Stock index futures markets: stochastic volatility models and smiles

This study examined whether the inclusion of an appropriate stochastic volatility that captures key distributional and volatility facets of stock index futures is sufficient to explain implied volatility smiles for options on these markets. I considered two variants of stochastic volatility models related to Heston (1993). These models are differentiated by alternative normal or nonnormal processes driving log‐price increments. For four stock index futures markets examined, models including a negatively correlated stochastic volatility process with nonnormal price innovations performed best within the total sample period and for subperiods. Using these optimal stochastic volatility models, I determined the prices of European options. When comparing simulated and actual options prices for these markets, I found substantial differences. This suggests that the inclusion of a stochastic volatility process consistent with the objective process alone is insufficient to explain the existence of smiles. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 21:43–78, 2001     

Intradaily periodicity and volatility spillovers between international stock index futures markets

This paper examines short‐run information transmission between the U.S. and U.K. markets using the S&P 500 and FTSE 100 index futures. Ultrahighfrequency futures data are employed—which have a number of advantages over the low‐frequency spot data commonly used in previous studies—in establishing that volatility spillovers are in fact bidirectional. The generalized autoregressive conditionally heteroskedastic model (GARCH) is employed to estimate the mean and volatility spillovers of intraday returns. A Fourier flexible function is utilized to filter the intradaily periodic patterns that induce serial correlation in return volatility. It was found that estimates of volatility persistence and speed of information transmission are seriously affected by intradaily periodicity. The bias in parameter estimation is removed by filtering out the intradaily periodic component of the transaction data. Contrary to previous findings, there is evidence of spillovers in volatility between the U.S. and U.K. markets. Results indicate that the volatility of the U.S. market is affected by the most recent volatility surprise in the U.K. market. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 25:553–585, 2005     

Cash trading and index futures price volatility

This study examines the effect of cash market liquidity on the volatility of stock index futures. Two facets of cash market liquidity are considered: (1) the level of liquidity trading proxied by the expected New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trading volume and (2) the noise composition of trading proxied by the average NYSE trading commission cost. Under the framework of spline–GARCH with a liquidity component, both the quarterly average commission cost and the quarterly expected NYSE volume are negatively associated with the ex ante daily volatility of S&P 500 and NYSE composite index futures. Conversely, liquidity and noise trading in the cash market both dampen futures price volatility, ceteris paribus. This negative association between secular cash trading liquidity and daily futures price volatility is amplified during times of market crisis. These results retain statistical significance and materiality after controlling for bid–ask bounce of futures prices and volume of traded futures contracts. This study establishes empirical evidence to affirm the conventional prediction of a liquidity–volatility relationship: the liquidity effect is secular and persistent across markets. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 31:465–486, 2011     

After‐hours trading in equity futures markets

Although it is well known that electronic futures data absorb news (slightly) in advance of spot markets the role of the electronic futures movement in out‐of‐hours trading has not previously been explored. The behavior of the 24‐hour trade in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 futures market reveals the important role of these markets in absorbing news releases occurring outside of normal trading hours. Peaks in volume and volatility in this market occur in conjunction with U.S. 8:30 A.M. EST news releases, before the opening of the open‐outcry markets, and in a less pronounced fashion immediately post‐close the open‐outcry market. Price impact in these markets is statistically higher in the post‐close than in the pre‐open periods. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:114–136, 2009     

Interdealer trading in futures markets

Trading amongst dealers on the floor of the futures exchange is examined. Since there is only one trading venue, the common floor area, trading between dealers is carried on in the presence of trades involving customer orders as well, offering a unique setting for testing the effect of inventory on dealer pricing. The findings are that these futures floor traders implicitly engage in interdealer trading as an inventory management tool. Interdealer trades are more likely to be position reducing than other trades, at higher costs than offsetting with customers. In addition, the concept of a dealer hierarchy is developed, where some floor traders, who generally are more successful, profit from their trades with other dealers. Furthermore, these more successful traders are more likely to use interdealer trading in position reducing trades, which is consistent with the existence of a dealer hierarchy. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 24:923–944, 2004     

Price discovery and volatility spillovers in the DJIA index and futures markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is the most widely quoted stock index worldwide. This article examines the minute-by-minute price discovery process and volatility spillovers between the DJIA index and the index futures recently launched by the CBOT. The Hasbrouck (1995) cointegrating model suggests that most of the price discovery takes place at the futures market. However, by examining the volatility spillovers between the markets based on a bivariate EGARCH model, a significant bidirectional information flow is found. That is, innovations in one market can predict the future volatility in another market, but the futures market volatility-spillovers to the stock market more than vice versa. Both markets also exhibit asymmetric volatility effects, with bad news having a greater impact on volatility than good news. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 911–930, 1999     

Persistence of volatility in futures markets

This article examines the characteristics of key measures of volatility for different types of futures contracts to provide a better foundation for modeling volatility behavior and derivative values. Particular attention is focused on analyzing how different measures of volatility affect volatility persistence relationships. Intraday realized measures of volatility are found to be more persistent than daily measures, the type of GARCH procedure used for conditional volatility analysis is critical, and realized volatility persistence is not coherent with conditional volatility persistence. Specifically, although there is a good fit between the realized and conditional volatilities, no coherence exists between their degrees of persistence, a counterintuitive finding that shows realized and conditional volatility measures are not a substitute for one another. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 26:571–594, 2006     

The index futures markets: Is screen trading more efficient?

This article uses a nonparametric test based on the arc‐sine law (see, e.g., Feller, 1965 ), which involves comparing the theoretical distribution implied by an intraday random walk with the empirical frequency distribution of the daily high/low times, in order to address the question of whether the abandonment of pit trading has been associated with greater market efficiency. If market inefficiencies result from flaws in the market microstructure of pit trading, they ought to have been eliminated by the introduction of screen trading. If, on the other hand, the inefficiencies are a reflection of investor psychology, they are likely to have survived, unaffected by the changeover. We focus here on four cases. Both the FTSE‐100 and CAC‐40 index futures contracts were originally traded by open outcry and have moved over to electronic trading in recent years, so that we are able to compare pricing behavior before and after the changeover. The equivalent contracts in Germany and Korea, on the other hand, have been traded electronically ever since their inception. Our results overwhelmingly reject the random‐walk hypothesis both for open‐outcry and electronic‐trading data sets, suggesting there has been no increase in efficiency as a result of the introduction of screen trading. One possible explanation consistent with our results would be that the index futures market is characterized by intraday overreaction. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 24:337–357, 2004     

Managed futures,positive feedback trading,and futures price volatility

A major issue in recent years is the role that large, managed futures funds and pools play in futures markets. Many market participants argue that managed futures trading increases price volatility due to the size of managed futures trading and reliance on positive feedback trading systems. The purpose of this study is to provide new evidence on the impact of managed futures trading on futures price volatility. A unique data set on managed futures trading is analyzed for the period 1 December 1988 through 31 March 1989. The data set includes the daily trading volume of large commodity pools for 36 different futures markets. Regression results are unequivocal with respect to the impact of commodity pool trading on futures price volatility. For the 72 estimated regressions (two for each market), the coefficient on commodity pool trading volume is significantly different from zero in only four cases. These results constitute strong evidence that, at least for this sample period, commodity pool trading is not associated with increases in futures price volatility. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 759–776, 1999     

Realized volatility and correlation in energy futures markets

Using high‐frequency returns, realized volatility and correlation of the NYMEX light, sweet crude oil, and Henry‐Hub natural gas futures contracts are examined. The unconditional distributions of daily returns and daily realized variances are non‐Gaussian, whereas the distributions of the standardized returns (normalized by the realized standard deviation) and the (logarithms of) realized standard deviations appear approximately Gaussian. The (logarithms of) standard deviations exhibit long‐memory, but the realized correlation between the two futures does not, implying rather weak inter‐market linkage in the long run. There is evidence of asymmetric volatility for natural gas but not for crude oil futures. Finally, realized crude oil futures volatility responds with an increase in the weeks immediately before the OPEC events recommending price increases. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:993–1011, 2008     

Intraday volatility in the bond,foreign exchange,and stock index futures markets

Intraday volatility for the Eurodollar, the Euro/dollar foreign exchange rate, and the E‐mini S&P 500 futures contracts traded on a continuous 23‐hour schedule on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Globex electronic platform is studied. Volatility transmission in a single market across different regions is mainly explained by intraregion volatility (heat waves); interregion volatility (meteor showers) plays a secondary role. The joint impact of liquidity variables such as volume and open interest on volatility is also analyzed. Volume tends to increase volatility, but open interest does not affect it. The results are explained by the type of trading venue. Unlike floor‐based trading systems, in electronic markets open interest does not seem to provide additional information on market liquidity and its relation to volatility beyond any information contributed by volume. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:313– 334, 2008     

Insider trading in futures markets: A discussion

“…Every man in the War Department, and the Executive Mansion, who was so situated as to be able to communicate valuable information in advance of the newspaper dispatches was approached by the gold operators, and in most instances an arrangement existed between the former and the latter, for mutual profit.…”     

Intraday price discovery and volatility transmission in stock index and stock index futures markets: Evidence from China

Using high‐frequency data, this study investigates intraday price discovery and volatility transmission between the Chinese stock index and the newly established stock index futures markets in China. Although the Chinese stock index started a sharp decline immediately after the stock index futures were introduced, the cash market is found to play a more dominant role in the price discovery process. The new stock index futures market does not function well in its price discovery performance at its infancy stage, apparently due to high barriers to entry into this emerging futures market. Based on a newly proposed theoretically consistent asymmetric GARCH model, the results uncover strong bidirectional dependence in the intraday volatility of both markets. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark