Pourquoi un sophisme est-il important ? Bouddha dit que « nous devenons ce que nous pensons ». Hier, je parlais à un diplômé philippin (je séjourne actuellement à Gneral Santos, aux Philippines). J’ai évoqué le principal argument martérialiste tel qu’expliqué par MIller et Thompson dans un article publié sur le site Web du NIH – Pubmed – qui affir…[Read more]

As the prominent social psychologists, Baumeister and Leary, point out, “Groups can share food, provide mates, and help care for offspring (including orphans). Some survival tasks such as hunting large animals or maintaining defensive vigilance against predatory enemies, are best accomplished by group cooperation…. Competition for limited res…[Read more]

Equity value at risk (VaR) model requires implied volatilities with respect to various indices and maturities, which range from three months to five years. A model is presented for generating a term-structure of implied equity index volatilities for use in calculating VaR.

A model is used to price a derivative whose payoff depends on returns over N periods on a shrinking basket of originally N assets. Each period, the worst return is added to the cumulative sum after being capped and floored, and the corresponding asset removed from the basket (hence a shrinking basket). The cap and floor rates are given for each…[Read more]

Credit value at risk (VaR) is used for measuring and analyzing credit risk of a portfolio. The basic methodology of the Credit VaR employs the credit migration approach spearheaded by RiskMetrics. It assumes that obligor’s credit quality is determined by the obligor’s asset value, which in turn is approximated by its standardized equity return.

Chaos theory is not as complex as it si often made out to be As Robert Juliano observes, the underlying principle is that “within the apparent randomness of chaotic complex systems, there are underlying patterns, interconnectedness, constant feedback loops, repetition, self-similarity, fractals, and self-organization.”

“Chaos has been for…[Read more]

Dawkins felslutning – vederläggning av att “egoism” är den vanliga normen och att det bara finns “begränsade former av altruism” Till att börja med vill jag betona att “även bakterier är mer reproduktivt framgångsrika i närvaro av andra av sin egen art.” Jag menar att bakterier har anslutningsmöjligheter för guds skull!
1. På en dag i slaget vid…[Read more]

Extreme Individualism & Dawkins Fallacy Dawkins argues that “gene selfishness will usually give rise to selfishness in individual behaviour” – That is an excellent illustration in academia of what David Hay referred to as “Extreme Individualism” – a problem in Western Academia which Virgilio Enriquez also brought to light. Virgilio Enriquez…[Read more]

As the authors of the article “Beyond the Group Mind: A Quantitative Review of the Interindividual–Intergroup Discontinuity Effect” which was published in Psychological Bulletin, observed, It is estimated that just in the final decade of the twentieth century, the deadly wars of places like Rwanda, Bosnia, and Ethiopia claimed the lives of 30 m…[Read more]

We present a model for pricing a credit derivative product where party A has sold default put protection on a Euro denominated bond. Specifically, upon bond issuer default, party A must pay to party B a notional amount of 10 million USD (excluding accrued interest). In exchange, party B must pay a fixed rate to party A, on a quarterly basis,…[Read more]

We present a valuation model for pricing a gold derivatives trade. The trade can be structured to synthesize a typical gold-miner’s hedge, specifically, a swap in which one party receives long-term interest rates and pays a blend of short-term interest rates and short-term gold lease rates.

We present a model for pricing a path-dependent, equity-linked payoff. Here a bounded price return is calculated from an underlying index at certain pre-specified dates. The total return at maturity is given by the sum of the bounded price returns above, but where a specified number of the highest of these returns are set to a cap value.

A model is presented for pricing an American call option on stock. The option tenor is n years, and its strike price is increased every anniversary. It has also the following feature: if the stock price stays in excess of 200% of the current strike price during 10 consecutive trading days. The seller can issue a notice to the buyer that one half…[Read more]

We present a valuation model for pricing two asset barrier options on commodity futures. Applications to commodity futures have a number of specific. The analytical valuation formulas are also implemented. The payoff of a two asset barrier options is made against one of the assets, while the other asset is used to trigger the barrier.

A two-asset barrier option is a European style option whose value is determined by two underlying assets. One asset, S1, determines the payoff function, and the other, S2, knocks the option in or out if the S2 value crosses the barrier.

A Market Mix GIC is a type of guaranteed investment certificate, which offers a return based on a corresponding GIC rate and the performance of a basket of certain stock and bond market indices. The payoff at maturity from a Market Mix GIC can be shown equal to the invested principal plus this principal times the sum of the minimum guaranteed…[Read more]

The Market Mix GIC is a type of guaranteed investment certificate, of 3- or 5-year term, which offers a return based on a corresponding GIC rate and the performance of a basket of certain stock and bond market indices. To determine the rate of return, the percentage change in each index level from the initial level is calculated. Here the initial…[Read more]

A pricing model was developed for pricing a total return swap between two parties. Here party A receives LIBOR plus a spread, but pays out the equity dividends arising from a collateralized loan obligation (CLO).

Introduction for the Challenges of Metadata Distribution for Open-Access Books session.