal

The normal distribution is also defined for several random variables. We then characterise the vector of
random variables
2 3
x1
6
6 x2 7
7
X=6 . 7
4 .. 5
xn
A probability statement about this vector is a joint statement about all elements of the vector.

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A.4 Calculating cumulative bivariate normal probabilities
The most used multivariate normal calculation is the bivariate case, where we let x and y be bivariate
normally distributed, each with mean 0 and variance 1, and assume the two variables have correlation
of . By the definition of correlation  2 [ 1; 1]. The cumulative probability distribution

P (x < a; y < b) = N (a; b; )

1 x2 2xy + y 2
Z a Z b  
1
= p exp dxdy
1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2

There are several approximations to this integral. We pick one such, discussed in (Hull, 1993, Ch 10),
shown in C++ Code A.3.
If one has more than two correlated variables, the calculation of cumulative probabilites is a nontrivial
problem. One common method involves Monte Carlo estimation of the definite integral. We will consider
this, but then it is necessary to first consider simulation of random normal variables.
Example
Calculate N(0) and N(0,0,0)

C++ program:

cout << " N(0) = " << N(0) << endl;

cout << " N(0,0,0) = " << N(0,0,0) << endl;
Output from C++ program:

N(0) = 0.5
N(0,0,0) = 0.25

233
#include <cmath> // include the standard library mathematics functions
using namespace std; // which are in the standard namespace
#include <iostream>

double N(const double&); // define the univariate cumulative normal distribution as a separate function

#ifndef PI
const double PI=3.141592653589793238462643;
#endif

inline double f(const double& x, const double& y,

const double& aprime, const double& bprime,
const double& rho) {
double r = aprime*(2*x aprime) + bprime*(2*y bprime) + 2*rho*(x aprime)*(y bprime);
return exp(r);
};

inline double sgn(const double& x) { // sign function

if (x>=0.0) return 1.0;
return 1.0;
};

double N(const double& a, const double& b, const double& rho) {

if ( (a<=0.0) && (b<=0.0) && (rho<=0.0) ) {
double aprime = a/sqrt(2.0*(1.0 rho*rho));
double bprime = b/sqrt(2.0*(1.0 rho*rho));
double A[4]={0.3253030, 0.4211071, 0.1334425, 0.006374323};
double B[4]={0.1337764, 0.6243247, 1.3425378, 2.2626645 };
double sum = 0;
for (int i=0;i<4;i++) {
for (int j=0; j<4; j++) {
sum += A[i]*A[j]* f(B[i],B[j],aprime,bprime,rho);
};
};
sum = sum * ( sqrt(1.0 rho*rho)/PI);
return sum;
}
else if ( a * b * rho <= 0.0 ) {
if ( ( a<=0.0 ) && ( b>=0.0 ) && (rho>=0.0) ) {
return N(a) N(a, b, rho);
}
else if ( (a>=0.0) && (b<=0.0) && (rho>=0.0) ) {
return N(b) N( a, b, rho);
}
else if ( (a>=0.0) && (b>=0.0) && (rho<=0.0) ) {
return N(a) + N(b) 1.0 + N( a, b, rho);
};
}
else if ( a * b * rho >= 0.0 ) {
double denum = sqrt(a*a 2*rho*a*b + b*b);
double rho1 = ((rho * a b) * sgn(a))/denum;
double rho2 = ((rho * b a) * sgn(b))/denum;
double delta=(1.0 sgn(a)*sgn(b))/4.0;
return N(a,0.0,rho1) + N(b,0.0,rho2) delta;
}
else {
cout << " unknown " << endl;
}
return 99.9; // should never get here, alternatively throw exception
};

C++ Code A.3: Approximation to the cumulative bivariate normal

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A.5 Simulating random normal numbers
Generation of random numbers is a large topic and is treated at length in such sources as Knuth
(1997). The generated numbers can never be truly random, only “pseudo”-random, they will be generated
according to some reproducible algorithm and after a (large) number of random number generations the
sequence will start repeating itself. The number of iterations before replication starts is a measure of the
quality of a random number generator. For anybody requiring high-quality random number generators
the rand() function provided by the standard C++ library should be avoided, but for not getting into
involved discussion of random number generations we use this function as a basis for the generation of
uniformly distributed numbers in the interval [0; 1), as shown in C++ Code A.4.

#include <cstdlib>
using namespace std;

double random uniform 0 1(void){

return double(rand())/double(RAND MAX); // this uses the C library random number generator.
};

C++ Code A.4: Pseudorandom numbers from an uniform [0; 1) distribution

Exercise A.1.
Replace the random_uniform function here by an alternative of higher quality, by looking into what numerical
libraries is available on your computing platform, or by downloading a high quality random number generator
from such places as mathlib or statlib.
These uniformly distributed distributed random variates are used as a basis for the polar method for
normal densities discussed in Knuth (1997) and inplemented as shown in C++ Code A.5.

#include <cmath>
#include <cstdlib>
using namespace std;

double random uniform 0 1(void);

double random normal(void){

double U1, U2, V1, V2;
double S=2;
while (S>=1) {
U1 = random uniform 0 1();
U2 = random uniform 0 1();
V1 = 2.0*U1 1.0;
V2 = 2.0*U2 1.0;
S = pow(V1,2)+pow(V2,2);
};
double X1=V1*sqrt(( 2.0*log(S))/S);
return X1;
};

C++ Code A.5: Pseudorandom numbers from a normal (0; 1) distribution

Example

1. Generate 5 random uniform numbers (0,1)

2. Generate 5 random N(0,1) numbers.

235
 C++ program:

cout << " 5 random uniform numbers between 0 and 1: " << endl;
cout << " ";
for (int i=0;i<5;++i){ cout << " " << random uniform 0 1(); }; cout << endl;
cout << " 5 random normal(0,1) numbers: " << endl;
cout << " ";
for (int i=0;i<5;++i){ cout << " " << random normal() ; }; cout << endl;

Output from C++ program:

5 random uniform numbers between 0 and 1:

0.840188 0.394383 0.783099 0.79844 0.911647
5 random normal(0,1) numbers:
-1.07224 0.925946 2.70202 1.36918 0.0187313

A.6 Cumulative probabilities for general multivariate distributions

When moving beyond the bivariate case calculation of probability integrals become more of an exercise
in general numerical integration. A typical tool is Monte Carlo integration, but that is not the only
possibility.

A.7 Implementation in C++11

The latest standard of the C++ language, C++11, includes a library for generating random numbers. See
(Stroustrup, 1997a, Section 5.6.3).

A.8 References
Tong (1990) discusses the multivariate normal distribution, and is a good reference. For the ultimate
source, see Knuth (1997).

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Appendix B

C++ concepts

This chapter contains a listing of various C/C++ concepts and some notes on each of them.

accumulate() Function accumulating the elements of a sequence.

bool Boolean variable, taking on the two values true and false. For historical reasons one can also
use the values zero and one for false and true.

class (C++ keyword).

const (qualifyer to variable in C++ function call).

double (basic type). A floating point number with high accuracy.

exp(x) (C function). Defined in <cmath>. Returns the natural exponent e to the given power x, ex .
fabs

float (basic type). A floating point number with limited accuracy.

for Loop

header file

if

Indexation (in vectors and matrices). To access element number i in an array A, use A[i-1]. Well
known trap for people coming to C from other languages. Present in C for historical efficiency
reasons. Arrays in C were implemented using pointers. Indexing was done by finding the first
element of the array, and then adding pointers to find the indexed element. The first element is of
course found by adding nothing to the first elment, hence the first element was indexed by zero.

include

inline (qualifyer to C++ function name). Hint to the optimizer that this function is most efficiently
implemented by inlining it, or putting the full code of the function into each instance of its
calling. Has the side effect of making the function local to the file in which it is defined.

int (basic type). An integer with a limited number of significant digits.

log(x) (C function). Defined in <cmath>. Calculates the natural logarithm ln(x) of its argument.
long (basic type). An integer that can contain a large number.

min_element() (C++ function)

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max_element (C++ function)

namespace (C++ concept)

return

standard namespace (C++ concept)

string (C++ basic type)

using (C++ concept)

vector (C++ container class). Defined in <vector>

while

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Appendix C

Interfacing to external libraries

Contents
C.1 Boost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
C.2 Newmat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
C.3 IT++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
C.4 GSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
C.4.1 The evaluation of N3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
C.5 Internet links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

In various places we have used routines from other public domain packages. In this appendix there are
some notes about the libraries which are referenced, and some comments about linking to them.

C.1 Boost
Large collection of peer-reviewed code. Particularly useful: the date_time library.

C.2 Newmat
Newmat is a matrix library that attempts to do matlab-like operations in C++, in that one can define
matrices and vectors, and then multiply them and so on without needing to explicitly call subroutines,
instead writing the operations in a more mathematically oriented way.

C.3 IT++
IT++ is a large library with various different

C.4 GSL

C.4.1 The evaluation of N 3

In the calculation of the American Put approximation of Geske and Johnson (1984), a trivariate normal
needs to be evaluated. Following the discussion in the paper, this is evaluated as
Z j !
k  z h  z   
N3 (h; k; j ; 12 ; 13 ; 23 ) = n(z )N2 p 232 ; p 132 ; p 12 2 p13 23 2
1 1 23 1 13 1 13 1 23

239
This is an univariate integral, and can be evaluated using quadrature.

#include <cmath>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

#include "gsl/gsl_integration.h"
#include "normdist.h"

struct n3 parms {double h; double k; double rho12; double rho13; double rho23; };

extern "C"{
double f3(double z, void *p){
struct n3 parms* parms = (struct n3 parms*)p;
double h = (parms >h);
double k = (parms >k);;
double rho12 = (parms >rho12);
double rho13 = (parms >rho13);
double rho23 = (parms >rho23);
double f = n(z);
f*=N( (k rho23*z)/sqrt(1.0 rho23*rho23),
(h rho13*z)/(sqrt(1.0 rho13*rho13)),
(rho12 rho13*rho23)/(sqrt(1.0 rho13*rho13)*sqrt(1.0 rho23*rho23)));
return f;
};
};

double N3(const double& h, const double& k, const double& j,

const double& rho12, const double& rho13, const double& rho23){
struct n3 parms parms = { h, k, rho12, rho13, rho23};
size t n=1000;
gsl integration workspace* w = gsl integration workspace alloc(n);
gsl function F;
F.function = &f3;
F.params=&parms;
double result, error;
gsl integration qags(&F, 20.0,j,1e 7,1e 7,n,w,&result,&error);
return result;
};

C++ Code C.1: Approximating N3 () using the method of Geske and Johnson (1984)

C.5 Internet links

Some useful internet links

 http://www.robertnz.net: Homepage for Newmat, the matrix class used as an example.

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Appendix D

Summarizing routine names

In many of the algorithms use is made of other routines. To simplify the matter all routines are summarised in one header file,
fin_recipes.h. This appendix shows this file.

// file: fin recipes.h

// author: Bernt Arne Oedegaard
// defines all routines in the financial numerical recipes “book”

#ifndef FIN RECIPES H

#define FIN RECIPES H

#include <vector>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

///////// present value ////////////////////////////////////

// discrete coumpounding
/////////////////////////////////
// discrete, annual compounding

double cash flow pv discrete ( const vector<double>& cflow times, const vector<double>& cflow amounts,
const double& r);
double cash flow irr discrete(const vector<double>& cflow times, const vector<double>& cflow amounts);
bool cash flow unique irr(const vector<double>& cflow times, const vector<double>& cflow amounts);
double bonds price discrete(const vector<double>& cashflow times, const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r);
double bonds yield to maturity discrete(const vector<double>& times,
const vector<double>& amounts,
const double& bondprice);
double bonds duration discrete(const vector<double>& times,
const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r);
double bonds duration macaulay discrete(const vector<double>& cashflow times,
const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& bond price);
double bonds duration modified discrete (const vector<double>& times,
const vector<double>& amounts,
const double& bond price);
double bonds convexity discrete(const vector<double>& cflow times,
const vector<double>& cflow amounts,
const double& r);
/////////////////////////////////
// continous compounding.
double cash flow pv(const vector<double>& cflow times,const vector<double>& cflow amounts,const double& r);
double cash flow irr(const vector<double>& cflow times, const vector<double>& cflow amounts);
double bonds price(const vector<double>& cashflow times, const vector<double>& cashflows, const double& r);
double bonds price(const vector<double>& coupon times, const vector<double>& coupon amounts,
const vector<double>& principal times, const vector<double>& principal amounts,
const double& r);

241
double bonds duration(const vector<double>& cashflow times, const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& r);
double bonds yield to maturity(const vector<double>& cashflow times,const vector<double>& cashflow amounts,
const double& bondprice);
double bonds duration macaulay(const vector<double>& cashflow times, const vector<double>& cashflows,
const double& bond price);
double bonds convexity(const vector<double>& cashflow times, const vector<double>& cashflow amounts,
const double& y );

/// term structure basics

double term structure yield from discount factor(const double& dfact, const double& t);
double term structure discount factor from yield(const double& r, const double& t);
double term structure forward rate from discount factors(const double& d t1, const double& d t2,
const double& time);
double term structure forward rate from yields(const double& r t1, const double& r t2,
const double& t1, const double& t2);
double term structure yield linearly interpolated(const double& time,
const vector<double>& obs times,
const vector<double>& obs yields);
// a term structure class

class term structure class {

public:
virtual ˜term structure class();
virtual double r(const double& t) const; // short rate, yield on zero coupon bond
virtual double d(const double& t) const; // discount factor
virtual double f(const double& t1, const double& t2) const; // forward rate
};

class term structure class flat : public term structure class {

private:
double R ; // interest rate
public:
term structure class flat(const double& r);
virtual ˜term structure class flat();
virtual double r(const double& t) const;
void set int rate(const double& r);
};

class term structure class interpolated : public term structure class {

private:
vector<double> times ; // use to keep a list of yields
vector<double> yields ;
void clear();
public:
term structure class interpolated();
term structure class interpolated(const vector<double>& times, const vector<double>& yields);
virtual ˜term structure class interpolated();
term structure class interpolated(const term structure class interpolated&);
term structure class interpolated operator= (const term structure class interpolated&);

int no observations() const { return int(times .size()); };

virtual double r(const double& T) const;
void set interpolated observations(vector<double>& times, vector<double>& yields);
};

// using the term structure classes

double bonds price(const vector<double>& cashflow times,

const vector<double>& cashflows,
const term structure class& d);

double bonds duration(const vector<double>& cashflow times,

const vector<double>& cashflow amounts,
const term structure class& d);

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double bonds convexity(const vector<double>& cashflow times,
const vector<double>& cashflow amounts,
const term structure class& d);

//// Futures pricing

double futures price(const double& S, const double& r, const double& time to maturity);

/// Binomial option pricing

// one periode binomial

double option price call european binomial single period( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& u, const double& d);
// multiple periode binomial

double option price call european binomial multi period given ud( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& u, const double& d, const int& no periods);

// multiple periode binomial

vector< vector<double> > binomial tree(const double& S0, const double& u,const double& d,
const int& no steps);

/// Black Scholes formula //////////////////////////////////////////

double option price call black scholes(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time) ;
double option price put black scholes (const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time) ;

double
option price implied volatility call black scholes newton( const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& time,
const double& option price);
double
option price implied volatility put black scholes newton( const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& time,
const double& option price);

double option price implied volatility call black scholes bisections( const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& time,
const double& option price);
double option price implied volatility put black scholes bisections( const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& time,
const double& option price);
double option price delta call black scholes(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time);
double option price delta put black scholes (const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time);
void option price partials call black scholes(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
double& Delta, double& Gamma, double& Theta,
double& Vega, double& Rho);
void option price partials put black scholes(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
double& Delta, double& Gamma, double& Theta,
double& Vega, double& Rho);

/// warrant price

double warrant price adjusted black scholes(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time,
const double& no warrants outstanding,
const double& no shares outstanding);

double warrant price adjusted black scholes(const double& S, const double& K,

const double& r, const double& q,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const double& no warrants outstanding,

243
 const double& no shares outstanding);

/// Extensions of the Black Scholes model //////////////

double option price european call payout(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& b, const double& sigma, const double& time);
double option price european put payout (const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& b, const double& sigma, const double& time);
double option price european call dividends(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const vector<double>& dividend times,
const vector<double>& dividend amounts );
double option price european put dividends( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma,const double& time,
const vector<double>& dividend times,
const vector<double>& dividend amounts);
double option price american call one dividend(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& tau, const double& D1, const double& tau1);
double futures option price call european black(const double& F, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time);
double futures option price put european black(const double& F, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time);
double currency option price call european(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& r f, const double& sigma, const double& time);
double currency option price put european(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& r f, const double& sigma, const double& time);
double option price american perpetual call(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& q, const double& sigma);
double option price american perpetual put(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& q, const double& sigma);

// binomial option approximation ////////////////

double option price call european binomial(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps);
double option price put european binomial (const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps);
double option price call american binomial(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps);
double option price put american binomial (const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps);
double option price call american binomial(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& y,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps);
double option price put american binomial (const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& y, const double& sigma,
const double& t, const int& steps);

double option price call american discrete dividends binomial( const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t,
const int& steps,
const vector<double>& dividend times,
const vector<double>& dividend amounts);

double option price put american discrete dividends binomial(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t,
const int& steps,
const vector<double>& dividend times,
const vector<double>& dividend amounts);

double option price call american proportional dividends binomial(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time, const int& no steps,
const vector<double>& dividend times,

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 const vector<double>& dividend yields);

double option price put american proportional dividends binomial( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time, const int& no steps,
const vector<double>& dividend times,
const vector<double>& dividend yields);

double option price delta american call binomial(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& no steps);
double option price delta american put binomial(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& no steps);
void option price partials american call binomial(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time, const int& no steps,
double& delta, double& gamma, double& theta,
double& vega, double& rho);

void option price partials american put binomial(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time, const int& no steps,
double& delta, double& gamma, double& theta,
double& vega, double& rho);

double futures option price call american binomial(const double& F, const double& K, const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time, const int& no steps);

double futures option price put american binomial( const double& F, const double& K, const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time, const int& no steps);

double currency option price call american binomial( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r, const double& r f,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& n);

double currency option price put american binomial( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r, const double& r f,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& n);

//////////////////// finite differences //////////////////

double option price call american finite diff explicit( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const int& no S steps, const int& no t steps);

double option price put american finite diff explicit( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const int& no S steps, const int& no t steps);

double option price call european finite diff explicit( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const int& no S steps, const int& no t steps);

double option price put european finite diff explicit( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const int& no S steps, const int& no t steps);

double option price call american finite diff implicit( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const int& no S steps, const int& no t steps);

double option price put american finite diff implicit( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const int& no S steps, const int& no t steps);

double option price call european finite diff implicit( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const int& no S steps, const int& no t steps);

double option price put european finite diff implicit( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const int& no S steps, const int& no t steps);

245
///////////////////////// simulated option prices //////////////////////////////////////
// Payoff only function of terminal price
double option price call european simulated(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time to maturity, const int& no sims);
double option price put european simulated(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time to maturity, const int& no sims);
double option price delta call european simulated(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time to maturity, const int& no sims);
double option price delta put european simulated(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time to maturity, const int& no sims);
double simulate lognormal random variable(const double& S, const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time);

double
derivative price simulate european option generic( const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const double& S, const double& K),
const int& no sims);
double
derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r,const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const double& S,
const double& K),
const int& no sims);

double
derivative price simulate european option generic with antithetic variate(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r,
const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const double& S,
const double& K),
const int& no sims);
/////////////////////////////
// payoffs of various options, to be used as function arguments in above simulations
double payoff call(const double& S, const double& K);
double payoff put (const double& S, const double& K);
double payoff cash or nothing call(const double& S, const double& K);
double payoff asset or nothing call(const double& S, const double& K);

/////////// approximated option prices ////////////////////////

double option price american put approximated johnson( const double& S, const double& X, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time );

double option price american call approximated baw(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& b,
const double& sigma, const double& time);
double option price american put approximated baw(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& b,
const double& sigma, const double& time);

double option price american put approximated geske johnson( const double& S, const double& X,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time );

double option price american call approximated bjerksund stensland( const double& S,
const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& q,
const double& sigma,
const double& time );

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double option price american put approximated bjerksund stensland( const double& S,
const double& X,
const double& r,
const double& q,
const double& sigma,
const double& T );

////////////// path dependent and other exotic options ////////////////////////////////

double option price call bermudan binomial(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& q, const double& sigma, const double& time,
const vector<double>& potential exercise times,
const int& steps);

double option price put bermudan binomial( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& q, const double& sigma, const double& time,
const vector<double>& potential exercise times,
const int& steps);

double option price european lookback call(const double& S, const double& Smin, const double& r,
const double& q, const double& sigma, const double& time);

double option price european lookback put(const double& S, const double& Smin, const double& r,
const double& q, const double& sigma, const double& time);

double
option price asian geometric average price call(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& q, const double& sigma, const double& time);

vector<double> simulate lognormally distributed sequence(const double& S, const double& r,

const double& sigma, const double& time, const int& no steps);
double
derivative price simulate european option generic( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
double payoff(const vector<double>& S,
const double& K),
const int& no steps, const int& no sims);

double
derivative price simulate european option generic with control variate(const double& S, const double& K,
const double& r, const double& sigma,
const double& time,
double payoff(const vector<double>& S,
const double& K),
const int& nosteps, const int& nosims);

/////////////////////////////
// payoffs of various options, to be used as function arguments in above simulations

double payoff arithmetric average call(const vector<double>& prices, const double& K);
double payoff geometric average call(const vector<double>& prices, const double& K);
double payoff lookback call(const vector<double>& prices, const double& unused variable);
double payoff lookback put(const vector<double>& prices, const double& unused variable);

/////////////////////////////////////
// generic binomial trees

double option price generic binomial( const double& S, const double& K,

double generic payoff(const double& S, const double& K),
const double& r, const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps);

double payoff binary call(const double& S, const double& K);

double payoff binary put(const double& S, const double& K);

247
////////////////////////////////////////
// trinomial trees

double option price call american trinomial( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r, const double& q,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps) ;

double option price put american trinomial( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r, const double& q,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps) ;

/////////////////// alternative stochastic processes ////////////////

double option price call merton jump diffusion( const double& S, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time to maturity,
const double& lambda, const double& kappa, const double& delta);

double heston call option price(const double& S, const double& K, const double& r, const double& v, const double& tau,
const double& rho, const double& kappa, const double& lambda, const double& theta,
const double& sigma);

// fixed income derivatives, GBM assumption on bond price

double bond option price call zero black scholes(const double& B, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time);
double bond option price put zero black scholes(const double& B, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time);
double bond option price call coupon bond black scholes(const double& B, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const vector<double> coupon times,
const vector<double> coupon amounts);
double bond option price put coupon bond black scholes(const double& B, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& time,
const vector<double> coupon times,
const vector<double> coupon amounts);
double bond option price call american binomial( const double& B, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps);
double bond option price put american binomial( const double& B, const double& K, const double& r,
const double& sigma, const double& t, const int& steps);

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// term structure models
/// formulas for calculation

double term structure yield nelson siegel(const double& t,

const double& beta0, const double& beta1, const double& beta2,
const double& lambda );

double term structure yield svensson(const double& t,

const double& beta0, const double& beta1, const double& beta2, const double& beta3,
const double& tau1, const double& tau2 );

double term structure discount factor cubic spline(const double& t,

const double& b1,
const double& c1,
const double& d1,
const vector<double>& f,
const vector<double>& knots);

double term structure discount factor cir(const double& t, const double& r,

const double& kappa,
const double& lambda,
const double& theta,
const double& sigma);

double term structure discount factor vasicek(const double& time,

const double& r,

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 const double& a,const double& b, const double& sigma);

/// defining classes wrapping the above term structure approximations

class term structure class nelson siegel : public term structure class {
private:
double beta0 , beta1 , beta2 , lambda ;
public:
term structure class nelson siegel(const double& beta0, const double& beta1,
const double& beta2, const double& lambda);
virtual double r(const double& t) const;
};

class term structure class svensson:public term structure class {

private:
double beta0 , beta1 , beta2 , beta3 , tau1 , tau2 ;
public:
term structure class svensson(const double& beta0, const double& beta1, const double& beta2, const double& beta3,
const double& tau1, const double& tau2);
virtual double r(const double& T) const;
};

class term structure class cubic spline : public term structure class {
private:
double b ; double c ; double d ; vector<double> f ; vector<double> knots ;
public:
term structure class cubic spline(const double& b, const double& c, const double& d,
const vector<double>& f, const vector<double> & knots);
virtual double d(const double& t) const; // discount factor
};

class term structure class cir : public term structure class {

private:
double r ; double kappa ; double lambda ; double theta ; double sigma ;
public:
term structure class cir(const double& r, const double& k, const double& l,
const double& th,const double& sigma);
virtual double d(const double& t) const; // discount factor
};

class term structure class vasicek : public term structure class {

private:
double r ; double a ; double b ; double sigma ;
public:
term structure class vasicek(const double& r, const double& a, const double& b, const double& sigma);
virtual double d(const double& T) const;
};

/////////////////
/// binomial term structure models
/// bond option, rendlemann bartter (binomial)

double
bond option price call zero american rendleman bartter(const double& K, const double& option maturity,
const double& S, const double& M,
const double& interest,
const double& bond maturity,
const double& maturity payment,
const int& no steps);

vector< vector<double> > interest rate trees gbm build(const double& r0,
const double& u,
const double& d,
const int& n);

double interest rate trees gbm value of cashflows(const vector<double>& cflow,

const vector< vector<double> >& r tree,

249
 const double& q);

double interest rate trees gbm value of callable bond(const vector<double>& cflows,
const vector< vector<double> >& r tree,
const double& q,
const int& first call time,
const double& call price);

double price european call option on bond using ho lee(term structure class* initial,
const double& delta,
const double& pi,
const vector<double>& underlying bond cflow times,
const vector<double>& underlying bond cflows,
const double& K,
const double& option time to maturity);
///////////////////////////////////////////////
// ho and lee modelling

class term structure class ho lee : public term structure class {

private:
term structure class* initial term ;
int n ;
int i ;
double delta ;
double pi ;
public:
term structure class ho lee(term structure class* fitted term,
const int & n,
const int & i,
const double& lambda,
const double& pi);
double d(const double& T) const;
};

vector< vector<term structure class ho lee> >

term structure ho lee build term structure tree(term structure class* initial,
const int& no steps,
const double& delta,
const double& pi);

double price european call option on bond using ho lee(term structure class* initial,
const double& delta,
const double& pi,
const vector<double>& underlying bond cflow times,
const vector<double>& underlying bond cflows,
const double& K,
const double& option time to maturity);

/////////////////////////////////
// term structure derivatives, analytical solutions

double bond option price call zero vasicek(const double& X, const double& r,
const double& option time to maturity,
const double& bond time to maturity,
const double& a, const double& b, const double& sigma);

double bond option price put zero vasicek(const double& X, const double& r,
const double& option time to maturity,
const double& bond time to maturity,
const double& a, const double& b, const double& sigma);
#endif

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Appendix E

Installation

The routines discussed in the book are available for download.

E.1 Source availability

The algorithms are available from my home page as a ZIP file containing the source code. These have
been tested with the latest version of the GNU C++ compiler. As the algorithms in places uses code
from the Standard Template Library, other compilers may not be able to compile all the files directly.
If your compiler complains about missing header files you may want to check if the STL header files
have different names on your system. The algorithm files comply with the current ANSI standard for
C++ libraries. If the compiler is more than a couple of years old, it will not have STL. Alternatively,
the GNU compiler gcc is available for free on the internet, for most current operating systems.

251
List of C++ Codes

1.1 A complete program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.2 Basic operations for the date class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.3 Comparison operators for the date class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4 Iterative operators for the date class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.1 Present value with discrete compounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2 Estimation of the internal rate of return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3 Test for uniqueness of IRR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.4 Present value calculation with continously compounded interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.1 Bond price calculation with discrete, annual compounding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.2 Bond yield calculation with discrete, annual compounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3 Bond duration using discrete, annual compounding and a flat term structure . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.4 Calculating the Macaulay duration of a bond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.5 Modified duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.6 Bond convexity with a flat term structure and annual compounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.7 Bond price calculation with continously compounded interest and a flat term structure . . . . . 47
4.8 Bond duration calculation with continously compounded interest and a flat term structure . . . 48
4.9 Calculating the Macaulay duration of a bond with continously compounded interest and a flat
term structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.10 Bond convexity calculation with continously compounded interest and a flat term structure . . . 48
5.1 Term structure transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.2 Default code for transformations between discount factors, spot rates and forward rates in a term
structure class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.3 Implementing term structure class using a flat term structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.4 Interpolated term structure from spot rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.5 Term structure class using linear interpolation between spot rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.6 Pricing a bond with a term structure class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.7 Calculating a bonds duration with a term structure class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.8 Calculating a bonds convexity with a term structure class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.1 Mean variance calculations using IT++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6.2 Mean variance calculations using Newmat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.3 Calculating the unconstrained frontier portfolio given an expected return using Newmat . . . . . . 79
6.4 Calculating the unconstrained frontier portfolio given an expected return using IT++ . . . . . . . 80
7.1 Futures price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
8.1 Binomial European, one period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
8.2 Building a binomial tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8.3 Binomial multiperiod pricing of European call option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
9.1 Price of European call option using the Black Scholes formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
9.2 Calculating the delta of the Black Scholes call option price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
9.3 Calculating the partial derivatives of a Black Scholes call option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
9.4 Calculation of implied volatility of Black Scholes using bisections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
9.5 Calculation of implied volatility of Black Scholes using Newton-Raphson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
10.1 Adjusted Black Scholes value for a Warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11.1 Option price, continous payout from underlying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
11.2 European option price, dividend paying stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
11.3 Option price, Roll–Geske–Whaley call formula for dividend paying stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
11.4 Price of European Call option on Futures contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

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11.5 European Futures Call option on currency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
11.6 Price for an american perpetual call option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
12.1 Option price for binomial european . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
12.2 Price of American call option using a binomial approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
12.3 Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
12.4 Hedge parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
12.5 Binomial option price with continous payout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
12.6 Binomial option price of stock option where stock pays proportional dividends . . . . . . . . . . 125
12.7 Binomial option price of stock option where stock pays discrete dividends . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
12.8 Pricing an american call on an option on futures using a binomial approximation . . . . . . . . . 129
12.9 Pricing an american call on an option on currency using a binomial approximation . . . . . . . . 130
13.1 Explicit finite differences calculation of european put option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
13.2 Explicit finite differences calculation of american put option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
13.3 Calculation of price of American put using implicit finite differences with the Newmat matrix library138
13.4 Calculation of price of American put using implicit finite differences with the IT++ matrix library 139
13.5 Calculation of price of European put using implicit finite differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
14.1 Simulating a lognormally distributed random variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
14.2 European Call option priced by simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
14.3 Estimate Delta of European Call option priced by Monte Carlo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
14.4 Payoff call and put options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
14.5 Generic simulation pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
14.6 Generic with control variate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
14.7 Generic with antithetic variates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
14.8 Payoff binary options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
15.1 The Johnson (1983) approximation to an american put price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
15.2 Geske Johnson approximation of American put . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
15.3 Barone Adesi quadratic approximation to the price of a call option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
15.4 Approximation of American Call due to Bjerksund and Stensland (1993) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
15.5 Approximation of American put due to Bjerksund and Stensland (1993) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
16.1 Binomial approximation to Bermudan put option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
16.2 Analytical price of an Asian geometric average price call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
16.3 Price of lookback call option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
16.4 Simulating a sequence of lognormally distributed variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
16.5 Generic routine for pricing European options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
16.6 Payoff function for Asian call option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
16.7 Payoff function for lookback option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
16.8 Control Variate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
17.1 Binomial price of American Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
17.2 Generic binomial calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
17.3 Payoff definitions for put and call options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
17.4 Payoff definitions for binomial options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
17.5 Generic binomial calculation of delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
18.1 Price of american put using a trinomial tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
19.1 Mertons jump diffusion formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
19.2 Hestons pricing formula for a stochastic volatility model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
20.1 Black scholes price for European put option on zero coupon bond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
20.2 Black scholes price for European put option on coupon bond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
20.3 Binomial approximation to american put bond option price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
22.1 Calculation of the Nelson and Siegel (1987) term structure model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
22.2 Defining a term structure class wrapper for the Nelson Siegel approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
22.3 Calculation of Svensson’s extended Nelson and Siegel (1987) term structure model . . . . . . . . 201
22.4 Defining a term structure class wrapper for the Svensson model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
22.5 Approximating a discount function using a cubic spline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
22.6 Term structure class wrapping the cubic spline approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
22.7 Calculation of the discount factor using the Cox et al. (1985) model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
22.8 Class definition, Cox et al. (1985) model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
22.9 Calculating a discount factor using the Vasicek functional form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
22.10Class definition, Vasicek (1977) model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

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23.1 RB binomial model for European call on zero coupon bond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
24.1 Building interest rate tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
24.2 Valuing cash flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
24.3 Valuing callable bond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
25.1 Term structure class for Ho-Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
25.2 Term structure class for Ho-Lee, calculation of discount function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
25.3 Building a term structure tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
25.4 Pricing of European call option on straight bond using Ho-Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
26.1 Bond option pricing using the Vasicek model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
A.1 The normal distribution function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
A.2 The cumulative normal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
A.3 Approximation to the cumulative bivariate normal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
A.4 Pseudorandom numbers from an uniform [0; 1) distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
A.5 Pseudorandom numbers from a normal (0; 1) distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
C.1 Approximating N3 () using the method of Geske and Johnson (1984) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

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List of Matlab Codes

6.1 Calculation of minimum variance portfolio for given return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

6.2 Sharpe Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.3 Treynor Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.4 Jensens alpha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
9.1 Price of European call option using the Black Scholes formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
12.1 Price of American call using a binomial approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
12.2 Price of American put using a binomial approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
13.1 Explicit finite differences calculation of American put option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
13.2 Calculation of price of American put using implicit finite differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
18.1 Price of american put using a trinomial tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
24.1 Building interest rate tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

255
Appendix F

Acknowledgements.

After this paper was put up on the net, I’ve had quite a few emails about them. Some of them has
pointed out bugs and other inaccuracies.
Among the ones I want to say thanks to for making improving suggestions and pointing out bugs are
Ariel Almedal
Andrei Bejenari
Steve Bellantoni
Jean-Paul Beveraggi
Lars Gregori
Daniel Herlemont
Lorenzo Isella
Jens Larsson
Garrick Lau
Steven Leadbeater
Michael L Locher
Lotti Luca, Milano, Italy
Tuan Nguyen
Michael R Wayne

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Index

, 94 build_time_series_of_bond_time_contingent_cash_flows,
, 94 225
, 94
calcP2, 158
A, 137 call option, 82
a, 135 cash flow, 26
antithetic variates, 148 cash or nothing call, 151
asset or nothing call, 151 cash_flow_irr_discrete, 31
cash_flow_pv, 35
Barone–Adesi and Whaley, 159 cash_flow_pv_discrete, 27, 28, 32, 241
binary option, 151 cash_flow_unique_irr, 33
binomial option price, 82, 112 class, 9
binomial term structure models, 211 cmath, 7
binomial_tree, 87 Complex numbers
Black in C++, 189
futures option, 108 control variates, 147
Black Scholes option pricing formula, 89 convexity
Bond of bond, 44
Price Cox Ingersoll Ross term structure model, 205
Flat term structure, 36 currency
Promised payments, 36 option, 109
bond currency option
duration, 41 American, 130
price, 37 European, 109
yield to maturity, 38 currency_option_price_call_american_binomial, 130
bond convexity, 44 currency_option_price_call_european, 109, 110
bond option
basic binomial, 193 d, 57, 63, 249
Black Scholes, 191 d1, 158
Vasicek, 227 d2, 158
date::date, 12
bond_option_price_call_zero_american_rendleman_bartter,
212, 213, 249 date::day, 12
bond_option_price_call_zero_vasicek, 228 date::month, 12
bond_option_price_put_american_binomial, 193 date::valid, 12
bond_option_price_put_coupon_bond_black_scholes,date::year, 12
192 delta, 93
bond_option_price_put_zero_black_scholes, 191, 194 binomial, 120
bonds_convexity, 48, 65 Black Scholes, 93
bonds_convexity_discrete, 44 derivative_price_simulate_european_option_generic,
bonds_duration, 48, 49, 65 146, 152, 173, 176
bonds_duration_discrete, 41, 42, 45 derivative_price_simulate_european_option_generic_with_antithetic_
bonds_duration_macaulay, 48 149
bonds_duration_macaulay_discrete, 42 derivative_price_simulate_european_option_generic_with_control_va
bonds_duration_modified_discrete, 43 148, 175
bonds_price, 47, 64, 66, 242 Discount factor, 36
bonds_price_discrete, 37, 38 discount factor, 26
bonds_yield_to_maturity_discrete, 39, 40 discount_factor, 208
bool (C++ type), 6 double (C++ type), 6
duration, 41

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 Macaulay, 41 Monte Carlo
modified, 43 antithetic variates, 148
monte carlo
e, 78, 79 control variates, 147
early exercise premium, 159 mv_calculate_mean, 77, 78
ex_date_time, 230 mv_calculate_portfolio_given_mean_unconstrained, 79,
exp, 196 80
exp() (C++ statement), 7 mv_calculate_st_dev, 77, 78
explicit finite differences, 132 mv_calculate_variance, 77, 78

f, 234 N, 232–234
f3, 240 n, 231
finite differences, 132, 137 N3, 240
explicit, 132 next_date, 14
for (C++ statement), 8 no_observations, 61, 242
function prototypes (C++ concept), 146 Normal distribution
futures Simulation, 235
option, 108 normal distribution
futures_option_price_call_american_binomial, 128, 129 approximations, 231
futures_option_price_call_european_black, 108
futures_option_price_put_european_black, 108 option
futures_price, 81 call, 82
currency, 109
gamma, 94 futures, 108
geometric Brownian motion, 93 lookback, 170
Geske and Johnson, 156 put, 82
Option price
hedging parameters Black Scholes, 89
Black Scholes, 93 option price
heston_call_option_price, 189, 190 binomial, 112
heston_integrand_j, 190 simulated, 142
heston_Pj, 190 option_price_american_call_approximated_baw, 160,
hT, 223 161
option_price_american_call_approximated_bjerksund_stensland,
if, 13 164
implied volatility option_price_american_call_one_dividend, 106, 107
calculation, 96 option_price_american_perpetual_call, 110
include (C++ statement), 7 option_price_american_put_approximated_bjerksund_stensland,
int (C++ type), 6 164
interest_rate_trees_gbm_build, 215
option_price_american_put_approximated_geske_johnson,
interest_rate_trees_gbm_value_of_callable_bond, 218 158
interest_rate_trees_gbm_value_of_cashflows, 217, 220 option_price_american_put_approximated_johnson,
internal rate of return, 30 154, 155
Internet links, 240 option_price_asian_geometric_average_price_call, 169
irr, 30 option_price_call_american_binomial, 115, 123, 128,
iteration operator 178
definition of (C++ concept), 14 option_price_call_american_discrete_dividends_binomial,
127
Jump Diffusion, 186
option_price_call_american_proportional_dividends_binomial,
Links 125
Internet, 240 option_price_call_black_scholes, 90, 92, 144, 147, 150
long (C++ type), 6 option_price_call_european_binomial, 114, 118
lookback option, 170 option_price_call_european_binomial_multi_period_given_ud,
88
main, 9 option_price_call_european_binomial_single_period,
Merton 84, 87
Jump Diffusion, 186 option_price_call_european_simulated, 144
modified duration, 43 option_price_call_merton_jump_diffusion, 187

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option_price_delta_american_call_binomial, 120 Rendleman and Bartter model, 211
option_price_delta_call_black_scholes, 94, 145 return
option_price_delta_call_european_simulated, 145 internal rate of, 30
option_price_delta_generic_binomial, 182 rho, 94
option_price_european_call_dividends, 104
option_price_european_call_payout, 103, 104 sgn, 234
option_price_european_lookback_call, 170, 171 Sharpe Ratio, 75
option_price_generic_binomial, 179–181 simulate_lognormal_random_variable, 143
simulate_lognormally_distributed_sequence, 173
option_price_implied_volatility_call_black_scholes_bisections,
96 Simulation
option_price_implied_volatility_call_black_scholes_newton,Random normal numbers, 235
97, 98 simulation, 142
option_price_partials_american_call_binomial, 121, string (C++ type), 6
122
option_price_partials_call_black_scholes, 95 term structure derivatives, 227
option_price_put_american_finite_diff_explicit, 134 Term structure model
option_price_put_american_finite_diff_implicit, 138 Cox Ingersoll Ross, 205
option_price_put_american_finite_diff_implicit_itpp, term structure models
139 binomial, 211
option_price_put_american_trinomial, 184, 185 term_structure_class::d, 56
option_price_put_bermudan_binomial, 167, 168 term_structure_class::f, 56
option_price_put_black_scholes, 141 term_structure_class::r, 56
option_price_put_european_finite_diff_explicit, 133, term_structure_class_cir, 206, 249
136 term_structure_class_cir::d, 206
option_price_put_european_finite_diff_implicit, 140 term_structure_class_cir::term_structure_class_cir, 206
term_structure_class_cubic_spline, 202, 203, 249
partial derivatives term_structure_class_cubic_spline::d, 203
binomial, 120 term_structure_class_flat::r, 57
Black Scholes, 93 term_structure_class_ho_lee, 222
partials term_structure_class_ho_lee::d, 223
Black Scholes, 93 term_structure_class_ho_lee::term_structure_class_ho_lee,
payoff_arithmetric_average_call, 174 222
payoff_asset_or_nothing_call, 151 term_structure_class_interpolated::clear, 62
payoff_binary_call, 181 term_structure_class_interpolated::r, 62
payoff_binary_put, 181 term_structure_class_interpolated::set_interpolated_observations,
payoff_call, 146, 180 62
payoff_cash_or_nothing_call, 151 term_structure_class_interpolated::term_structure_class_interpolated
payoff_geometric_average_call, 174 62
payoff_lookback_call, 174 term_structure_class_nelson_siegel, 198
payoff_lookback_put, 174 term_structure_class_nelson_siegel::r, 199
payoff_put, 146, 180 term_structure_class_nelson_siegel::term_structure_class_nelson_sie
phi, 164 199
pow() (C++ statement), 7 term_structure_class_svensson, 201, 249
power, 9 term_structure_class_svensson::r, 201
present value, 26 term_structure_class_svensson::term_structure_class_svensson,
previous_date, 14 201
price_european_call_option_on_bond_using_ho_lee, term_structure_class_vasicek::d, 209
225 term_structure_class_vasicek::term_structure_class_vasicek,
prices, 116, 117 209
pricing term_structure_discount_factor_cir, 205, 207
relative, 82 term_structure_discount_factor_cubic_spline, 202, 204
put option, 82 term_structure_discount_factor_from_yield, 53
term_structure_discount_factor_vasicek, 208, 210
quadratic approximation, 159 term_structure_forward_rate_from_discount_factors,
53, 54
r, 55, 57, 61, 242 term_structure_forward_rate_from_yields, 53
random_normal, 235 term_structure_ho_lee_build_term_structure_tree, 222,
random_uniform_0_1, 235 223, 250
relative pricing, 82

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term_structure_yield_from_discount_factor, 53
term_structure_yield_linearly_interpolated, 60
term_structure_yield_nelson_siegel, 198, 200
term_structure_yield_svensson, 201
theta, 94
time
value of, 26
time_contingent_cash_flows, 225

underlying security, 89

valid, 10
Vasicek, 208
vega, 94
volatility
implied, 96

warrant_price_adjusted_black_scholes, 101

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