A comparison of futures and forward prices

This paper uses the pricing models of Cox, Ingersoll and Ross (1981), Richard and Sundaresan (1981), and French (1982) to examine the relation between futures and forward prices for copper and silver. There are significant differences between these prices. The average differences are generally consistent with the predictions of the futures and forward price models. However, these models are not helpful in describing intra-sample variations in the futures-forward price differences. This failure is apparently caused by measurement errors in both the price differences and in the explanatory variables.     

The relation between forward prices and futures prices

This paper consolidates the results of some recent work on the relation between forward prices and futures prices. It develops a number of propositions characterizing the two prices. These propositions contain several testable implications about the difference between forward and futures prices. Many of the propositions show that equilibrium forward and futures prices are equal to the values of particular assets, even though they are not in themselves asset prices. The paper then illustrates these results in the context of two valuation models and discusses the effects of taxes and other institutional factors.     

Transaction costs and asset prices: a dynamic equilibrium model

In this article we study the effects of transaction costs onasset prices. We assume an overlapping generations economy witha riskless, liquid bond, and many risky stocks carrying proportionaltransaction costs. We obtain stock prices and turnover in closedform. Surprisingly, a stock's price may increase in transactioncosts, and a more frequently traded stock may be less adverselyaffected by an increase in transaction costs. Calculations basedon the 'marginal' investor overestimate the effects of transactioncosts. For realistic parameter values, transaction costs havevery small effects on stock prices but large effects on turnover.     

A macroeconomic model with asset equilibrium for an open economy

This article is concerned with the problem of the effects of monetary policy in an open economy in the long run. In order to analyze this problem under assumptions that are more suitable for long-run analysis than those of the usual IS-LM model a new model has been constructed with flexible prices, fixed exchange rates and a flexible capital stock. Within this framework it is found that the effectiveness of monetary policy crucially depends upon the degree of asset and goods arbitrage across national borders. Sufficient asset or goods arbitrage are both sufficient conditions to yield a zero effect of monetary policy except on foreign exchange reserves.     

An intemporal model of asset prices in a Markov economy with a limiting stationary distribution

A testable single-beta model of asset prices is presented. Ifstate variables have a long-run stationary joint dysfunction,then the rate return on a very long-term default-free discountbond will be perfectly correlated with the representative investor'smarginal utility of consumption. Thus, the covariance of anasset's return with the return on such a bond will be an appropriatemeasure of the asset's riskiness. The model can be, therefore,applied or tested even though the market portfolio or aggregateconsumption may not be observable. It also is shown that theexpected rate of return on a very long-term bond is equal toits variance. This proposition can be tested to determine whetherstate variables follow stationary processes.     

The equilibrium price of futures contracts: A result drawn from capital asset pricing model

A recent study shows that separation theorems in the stock and forward market literatures may not hold in an integrated financial market; therefore, the securities market may influence futures trading. This article investigates the securities market influence on the futures price. The result shows that although the futures price incorporates the investor's expectation about the future spot price, it generally is not a best estimate of the spot price. In addition, it is shown that the speculative activity can destabilize the cash market for some commodities, if initially, the underlying cash price is highly volatile.     

Intergenerational risksharing and equilibrium asset prices

In the presence of overlapping generations, a social security system, with contingent taxes and benefits, can affect both asset prices and intergenerational risksharing. In a simple model with two risky factors of production—human capital, owned by the young, and physical capital, owned by all older generations—a social security system that optimally shares risks exposes future generations to a share of the risk in physical capital. Such a system reduces precautionary saving and increases the riskbearing capacity of the economy. Under plausible conditions it increases the riskless interest rate, and lowers the price and risk premium of physical capital.     

The price of risk and ambiguity in an intertemporal general equilibrium model of asset prices

We consider a version of the intertemporal general equilibrium model of Cox et?al. (Econometrica 53:363–384, 1985) with a single production process and two correlated state variables. It is assumed that only one of them, Y ₂, has shocks correlated with those of the economy’s output rate and, simultaneously, that the representative agent is ambiguous about its stochastic process. This implies that changes in Y ₂ should be hedged and its uncertainty priced, with this price containing risk and ambiguity components. Ambiguity impacts asset pricing through two channels: the price of uncertainty associated with the ambiguous state variable, Y ₂, and the interest rate. With ambiguity, the equilibrium price of uncertainty associated with Y ₂ and the equilibrium interest rate can increase or decrease, depending on: (i) the correlations between the shocks in Y ₂ and those in the output rate and in the other state variable; (ii) the diffusion functions of the stochastic processes for Y ₂ and for the output rate; and (iii) the gradient of the value function with respect to Y ₂. As applications of our generic setting, we deduct the model of Longstaff and Schwartz (J Financ 47:1259–1282, 1992) for interest-rate-sensitive contingent claim pricing and the variance-risk price specification in the option pricing model of Heston (Rev Financ Stud 6:327–343, 1993). Additionally, it is obtained a variance-uncertainty price specification that can be used to obtain a closed-form solution for option pricing with ambiguity about stochastic variance.     

Asymmetric information and imperfect competition in a continuous time multivariate security model

This paper deals with the problem of price formation in a market with asymmetric information and several risky assets. We then extend the multivariate security model of Caballé and Krishnan (1994) to a continuous time framework, and general utility function. Our model enables us to observe some results which are specific to multi security markets such as Giffen effect. An application of the main result will be the non trivial generalizations of the models of Back (1992) and Cho (1997).Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 49L10, 60G44, 90A15JEL Classification: G11, G12The author would like to thank his supervisor H. Pham, K. Back and an anonymous referee for useful comments and discussions.     

Index-futures arbitrage and the behavior of stock index futures prices

This article examines intraday transaction data for S&P500 stock index futures prices and the intraday quotes for theunderlying index. The data indicate that the futures price changesare uncorrelated and that the variability of these price changesexceeds the variability of price changes in the S&P 500index. This excess variability of the futures over the indexremains even after controlling for the nonsynchronous pricesin the index quotes, which induces auto-correlation in the indexchanges. We advance and examine empirically two hypotheses regardingthe difference between the futures price and its theoreticalvalue: that this 'mispricing' increases on average with maturity,and that it is path-dependent. Evidence supporting these hypothesesis presented.     

Asset prices and liquidity in an exchange economy

An asset-pricing model is developed, in which financial assets are valued for their liquidity—the extent to which they are useful in facilitating exchange—as well as for being claims to streams of consumption goods. The theory is used to study the implications of this liquidity channel for average asset returns, the equity-premium puzzle and the risk-free rate puzzle.     

Can the choice of interpolation method explain the difference between swap prices and futures prices?

The standard model linking the swap rate to the rates in a contemporaneous strip of futures interest rate contracts typically produces biased estimates of the swap rate. Institutional differences usually require some form of interpolation to be employed and may in principle explain this empirical result. Using Australian data, we find evidence consistent with this explanation and show that model performance is greatly improved if an alternative interpolation method is used. In doing so, we also provide the first published Australian evidence on the accuracy of the futures‐based approach to pricing interest rate swaps.     

The role of speculation in international futures markets on commodity prices

The role of futures contracts on spot prices has been one of the key focus areas of research since the recent surge in commodity prices and increase in the volatility of commodity returns. However, no consensus arises from this literature, and hence it is difficult to link the use of futures contracts in agricultural commodities by non-hedgers and the growing food insecurity within developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to highlight causal relationships from futures contracts to spot prices of underlying assets, namely agricultural commodities. As research that focus on exchange-traded funds do not provide any clear conclusions, we focus on the imbalance between short- and long-open positions, this imbalance being caused by the exchange traded funds’ participation in futures markets. In this paper, we estimate relationships between financial variables including indicators for speculation in futures markets and the returns of cocoa, corn, soybean, wheat, coffee, rice, and sugar on a weekly basis from 1998 to 2013. Significant results lead to Granger-causality tests that in turn validate the hypothesis of a positive impact of speculation in futures markets to returns on the underlying commodities.     

The smirk in the S&P500 futures options prices: a linearized factor analysis

In the S&P500 futures options, we identify three factors, corresponding to movements in the underlying, parallel movements, and tilting of the cross section of implied volatilities (the “smirk factor”). We relate these factors non-linearly to movements in the option prices. They seem to be diffusive in nature, have significant associated risk premia, and can account for an overwhelming part of the option price movements. We interpret the options smirk, which is the notion that out-of-the-money (OTM) puts seem expensive relative to OTM calls, in terms of the prices of these risk factors. Going short OTM puts and long OTM calls, corresponding to the third factor, makes a profit on average, but this corresponds to its risk premium, and does not represent a market inefficiency. Our smirk factor is useful for hedging option portfolios, but seems unrelated to movements in the underlying, and does not fit into the framework of the jump-diffusion models.      

Inattention, wealth inequality and equilibrium asset prices

Heterogeneity in planning propensity affects wealth inequality and asset prices. This paper presents an economy where attentive agents plan their consumption period by period, while inattentive agents plan every other period. Inattentive consumers face more uncertainty and trade at unfavorable prices. If the only source of uncertainty is future income, inattentive consumers accumulate more wealth. In contrast, with uncertain asset returns inattentive investors accumulate less wealth. Asset prices must induce attentive consumers to voluntarily bear the burden of adjusting to aggregate shocks and, as a result, are much more volatile than in a representative agent model with full attention.     

Determination of stock closing prices and hedging performance with stock indices futures

This paper examines the impact of the determination of stock closing prices on futures price efficiency and hedging effectiveness with stock indices futures. The empirical results indicate that the increase in the length of the batching period of the stock closing call improves price efficiency in the futures closing prices and then enhances hedging performance in terms of the hedging risks. Additionally, from a utility‐maximization point of view, hedging performance does not improve after the introduction of the 5 min stock closing call, which can be explained by an improvement in price efficiency at the futures market close.     

A Markov model for valuing asset prices in a dynamic bargaining market

This paper proposes a Markov chain model for studying the impact on asset prices of illiquidity associated with search and bargaining in an economy. The economy consists of finitely many agents who can trade only when they find each other, and any trade between agents changes the population of the agent types which affects the asset price in the future. Assuming that the equilibrium utility as well as the trade price is proportional to the asset dividend, we obtain the asset prices in steady state. Through extensive numerical experiments, we observe that the equilibrium prices exhibit the cutoff phenomenon (i.e. crash) as the fraction of pessimistic agents becomes large. Models with a market maker as well as irrational agents are also considered.