Building on the results of Ludwig (2012), we propose a method to construct robust timehomogeneous Markov chains that capture the risk-neutral transition of state prices from current snapshots of option prices on the S&P 500 index. Using the recovery theorem of Ross (2013), we then derive the market's forecast of the real-world return density and investigate the predictive information content of its moments. We find that changes in the recovered moments can be used to time the index, yielding strategies that not only outperform the market, but are also significantly less volatile.
In this paper, we propose an easy-to-use yet comprehensive model for a system of cointegrated commodity prices. While retaining the exponential affine structure of previous approaches, our model allows for an arbitrary number of cointegration relationships. We show that the cointegration component allows capturing well-known features of commodity prices, i.e., upward sloping (contango) and downward sloping (backwardation) term-structures, smaller volatilities for longer maturities and an upward sloping correlation term structure. The model is calibrated to futures price data of ten commodities. The results provide compelling evidence of cointegration in the data.Implications for the prices of futures and options written on common commodity spreads (e.g., spark spread and crack spread) are thoroughly investigated. Meeting held in Amsterdam for helpful comments and suggestions. We are also grateful to AXPO AG for sharing data.
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