Large data sets are required to store all of the information contained in option chains. The data set we work with includes all U.S. exchange traded put and call options. This data set is part of a larger data set commonly referred to as the National Best Bid Offer (NBBO) data set. The national bid best offer is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) term for the best available ask price and bid price. Brokers must guarantee investors these prices on their trades. We have acquired data for the 5 year period from 2005 to 2009 for all U.S. traded options. Each year of data is approximately 6 gigabytes. The company, (DeltaNeutral - Options Data And End Of Day Downloads, 2010), from which we acquired the data, also has a software package, OptimalTrader, to process the data. For this data to be used in research projects, the data must be accessible by specific underlying security for selected date ranges. This type of data is more useful to the financial mathematics student than the output given by the software provided by DeltaNeutral. The software used in this data manipulation is Matlab. Each individual file of original data was parsed, and new files were written with some reformatting in which the original data was largely reorganized. The new organization will make searching for information from one stock or any specific group of stocks easier to achieve. We have created 3 m-files in Matlab which deal with reformatting the data, error handling, and searching through the original or reformatted data. The result is that new datasets can be created for further studying and manipulation. Future students working with this data should find this method, toolset, and the newly constructed datasets to be useful tools in working with options data and examining option chains.

[pt] Este trabalho procura confirmar a hipótese de o modelo de apreçamento de opções GARCH reduzir alguns dos já amplamente estudados vieses do modelo de Black & Scholes, utilizando opções de compra da Telebras no período julho de 1995 a junho de 2000. Para isso, comparam-se os preços encontrados por intermédio do modelo GARCH com os do modelo de Black & Scholes, cotejando-os com os preços de mercado. Os resultados indicaram que o modelo GARCH foi capaz de diminuir alguns dos vieses, principalmente para opções fora- do-dinheiro com curto tempo para o vencimento. Desta forma, o modelo GARCH se mostrou uma alternativa eficaz ao modelo de Black e Scholes, sobretudo para opções com pouca liquidez, nas quais não é possível a utilização da volatilidade implícita da equação de Black e Scholes. / [en] This study attempts to confirm the hypothesis that the GARCH option pricing model reduces some of the well- documented biases associated with the Black & Scholes model, using Telebras calls in the period of July 1995 to June 2000. For this purpose, the prices obtained by the GARCH model are compared with the ones obtained by the Black and Scholes model, and both of them are checked with the market prices. The results of this research indicate that the GARCH model is able to lessen some biases, specially for out-of-the-money options with short maturity. Thus, the GARCH model is an efficient alternative to the Black and Scholes model, mainly for options with low liquidity, in which it is not possible to use the implicit volatility of the Black and Scholes equation.

Användandet av olika incitamentsprogram och aktierelaterade ersättningar i synnerhet har ökat sen 80-talet. Aktierelaterade ersättningsprogram används för att uppmuntra persona-len att aktivt deltaga för att förbättra företagets resultat. Ersättningarna i dessa program be-står antingen av köpotioner, teckningsoptioner, syntetiska optioner eller konvertibler. Sedan den 1 januari 2005 gäller de nya redovisningsreglerna IFRS 2. Dessa regler styr redo-visningen av aktierelaterade ersättningar. IFRS 2 kräver att alla företag noterade på någon börs inom EU kostnadsför dessa ersättningar i resultaträkningen. Innan implementeringen av de nya reglerna räckte det med att ta upp dessa ersättningar i notform. IFRS 2 kräver att dessa regler retroaktivt skall användas för att påvisa dess effekter på 2004 års resultaträk-ning. Anledningen till detta är att potentiella investerare skall ha möjlighet att kunna jämfö-ra resultaträkningar från olika år. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilka effekter företagen på den svenska A-listan skul-le få erfara om IFRS 2 var implementerad redan år 2004. Vidare ämnar vi att beskriva hur aktierelaterade ersättningsprogram används och hur detta påverkar företagen. Uppsatsen är genomförd med en kvantitativ ansats och har baserats på sekundärdata från företagens årsrapporter. Vårt urval är det samma som totalpopulationen på den svenska A-listan. De slutsatser som vi kunnat dra i vår uppsats är att majoriteten av de noterade företagen på A-listan använder någon form av aktierelaterade ersättningsprogram. Den mest använda optionstypen är teckningsoptioner. I medel skulle resultatet minskat med 0,89 procent på grund av IFRS 2. Utspädningseffekten som orsakats av aktierelaterade ersättningar var i medel 0,54 procent. Företagen på A-listan använder i huvudsak Black & Scholes-modellen vid värdering av de aktierelaterade ersättningsprogrammen. Vidare indikerar resultatet av vår studie att företag som använder köpoptioner skulle ha haft mest negativ resultatpåver-kan på grund av IFRS 2. En annan intressant slutsats är att större företag tenderar att in-volvera alla anställda i sina aktieoptionsprogram medan mindre bolag föredrar att rikta des-sa aktierelaterade ersättningar endast till chefer och ledning. / The use of incitement programs and share-based programs in particular has increased since the 1980`s. These share-based programs are used to encourage the employees to actively participate in increasing the company’s result. The payment in these share-based compen-sations either is; call options, subscription options, synthetic options or convertibles. From January 1 2005, the new accounting regulation IFRS 2 regarding share-based pay-ments are implemented. The IFRS 2 demands all companies noted on a stock exchange in the European Union to account for the share-based payments and expense these in the in-come statement. Before this implementation, these payments only had to be described in a disclosed form. However for the year 2004, the effects due to the IFRS 2 have to be taken into consideration in the income statement. The reason for this is that potential investors must have the possibility to compare the financial statements between different time peri-ods. The purpose with thesis is to cover what effects the companies’ on the Swedish A-list should have had if the IFRS 2 were implemented already the year 2004. Secondly, the aim is to cover and describe the utilization of share-based programs among these companies and to explain how they are affected. The thesis is conducted through a quantitative approach and based on secondary data from annual reports of the companies’. Our selection is the total population on the Swedish A-list. The conclusions made in our thesis are that the majority of the A-listed companies’ use some kind of share-based programs. The most frequently used option type is the subscrip-tion option. On average, the decrease in result was 0,89 percent due to IFRS 2. On average the dilution effect due to the use of share-based programs decreased the result per share by 0,54 percent. The companies on the A-list use the Black & Scholes formula to valuate the share-based payments. Our study also indicates that the companies using call options should have experienced the greatest result decrease due to the IFRS 2. Another interesting conclusion is that the larger companies in our study are most likely to involve all the em-ployees’ in the share-based programs while the smaller companies prefer to only involve executives and other leading personnel.

I uppsatsen undersöks hur det mer förmånliga jobbskatteavdraget för äldre personer över 65 år kan tänkas påverka incitament att arbeta. Denna del av jobbskatteavdraget infördes i syfte av att få fler äldre personer att förlänga sitt arbetsliv för att stärka finansieringen av välfärden, få fler som försörjer färre. För att mäta incitamenten att arbeta beräknas alternativvärdet för en fiktiv typfallsindivid. Resultatet visar på att det mer förmånliga jobbskatteavdraget för äldre personer över 65 år påverkar incitamenten att arbeta i en positiv bemärkelse. Dessutom under vissa förutsättningar antyder resultatet att det blir optimalt att arbeta fler år och därmed förskjuta pensioneringsbeslutet framåt i tiden.

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We use dynamic hedging to replicate the short put positions of common stocks and thelong put positions of equity index. The strategy is developed based on the fact that the volatility of average constituent stocks is greater than that of the index, and the aggregate movement of the constituent stocks becomes the movement of the index. Therefore, we expect the long-short volatility strategy to deliver stable returns. In this study, we first employ Monte Carlo simulation methods to create paths for the underlying securities and the corresponding index. Then, we use Black-Scholes delta-neutral dynamic hedging strategy to create synthetic options for the long-short put positions.Specifically, we conduct the dynamic replication strategy to form long put option of TSEC Taiwan 50 equity index and short options of its constituent stocks. Finally, we pick the TSECTaiwan Mid-Cap 100 Index and replicate the long-short volatility strategy again. This time the target constituents screening criteria are high beta and high historical volatility. The empirical studies show that: (1) The correlation coefficients between stock pairs are reciprocally related to the standard deviations of strategy returns. (2) The main source of losses is performance deviation of the price of small-sized stocks and the index. (3) The return of the strategy for portfolios excluding small cap stocks will be improved. (4) The loss will decline if we apply short strip strategy on those stocks which prices perform worse than the index. (5) The higher the volatility of the stocks we select, the greater the dynamic hedging premium we can get. (6) If we pick the high beta stocks to avoid the trend of stock prices diverging from the index, then the strategy yields higher returns.

<p>Användandet av olika incitamentsprogram och aktierelaterade ersättningar i synnerhet har ökat sen 80-talet. Aktierelaterade ersättningsprogram används för att uppmuntra persona-len att aktivt deltaga för att förbättra företagets resultat. Ersättningarna i dessa program be-står antingen av köpotioner, teckningsoptioner, syntetiska optioner eller konvertibler.</p><p>Sedan den 1 januari 2005 gäller de nya redovisningsreglerna IFRS 2. Dessa regler styr redo-visningen av aktierelaterade ersättningar. IFRS 2 kräver att alla företag noterade på någon börs inom EU kostnadsför dessa ersättningar i resultaträkningen. Innan implementeringen av de nya reglerna räckte det med att ta upp dessa ersättningar i notform. IFRS 2 kräver att dessa regler retroaktivt skall användas för att påvisa dess effekter på 2004 års resultaträk-ning. Anledningen till detta är att potentiella investerare skall ha möjlighet att kunna jämfö-ra resultaträkningar från olika år.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilka effekter företagen på den svenska A-listan skul-le få erfara om IFRS 2 var implementerad redan år 2004. Vidare ämnar vi att beskriva hur aktierelaterade ersättningsprogram används och hur detta påverkar företagen.</p><p>Uppsatsen är genomförd med en kvantitativ ansats och har baserats på sekundärdata från företagens årsrapporter. Vårt urval är det samma som totalpopulationen på den svenska A-listan.</p><p>De slutsatser som vi kunnat dra i vår uppsats är att majoriteten av de noterade företagen på A-listan använder någon form av aktierelaterade ersättningsprogram. Den mest använda optionstypen är teckningsoptioner. I medel skulle resultatet minskat med 0,89 procent på grund av IFRS 2. Utspädningseffekten som orsakats av aktierelaterade ersättningar var i medel 0,54 procent. Företagen på A-listan använder i huvudsak Black & Scholes-modellen vid värdering av de aktierelaterade ersättningsprogrammen. Vidare indikerar resultatet av vår studie att företag som använder köpoptioner skulle ha haft mest negativ resultatpåver-kan på grund av IFRS 2. En annan intressant slutsats är att större företag tenderar att in-volvera alla anställda i sina aktieoptionsprogram medan mindre bolag föredrar att rikta des-sa aktierelaterade ersättningar endast till chefer och ledning.</p> / <p>The use of incitement programs and share-based programs in particular has increased since the 1980`s. These share-based programs are used to encourage the employees to actively participate in increasing the company’s result. The payment in these share-based compen-sations either is; call options, subscription options, synthetic options or convertibles.</p><p>From January 1 2005, the new accounting regulation IFRS 2 regarding share-based pay-ments are implemented. The IFRS 2 demands all companies noted on a stock exchange in the European Union to account for the share-based payments and expense these in the in-come statement. Before this implementation, these payments only had to be described in a disclosed form. However for the year 2004, the effects due to the IFRS 2 have to be taken into consideration in the income statement. The reason for this is that potential investors must have the possibility to compare the financial statements between different time peri-ods.</p><p>The purpose with thesis is to cover what effects the companies’ on the Swedish A-list should have had if the IFRS 2 were implemented already the year 2004. Secondly, the aim is to cover and describe the utilization of share-based programs among these companies and to explain how they are affected.</p><p>The thesis is conducted through a quantitative approach and based on secondary data from annual reports of the companies’. Our selection is the total population on the Swedish A-list.</p><p>The conclusions made in our thesis are that the majority of the A-listed companies’ use some kind of share-based programs. The most frequently used option type is the subscrip-tion option. On average, the decrease in result was 0,89 percent due to IFRS 2. On average the dilution effect due to the use of share-based programs decreased the result per share by 0,54 percent. The companies on the A-list use the Black & Scholes formula to valuate the share-based payments. Our study also indicates that the companies using call options should have experienced the greatest result decrease due to the IFRS 2. Another interesting conclusion is that the larger companies in our study are most likely to involve all the em-ployees’ in the share-based programs while the smaller companies prefer to only involve executives and other leading personnel.</p>

Under mild assumptions, the expected returns of call options increase as the strike price becomes higher. Two ways to define option moneyness are the ratio of strike price to stock price (K/S ratio) and log(K/S)/σ. This paper examines the positive relationship between the call option returns and the correspondent risks by establishing linear models regarding the option returns and the two ratios. Furthermore, these ratios can be used to predict the option returns based on the regression models in practice. / text

No description available.

This thesis investigates statutory executive stock option (ESO) disclosures by Australian listed companies, and their nature, extent and association with governance characteristics. The study is motivated by the limited prior Australian studies that find evidence of low levels of compliance with ESO disclosures (Nelson and Percy, 2005), and by the changes in Australia's regulatory environment over the financial years 2001 to 2004. Arising from these motivations, three research questions are addressed: 1) what is the nature and extent of compliance with ESO disclosures in annual reports and does it change over time?, 2) how does corporate governance influence compliance with ESO disclosures?, and 3) what other factors influence compliance with ESO disclosures? Based on prior research and an application of agency theory, the research questions are addressed by systematically evaluating ESO disclosure compliance, and by modelling and testing the governance and other factors associated with companies' disclosure practices over the 2001 to 2004 study period. Within the agency framework, it is argued that effective governance mechanisms mitigate agency costs by decreasing information asymmetry through increased disclosure. Hence it is predicted that internal governance mechanisms, including the effectiveness of the board of directors, the effectiveness of the audit committee, the existence of a compensation committee, and management incentives are associated with the level of compliance with ESO disclosures. In addition, external governance mechanisms are predicted to influence compliance with ESO disclosures. Specifically, it is predicted that firms responded positively to the increased media and regulatory scrutiny on financial reporting practices as a result of major corporate collapses in Australia and the United States. Furthermore, it is predicted that regulatory intervention, in the form of new and comprehensive ESO disclosure requirements, as well as the authoritative guidance on valuing options and active enforcement efforts by ASIC, have contributed to increased levels of compliance. Using a combination of univariate and multivariate procedures, compliance and governance characteristics are tested over the financial years 2001 to 2004, to capture the changes in compliance over time and to examine the hypothesised relationships. The results of this thesis indicate that Australian companies do not fully comply with ESO disclosure requirements. Nevertheless, the results show that overall compliance has increased progressively from 2001 to 2004, suggesting that the increased scrutiny of companies' financial reporting practices following major corporate collapses has motivated companies to increase compliance. Notably, compliance has increased after the introduction of new and more comprehensive disclosure requirements for ESOs, as well as increased authoritative guidance and enforcement efforts by ASIC. However, despite the overall evidence of improvement in compliance levels, the results continue to reveal management's reluctance to disclose ESO information that may be considered sensitive (for example, price and value-related information). The multivariate results indicate that firms with a larger board of directors and a larger audit committee are more likely to encourage greater levels of compliance with ESO disclosures. However, a larger board of directors appears to take a holistic approach to monitoring company activities by encouraging higher overall compliance rather than focusing on specific, sensitive disclosures. Where a less independent Chairperson is present, the firm is more likely to disclose more sensitive information only, indicating a substitution effect whereby firms mitigate the agency problems associated with this lack of independence by increasing sensitive disclosures. Also, where the Chief Executive Officer's remuneration is relatively larger, companies are less forthcoming about ESO information. With respect to the influence of external corporate governance, the findings indicate that companies identified as poor performers by the Australian Shareholders' Association (a measure of external governance) exhibit lower levels of overall compliance, but not compliance with sensitive disclosures. This latter finding suggests that poorly performing firms provide similar levels of sensitive and important information as other firms, possibly to direct attention away from the low performance of the company. Consistent with prior disclosure research, other factors associated with compliance include leverage, where firms that are more highly leveraged disclose more sensitive information in an effort to become more transparent to creditors, thus reducing their monitoring costs. The use of a Big 4 auditor (a proxy for auditor quality) is associated with overall compliance, which indicates that external auditors primarily ensure that the financial report as a whole is compliant with the regulations, rather than identifying sensitive disclosures in detail, particularly where these disclosures may not have a material effect. Lastly, performance (as measured by profit or lossmaking status) is negatively associated with compliance. By investigating in detail the nature and extent of compliance with ESO disclosures over time and its relation to governance characteristics, the findings of this study demonstrate that while companies appear to lack full compliance with ESO disclosures, compliance has increased over time with active regulatory enforcement and assistance and comprehensive disclosure requirements. Of particular interest, is that the nature of compliance illustrates the very low levels of compliance with important, but sensitive, components of the required ESO disclosures. Importantly, the adoption of stronger governance structures appears to enhance compliance with ESO disclosures, including sensitive disclosures. Therefore, the findings of this study have important implications for corporate regulators, standard setters, financial statement preparers, shareholders and other users of financial reports with an interest in ESOs.