A Range-Based Multivariate Stochastic Volatility Model for Exchange Rates

In this paper we present a parsimonious multivariate model for exchange rate volatilities based on logarithmic high–low ranges of daily exchange rates. The multivariate stochastic volatility model decomposes the log range of each exchange rate into two independent latent factors, which could be interpreted as the underlying currency specific components. Owing to the empirical normality of the logarithmic range measure the model can be estimated conveniently with the standard Kalman filter methodology. Our results show that our model fits the exchange rate data quite well. Exchange rate news seems to be currency specific and allows identification of currency contributions to both exchange rate levels and exchange rate volatilities.     

A Multivariate GARCH Model Incorporating the Direct and Indirect Transmission of Shocks

Theoretical models of contagion and spillovers allow for asset-specific shocks that can be directly transmitted from one asset to another, as well as indirectly transmitted across uncorrelated assets through some intermediary mechanism. Standard multivariate Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models, however, provide estimates of volatilities and correlations based only on the direct transmission of shocks across assets. As such, spillover effects via an intermediary asset or market are not considered. In this article, a multivariate GARCH model is constructed that provides estimates of volatilities and correlations based on both directly and indirectly transmitted shocks. The model is applied to exchange rate and equity returns data. The results suggest that if a spillover component is observed in the data, the spillover augmented models provide significantly different volatility estimates compared to standard multivariate GARCH models.     

Comparison of asymmetric stochastic volatility models under different correlation structures

This paper conducts simulation-based comparison of several stochastic volatility models with leverage effects. Two new variants of asymmetric stochastic volatility models, which are subject to a logarithmic transformation on the squared asset returns, are proposed. The leverage effect is introduced into the model through correlation either between the innovations of the observation equation and the latent process, or between the logarithm of squared asset returns and the latent process. Suitable Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms are developed for parameter estimation and model comparison. Simulation results show that our proposed formulation of the leverage effect and the accompanying inference methods give rise to reasonable parameter estimates. Applications to two data sets uncover a negative correlation (which can be interpreted as a leverage effect) between the observed returns and volatilities, and a negative correlation between the logarithm of squared returns and volatilities.     

Common-factor stochastic volatility modelling with observable proxy

Multi-asset modelling is of fundamental importance to financial applications such as risk management and portfolio selection. In this article, we propose a multivariate stochastic volatility modelling framework with a parsimonious and interpretable correlation structure. Building on well-established evidence of common volatility factors among individual assets, we consider a multivariate diffusion process with a common-factor structure in the volatility innovations. Upon substituting an observable market proxy for the common volatility factor, we markedly improve the estimation of several model parameters and latent volatilities. The model is applied to a portfolio of several important constituents of the S&P500 in the financial sector, with the VIX index as the common-factor proxy. We find that the prediction intervals for asset forecasts are comparable to those of more complex dependence models, but that option-pricing uncertainty can be greatly reduced by adopting a common-volatility structure. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 48: 36–61; 2020 © 2020 Statistical Society of Canada     

Selection of Multivariate Stochastic Volatility Models via Bayesian Stochastic Search

We propose a Bayesian stochastic search approach to selecting restrictions on multivariate regression models where the errors exhibit deterministic or stochastic conditional volatilities. We develop a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm that generates posterior restrictions on the regression coefficients and Cholesky decompositions of the covariance matrix of the errors. Numerical simulations with artificially generated data show that the proposed method is effective in selecting the data-generating model restrictions and improving the forecasting performance of the model. Applying the method to daily foreign exchange rate data, we conduct stochastic search on a VAR model with stochastic conditional volatilities.     

Computational aspects of pricing foreign exchange options with stochastic volatility and stochastic interest rates

This paper presents an analytic result for the price of a European call option on a foreign exchange currency rate. Market volatility is assumed correlated with the exchange rate and interest rates, domestic and foreign, are assumed to be stochastic. Integrals involving interest rates are derived, characteristic functions are produced, and, with evaluation, the nature of the integrals involved in Fourier inversion is examined. By comparison with FX market data, some of the effects of the nature of stochastic interest rates upon option prices are examined.     

新汇改以来人民币汇率参考一篮子货币权重的估计及经验验证

本文首先构建人民币对美元汇率指数和篮子货币汇率指数,根据人民币对美元汇率指数和篮子货币相关性指数最大化可以确定篮子货币的权重和数量,并对新汇改后篮子货币的权重和数量进行测度。我们的研究发现：在参考一篮子货币中,美元的权重最高,英镑的权重最小,但是其他货币权重都占有一定比例,我们的货币篮子和央行的货币篮子线性相关性较高。根据每一种货币的权重大小,我们可以计算出篮子中每一种货币的数量。根据最优货币权重,我们研究发现人民币对美元汇率和篮子货币之间存在长期协整关系,误差修正模型显示人民币汇率参考篮子货币调整的短期弹性和长期弹性比较接近,说明人民币汇率参考篮子货币调整相对比较稳定。本文检验了模型的预测效果,模型拟合度较高,说明我们选取的货币篮子具有较好的代表性。     

Realized Volatility: A Review

This article reviews the exciting and rapidly expanding literature on realized volatility. After presenting a general univariate framework for estimating realized volatilities, a simple discrete time model is presented in order to motivate the main results. A continuous time specification provides the theoretical foundation for the main results in this literature. Cases with and without microstructure noise are considered, and it is shown how microstructure noise can cause severe problems in terms of consistent estimation of the daily realized volatility. Independent and dependent noise processes are examined. The most important methods for providing consistent estimators are presented, and a critical exposition of different techniques is given. The finite sample properties are discussed in comparison with their asymptotic properties. A multivariate model is presented to discuss estimation of the realized covariances. Various issues relating to modelling and forecasting realized volatilities are considered. The main empirical findings using univariate and multivariate methods are summarized.     

Realized Volatility: A Review

This article reviews the exciting and rapidly expanding literature on realized volatility. After presenting a general univariate framework for estimating realized volatilities, a simple discrete time model is presented in order to motivate the main results. A continuous time specification provides the theoretical foundation for the main results in this literature. Cases with and without microstructure noise are considered, and it is shown how microstructure noise can cause severe problems in terms of consistent estimation of the daily realized volatility. Independent and dependent noise processes are examined. The most important methods for providing consistent estimators are presented, and a critical exposition of different techniques is given. The finite sample properties are discussed in comparison with their asymptotic properties. A multivariate model is presented to discuss estimation of the realized covariances. Various issues relating to modelling and forecasting realized volatilities are considered. The main empirical findings using univariate and multivariate methods are summarized.     

Common Drifting Volatility in Large Bayesian VARs

The general pattern of estimated volatilities of macroeconomic and financial variables is often broadly similar. We propose two models in which conditional volatilities feature comovement and study them using U.S. macroeconomic data. The first model specifies the conditional volatilities as driven by a single common unobserved factor, plus an idiosyncratic component. We label this model BVAR with general factor stochastic volatility (BVAR-GFSV) and we show that the loss in terms of marginal likelihood from assuming a common factor for volatility is moderate. The second model, which we label BVAR with common stochastic volatility (BVAR-CSV), is a special case of the BVAR-GFSV in which the idiosyncratic component is eliminated and the loadings to the factor are set to 1 for all the conditional volatilities. Such restrictions permit a convenient Kronecker structure for the posterior variance of the VAR coefficients, which in turn permits estimating the model even with large datasets. While perhaps misspecified, the BVAR-CSV model is strongly supported by the data when compared against standard homoscedastic BVARs, and it can produce relatively good point and density forecasts by taking advantage of the information contained in large datasets.     

Predicting daily highs and lows of exchange rates: a cointegration analysis

This article presents empirical evidence that links the daily highs and lows of exchange rates of the US dollar against two other major currencies over a 15 year period. We find that the log high and log low of an exchange rate are cointegrated, and the error correction term is well-approximated by the range, which is defined as the difference between the log high and log low. We further assess the empirical relevance of jointly analyzing the highs, lows and the ranges by comparing the range forecasts generated from the cointegration framework with those from random walk and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) specifications. The ability of range forecasts as predictors of implied volatility for a European style currency option is also evaluated. Our results show that aside from a limited set of exceptions, the cointegration framework generally outperforms the random walk and ARIMA models in an out-of-sample forecast contest.     

Markov Switching in GARCH Processes and Mean-Reverting Stock-Market Volatility

This article introduces four models of conditional heteroscedasticity that contain Markov-switching parameters to examine their multiperiod stock-market volatility forecasts as predictions of options-implied volatilities. The volatility model that best predicts the behavior of the options-implied volatilities allows the Student-t degrees-of-freedom parameter to switch such that the conditional variance and kurtosis are subject to discrete shifts. The half-life of the most leptokurtic state is estimated to be a week, so expected market volatility reverts to near-normal levels fairly quickly following a spike.     

Inference for Adaptive Time Series Models: Stochastic Volatility and Conditionally Gaussian State Space Form

In this paper we model the Gaussian errors in the standard Gaussian linear state space model as stochastic volatility processes. We show that conventional MCMC algorithms for this class of models are ineffective, but that the problem can be alleviated by reparameterizing the model. Instead of sampling the unobserved variance series directly, we sample in the space of the disturbances, which proves to lower correlation in the sampler and thus increases the quality of the Markov chain.

Using our reparameterized MCMC sampler, it is possible to estimate an unobserved factor model for exchange rates between a group of n countries. The underlying n + 1 country-specific currency strength factors and the n + 1 currency volatility factors can be extracted using the new methodology. With the factors, a more detailed image of the events around the 1992 EMS crisis is obtained.

We assess the fit of competitive models on the panels of exchange rates with an effective particle filter and find that indeed the factor model is strongly preferred by the data.     

Analytical and numerical studies on the second-order asymptotic expansion method for European option pricing under two-factor stochastic volatilities

The celebrated Black–Scholes model made the assumption of constant volatility but empirical studies on implied volatility and asset dynamics motivated the use of stochastic volatilities. Christoffersen in 2009 showed that multi-factor stochastic volatilities models capture the asset dynamics more realistically. Fouque in 2012 used it to price European options. In 2013, Chiarella and Ziveyi considered Christoffersen’s ideas and introduced an asset dynamics where the two volatilities of the Heston type act separately and independently on the asset price, and using Fourier transform for the asset price process and double Laplace transform for the two volatilities processes, solved a pricing problem for American options. This paper considers the Chiarella and Ziveyi model and parameterizes it so that the volatilities revert to the long-run-mean with reversion rates that mimic fast (for example daily) and slow (for example seasonal) random effects. Applying asymptotic expansion method presented by Fouque in 2012, we make an extensive and detailed derivation of the approximation prices for European options. We also present numerical studies on the behavior and accuracy of our first- and second-order asymptotic expansion formulas.     

Bootstrap forecast intervals for asymmetric volatilities via EGARCH model

Bootstrap forecast intervals are developed for volatilities having asymmetric features, which are accounted for by fitting EGARCH models. A Monte-Carlo simulation compares the proposed forecast intervals with those based on GARCH fittings which ignore asymmetry. The comparison reveals substantial advantage of addressing asymmetry through EGARCH fitting over ignoring it as the conventional GARCH forecast. The EGARCH forecast intervals have empirical coverage probabilities closer to the nominal level and/or have shorter average lengths than the GARCH forecast intervals. The finding is also supported by real dataset analysis of Dow–Jones index and financial times stock exchange (FTSE) 100 index.     

The Use of Ratios to Compare Volatilities and VaRs

The riskiness of two investments can be compared by looking at the ratio of the respective Value-at-Risk's (VaRs) or the ratio of volatilities. The exact distribution of the ratio of two volatilities calculated from normal observations and an asymptotic confidence interval for the ratio of two VaRs is derived. A simulation study shows good coverage rates for ratios of VaRs calculated from observations from distributions commonly used to model logarithmic returns.     

央行外汇干预、投资者情绪与汇率变动

本文基于开放经济框架构建了包含央行外汇干预、投资者情绪与汇率变动的内生动态系统,从理论层面阐述了三者传导的微观机制。理论分析表明,央行外汇干预、投资者情绪与汇率变动之间存在非线性的内生联动效应。为刻画这一效应,文章选取TVP-SV-BVAR模型分别从全局性及多重情景进行实证分析,研究发现：央行外汇干预能够在短期内起到稳定人民币汇率的作用,但长期内会加剧汇率波动。同时,央行外汇干预短期内会加剧投资者情绪波动而使得干预效果减弱,但投资者情绪长期内对汇率的影响不明显。鉴于央行外汇干预对汇率稳定的有效性逐渐下降,且投资者情绪对汇率的冲击易受非预期外部环境的影响。因此,随着人民币汇率形成机制的不断完善,货币当局如何在审慎、适当的外汇干预中保持投资者情绪稳定,并进而实现人民币汇率在合理均衡的区间内波动应成为货币政策的一项重要内容。     

Risk-minimizing pricing and hedging foreign currency options under regime-switching jump-diffusion models

This article mainly investigates risk-minimizing European currency option pricing and hedging strategy when the spot foreign exchange rate is driven by a Markov-modulated jump-diffusion model. We suppose the domestic and foreign money market floating interest rates, the drift, and the volatility of the exchange rate dynamics all depend on the state of the economy, which is modeled by a continuous-time hidden Markov chain. The model considered in this article will provide market practitioners with flexibility in characterizing the dynamics of the spot foreign exchange rate. Using the minimal martingale measure, we obtain a system of coupled partial-differential-integral equations satisfied by the currency option price and find the corresponding hedging strategies and the residual risk. According to simulation of currency option prices in the special case of double exponential jump-diffusion regime-switching model, we further discuss and show the effects of the parameters on the prices.     

Multivariate Stochastic Volatility Model With Realized Volatilities and Pairwise Realized Correlations

Abstract

Although stochastic volatility and GARCH (generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity) models have successfully described the volatility dynamics of univariate asset returns, extending them to the multivariate models with dynamic correlations has been difficult due to several major problems. First, there are too many parameters to estimate if available data are only daily returns, which results in unstable estimates. One solution to this problem is to incorporate additional observations based on intraday asset returns, such as realized covariances. Second, since multivariate asset returns are not synchronously traded, we have to use the largest time intervals such that all asset returns are observed to compute the realized covariance matrices. However, in this study, we fail to make full use of the available intraday informations when there are less frequently traded assets. Third, it is not straightforward to guarantee that the estimated (and the realized) covariance matrices are positive definite.

Our contributions are the following: (1) we obtain the stable parameter estimates for the dynamic correlation models using the realized measures, (2) we make full use of intraday informations by using pairwise realized correlations, (3) the covariance matrices are guaranteed to be positive definite, (4) we avoid the arbitrariness of the ordering of asset returns, (5) we propose the flexible correlation structure model (e.g., such as setting some correlations to be zero if necessary), and (6) the parsimonious specification for the leverage effect is proposed. Our proposed models are applied to the daily returns of nine U.S. stocks with their realized volatilities and pairwise realized correlations and are shown to outperform the existing models with respect to portfolio performances.     

Using an empirical Bayes model to estimate currency exchange rate

An empirical Bayes (EB) model to estimate the exchange rate of a national currency is described. The national currency under consideration is typically non-convertible, and is generally associated with a weak economy of a Third World country. We take the Nigerian currency as an example. Using theta as a generic notation for the exchange rate parameter, a sequence of sample mean estimates theta i MN (i = 1, 2, . . ., m) is generated over m time periods. An EB model is formulated for the theta MN , from which the empirical Bayes estimates theta i EB are calculated. The performances of theta EB and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) estimate theta CBN are compared. On several performance measures, theta EB is shown to be superior to theta CBN .