Spot and derivative pricing in the EEX power market

Using spot and futures price data from the German EEX Power market, we test the adequacy of various one-factor and two-factor models for electricity spot prices. The models are compared along two different dimensions: (1) We assess their ability to explain the major data characteristics and (2) the forecasting accuracy for expected future spot prices is analyzed. We find that the regime-switching models clearly outperform its competitors in almost all respects. The best results are obtained using a two-regime model with a Gaussian distribution in the spike regime. Furthermore, for short and medium-term periods our results underpin the frequently stated hypothesis that electricity futures quotes are consistently greater than the expected future spot, a situation which is denoted as contango.     

Futures volatility forecasting based on big data analytics with incorporating an order imbalance effect

Future markets play vital roles in supporting economic activities in modern society. For example, crude oil and electricity futures markets have heavy effects on a nation’s energy operation management. Thus, volatility forecasting of the futures market is an emerging but increasingly influential field of financial research. In this paper, we adopt big data analytics, called Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) from computer science, in an attempt to improve the forecasting accuracy of futures volatility and to demonstrate the application of big data analytics in the financial spectrum in terms of volatility forecasting. We further unveil that order imbalance estimation might incorporate abundant information to reflect price jumps and other trading information in the futures market. Including order imbalance information helps our model capture underpinned market rules such as supply and demand, which lightens the information loss during the model formation. Our empirical results suggest that the volatility forecasting accuracy of the XGBoost method considerably beats the GARCH-jump and HAR-jump models in both crude oil futures market and electricity futures market. Our results could also produce plentiful research implications for both policy makers and energy futures market participants.     

Analytical bounds for Treasury bond futures prices

The pricing of delivery options, particularly timing options, in Treasury bond futures is prohibitively expensive. Recursive use of the lattice model is unavoidable for valuing such options, as Boyle in J Finance 14(1):101?C113, (1989) demonstrates. As a result, the main purpose of this study is to derive upper bounds and lower bounds for Treasury bond futures prices. This study first shows that the popular preference-free, closed form cost of carry model is an upper bound for the Treasury bond futures price. Then, the next step is to derive analytical lower bounds for the futures price under one and two-factor Cox-Ingersoll-Ross models of the term structure. The bound under the two-factor Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model is then tested empirically using weekly futures prices from January 1987 to December 2000.     

Pricing interest rate options in a two-factor Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model of the term structure

Solutions are presented for prices on interest rate optionsin a two-factor version of the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model of theterm structure. Specific solutions are developed for caps onfloating interest rates and for European options on discountbonds, coupon bonds, coupon bond futures, and Euro-dollar futures.The solutions for the options are expressed as multivariateintegrals, and we show how to reduce the calculations to univariatenumerical integrations, which can be calculated very quickly.The two-factor model provides more flexibility in fitting observedterm structures, and the fixed parameters of the model can beset to capture tie variability of the term structure over time.     

Back to the futures: Retrospecting the prospects of smart grid technology

This paper analyzes a ten-year long technology debate, which dealt with the so-called advanced electricity meters in Norway (1998–2008). The debate circled around one central question: should the implementation of this technology be forced through with regulations or should the market decide on pace and character of implementation? In 2008 it was decided that it was best to regulate the implementation. Throughout these 10 years, the debate largely concerned how the future would look with or without regulation. This paper is inspired by “the sociology of expectation”, which assumes that futures are performative. This means that when the future is evoked or imagined, it influences present action and navigation. With this in mind, the paper analyzes future visions and expectations as they were formulated in the technology debate, and traces the role of these futures in the policy debate and for the policy outcome. The paper identifies two modes of future performativity: translative and transformative futures. Translative futures are often mobilized as spokespersons for desired technology or policy trajectories. Here, they work as (a) stagestting devices: sparking debate, enrolling new actors in the debate and generating interest. Further, they work as (b) regulative tools: establishing the need for political decisions, either to realize the content of future visions, or to avoid the contents of alternative futures. Transformative futures do more subtle and gradual work, shifting the practical, symbolic and cognitive meaning of “what” the technology in question might become in the future. As an example, the significance of the advanced electricity meters discussed in this paper changed from being a device filling the knowledge gaps of electricity consumers, to being a central hub in households delivering a range of potential services and being available for a number of different users. In this paper, I describe the gradual shift in understanding of what advanced electricity meters could be as a virtual domestication trajectory.     

A MULTIFACTOR MODEL OF THE QUALITY OPTION IN TREASURY FUTURES CONTRACTS

The values of quality options in Treasury futures contracts are set relative to the prices of all coupon bonds in their respective deliverable sets. As a result, any model used to value the quality option should set its price relative to the set of observed bond prices. This requirement rules out the use of most simple equilibrium models that represent all bond prices in terms of a finite number of state variables. We use the two-factor Heath-Jarrow-Morton model, which permits claims to be priced relative to observable bond prices, to investigate the potential value of the quality option in Treasury bond and note futures. We show that the quality option has significantly more value in a two-factor interest rate economy than in a single-factor economy, and that ignoring it could lead to significant mispricing.     

基于波动效应与价格发现的期指仿真交易研究

沪深300股指期货仿真交易的推出,对我国现货市场的影响如何以及这种影响是否有利于现货效率的改进。首次采用修正的GARCH模型和向量误差修正模型（VEC）将股指期货推出后现货市场波动性的变化和股指期货与现货市场的价格发现功能结合起来进行对比研究。结果表明,期指仿真交易的推出对于现货市场效率的改进确实存在正面的影响。其引入在短期内加大了现货市场的波动,但这一波动正是市场信息流动加速的反映,因而提高了市场信息的传递效率。同时期货价格领先于现货价格,存在由期货市场到现货市场长期的单向因果关系,说明期货价格具有引导现货价格向均衡方向调整的功能,从而在经验上支持了股指期货市场的开放政策。     

引入国债期货合约能否发挥现货市场稳定效应?——基于中国金融周期的研究视角

我国国债期货市场能否发挥稳定现货市场功能,金融周期风险是否会改变国债期货市场对现货市场波动的影响,是投资者实施风险管理和监管部门构建市场稳定机制的重要依据。本文通过信息传递机制和交易者行为两个维度探析国债期货市场发挥稳定功能的微观机理,分析金融周期风险对衍生工具稳定功能的影响,解析引入国债期货合约能否缓解金融周期波动对国债市场冲击,同时关注我国国债期货交易机制改进与现券波动关系。研究发现:(1)我国国债期货市场已实现抑制现货市场波动的功能,金融周期风险会引发现货价格波动,国债期货市场能够降低金融周期的波动冲击;(2)改善现货市场深度和套保交易是国债期货市场发挥稳定功能的微观路径,国债期货市场增进国债预期交易量流动性、减弱非预期交易量干扰,金融周期低波动区间套保交易稳定作用受到抑制;(3)国债期货投机交易和波动溢出效应助长现货市场波动,正负期现基差对国债波动影响具有非对称特征。     

Stochastic Convenience Yield and the Pricing of Oil Contingent Claims

This paper develops and empirically tests a two-factor model for pricing financial and real assets contingent on the price of oil. The factors are the spot price of oil and the instantaneous convenience yield. The parameters of the model are estimated using weekly oil futures contract prices from January 1984 to November 1988, and the model's performance is assessed out of sample by valuing futures contracts over the period November 1988 to May 1989. Finally, the model is applied to determine the present values of one barrel of oil deliverable in one to ten years time.     

Markov models for commodity futures: theory and practice

The objective of this paper is to develop a generic, yet practical, framework for the construction of Markov models for commodity derivatives. We aim for sufficient richness to permit applications to a broad variety of commodity markets, including those that are characterized by seasonality and by spikes in the spot process. In the first, largely theoretical, part of the paper we derive a series of useful results concerning the low-dimensional Markov representation of the dynamics of an entire term structure of futures prices. Extending previous results in the literature, we cover jump-diffusive models with stochastic volatility as well as several classes of regime-switching models. To demonstrate the process of building models for a specific commodity market, the second part of the paper applies a selection of our theoretical results to the exercise of constructing and calibrating derivatives trading models for USD natural gas. Special attention is paid to the incorporation of empirical seasonality effects in futures prices, in implied volatilities and their ‘smile’, and in correlations between futures contracts of different maturities. European option pricing in our proposed gas model is closed form and of the same complexity as the Black–Scholes formula.     

Modelling electricity prices: a time change approach

To capture mean reversion and sharp seasonal spikes observed in electricity prices, this paper develops a new stochastic model for electricity spot prices by time changing the Jump Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (JCIR) process with a random clock that is a composite of a Gamma subordinator and a deterministic clock with seasonal activity rate. The time-changed JCIR process is a time-inhomogeneous Markov semimartingale which can be either a jump-diffusion or a pure-jump process, and it has a mean-reverting jump component that leads to mean reversion in the prices in addition to the smooth mean-reversion force. Furthermore, the characteristics of the time-changed JCIR process are seasonal, allowing spikes to occur in a seasonal pattern. The Laplace transform of the time-changed JCIR process can be efficiently computed by Gauss–Laguerre quadrature. This allows us to recover its transition density through efficient Laplace inversion and to calibrate our model using maximum likelihood estimation. To price electricity derivatives, we introduce a class of measure changes that transforms one time-changed JCIR process into another time-changed JCIR process. We derive a closed-form formula for the futures price and obtain the Laplace transform of futures option price in terms of the Laplace transform of the time-changed JCIR process, which can then be efficiently inverted to yield the option price. By fitting our model to two major electricity markets in the US, we show that it is able to capture both the trajectorial and the statistical properties of electricity prices. Comparison with a popular jump-diffusion model is also provided.     

A Pricing Model for Quantity Contracts

An economic model is proposed for a combined price futures and yield futures market. The innovation of the article is a technique of transforming from quantity and price to a model of two genuine pricing processes. This is required in order to apply modern financial theory. It is demonstrated that the resulting model can be estimated solely from data for a yield futures market and a price futures market. We develop a set of pricing formulas, some of which are partially tested, using price data for area yield options from the Chicago Board of Trade. Compared to a simple application of the standard Black and Scholes model, our approach seems promising.     

美国黄金期货与黄金现货互动关系的实证研究

文章通过建立误差修正模型（ Error Correction ModeL,ECM）和基于持有成本理论的误差修正模型（ Error Correction ModeL Cost of Carry,ECM-CoC）,对美国黄金市场的期货与现货市场在金融危机前后的互动关系进行了实证分析。结果表明：在2007年金融危机前美国黄金期货市场引导黄金现货市场,期货市场的价格发现功能得以实现;在金融风暴后美国黄金现货和期货市场存在双向引导关系;美国黄金期货市场和现货市场之间存在长期均衡关系,期货市场和现货市场均存在误差修正机制,美国现货市场价格恢复均衡的调整速度高于黄金期货市场。     

Bank Funding Risks,Risk Aversion,and the Choice of Futures Hedging Instrument

Currently, theories of financial futures hedging are based on either a portfolio-choice approach or a duration approach. This article presents an alternative: a firm-theoretic model of bank behavior with financial futures. Assuming the bank is uncertain about cash CD interest rates and the quantity of CDs it needs in the future, expressions for the optimal futures hedge are derived under constant absolute risk aversion and constant relative risk aversion. The performance of these two strategies is estimated from 1981–1983 using either the recently developed CD futures contract or the T-Bill futures contract. These results are also compared with the performance of a portfolio-choice strategy and a routine hedging strategy. The analysis indicates that the CD futures market can serve a hedging purpose that is not served by the previously established T-Bill futures market.     

沪深300指数期货价格随机利率效应研究

经典持有成本模型在非随机利率假设无法满足的条件下仅仅是远期合约而非期货的定价模型。本文采用拟合SHIBOR曲线的方法生成无风险纯折现债券模拟价格序列,对沪深300指数期货价格的随机利率效应进行了实证检验。研究结果表明,由于利率管制、股指期货市场和货币市场发展不成熟等因素的共同作用,沪深300指数期货价格中不含随机利率效应,指数远期和期货理论价格相等;如果持有成本模型其他假设条件也得到满足,则该模型可以用于沪深300指数期货定价。     

A mixed C-vine copula model for hedging price and volumetric risk in wind power trading

When energy trading companies enter into long-term agreements with wind power producers, where a fixed price is paid for the fluctuating production, they are facing a joint price and volumetric risk. Since the pay-off of such agreements is non-linear, a hedging portfolio would ideally consist of not only forwards, but also a basket of e.g. call and put options. Illiquidity and an almost non-existent market for options challenge however the optimal hedging of joint price and volumetric risk in many market places. Here, we consider the case of the Danish power market, and exploit its strong positive correlation with the much more liquid German market to construct a proxy hedge. We propose a three-dimensional mixed vine copula to model the evolution of the Danish and German spot electricity prices and the Danish wind power production. We construct a realistic hedging portfolio by identifying various instruments available in the market, such as real options in the form of the right to transfer electricity across the border and the right to convert electricity to heat. Using the proposed vine copula to determine optimal hedging decisions, we show that significant benefits are to be drawn by extending the hedging portfolio with the proposed instruments.     

Price discovery and volatility spillovers in index futures markets: Some evidence from Mexico

This paper investigates the hypotheses that the recently established Mexican stock index futures market effectively serves the price discovery function, and that the introduction of futures trading has provoked volatility in the underlying spot market. We test both hypotheses simultaneously with daily data from Mexico in the context of a modified EGARCH model that also incorporates possible cointegration between the futures and spot markets. The evidence supports both hypotheses, suggesting that the futures market in Mexico is a useful price discovery vehicle, although futures trading has also been a source of instability for the spot market. Several managerial implications are derived and discussed.     

全球交易所战略合并背景下我国期货结算模式创新研究

独立结算模式和专属结算模式是国际期货市场结算体系的基本模式。在国际期货结算体系的发展实践中,两种模式各有利弊、相互交融、长期共存。随着全球衍生品市场竞争日趋激烈,交易所之间的战略合并成为衍生品市场发展的新趋势。但就期货产品的结算模式而言,专属结算模式成为各个交易所集团共同的选择或发展方向。目前我国期货市场的结算由四家交易所的内设结算部分别进行,随着期货市场创新发展的进一步深入,现行结算模式存在的问题也逐渐显现。建立期货市场独立统一的结算公司或成立交易所控股的结算公司,将是我国期货市场结算模式的路径选择。     

股指期货到期日效应在中国存在吗

本文选取1分钟高频数据作为研究对象,采用带有虚拟变量的自回归模型对沪深300股指期货合约是否具有到期日效应展开实证研究。研究的主要结论有：第一,股指期货合约到期日时,现货市场并没有出现交易量异常放大的现象,反而在到期日的最后两个小时,现货市场的交易量出现异常减少的现象;第二,股指期货合约到期日时,现货市场的波动率并没有出现异常的变化。由以上两个结论来看,沪深300股指期货合约并没有出现所谓的到期日效应,这与我国设计合理的交割结算价确定机制以及特殊的期货市场投资者结构有关。     

Monte Carlo valuation of natural gas investments

In this evaluation of energy assets related to natural gas, our particular focus is on a base load natural gas combined cycle power plant and a liquefied natural gas facility in a realistic setting. We also value several American-type investment options following the least squares Monte Carlo approach. We calibrate mean-reverting stochastic processes for gas and electricity prices by using data from NYMEX NG futures contracts and the Spanish wholesale electricity market, respectively. Additional sources of uncertainty concern the initial investment outlay, or the option's time to maturity, or the cost of CO₂ emission permits.