Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Baviera, Roberto, Massaria, Michele Domenico
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.09760
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917292982403072
author Baviera, Roberto
Massaria, Michele Domenico
author_facet Baviera, Roberto
Massaria, Michele Domenico
contents In April 2020, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange temporarily switched the pricing formula for West Texas Intermediate oil market options from the Black model to the Bachelier model. In this context, we introduce an additive Bachelier model that provides a simple closed-form solution and a good description of the implied volatility surface. This new additive model exhibits several notable mathematical and financial properties. It ensures the no-arbitrage condition, a critical requirement in highly volatile markets, while also enabling a parsimonious synthesis of the volatility surface. The model features only three parameters, each with a clear financial interpretation: the volatility term structure, the vol-of-vol, and a parameter for modelling skew. Model calibration can follow a cascade procedure: first, it accurately replicates the term structures of forwards and At-The-Money volatilities observed in the market; second, it fits the smile of the volatility surface. The proposed model also supports efficient pricing of path-dependent exotic options via Monte Carlo simulation, using a straightforward and computationally efficient approach. Overall, this model provides a robust and parsimonious description of the oil option market during the exceptionally volatile first period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_09760
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The additive Bachelier model with an application to the oil option market in the Covid period
Baviera, Roberto
Massaria, Michele Domenico
Mathematical Finance
In April 2020, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange temporarily switched the pricing formula for West Texas Intermediate oil market options from the Black model to the Bachelier model. In this context, we introduce an additive Bachelier model that provides a simple closed-form solution and a good description of the implied volatility surface. This new additive model exhibits several notable mathematical and financial properties. It ensures the no-arbitrage condition, a critical requirement in highly volatile markets, while also enabling a parsimonious synthesis of the volatility surface. The model features only three parameters, each with a clear financial interpretation: the volatility term structure, the vol-of-vol, and a parameter for modelling skew. Model calibration can follow a cascade procedure: first, it accurately replicates the term structures of forwards and At-The-Money volatilities observed in the market; second, it fits the smile of the volatility surface. The proposed model also supports efficient pricing of path-dependent exotic options via Monte Carlo simulation, using a straightforward and computationally efficient approach. Overall, this model provides a robust and parsimonious description of the oil option market during the exceptionally volatile first period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
title The additive Bachelier model with an application to the oil option market in the Covid period
topic Mathematical Finance
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.09760