Do terror attacks affect the dollar-pound exchange rate? A nonparametric causality-in-quantiles analysis

While much significant research has been done to study the effects of terror attacks on stock markets, less is known about the response of exchange rates to terror attacks. We suggest a non-parametric causality-in-quantiles test to study whether (relative) terror attacks affect exchange-rate returns and volatility. Using data on the dollar-pound exchange rate to illustrate the test, we show that terror attacks mainly affect the lower and upper quantiles of the conditional distribution of exchange-rate returns, while misspecified (due to nonlinearity and structural breaks) linear Granger causality test show no evidence of predictability. Terror attacks also affect almost all quantiles of the conditional distribution of exchange-rate volatility (except the extreme upper-end), with the significance of the effect being particularly strong for the lower quantiles. The importance of terror attacks is shown to hold also under an alternative measure of volatility and for an important emerging-market exchange rate as well.     

How to make Dupire’s local volatility work with jumps

There are several (mathematical) reasons why Dupire’s formula fails in the non-diffusion setting. And yet, in practice, ad-hoc preconditioning of the option data works reasonably well. In this note, we attempt to explain why. In particular, we propose a regularization procedure of the option data so that Dupire’s local vol diffusion process recreates the correct option prices, even in manifest presence of jumps.     

构建中国金融压力指数探析

加强宏观审慎管理,维护金融体系稳定,要求中央银行能够及时地监测金融市场总体状况,而现有指标多数局限于分析单个金融市场。2008金融危机后,美国圣路易斯联邦储备银行等机构开发出金融市场压力指数监测整个金融市场压力情况,从而更好地来评估货币政策效率和金融市场稳定状况。本文通过分析国际金融市场3种常用的金融压力指数,采用6个指标分别描述影响我国金融市场投资者信心和流动性状况的因素,并据此编制中国金融市场压力指数。实证研究结果表明,该指数与芝加哥期货交易所波动率指数存在长期协整关系,能够较好地刻划我国金融市场压力变动情况。