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ikicker2
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Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 1:05 pm

Does anyone have an equation for implied volatility?  I.e. has anyone been able to solve for standard deviation on one side of BS?

It is difficult to solve for because it is nested in the normal probability function.

We would have to solve for S0 in two equations...
Black Schols:  ImageImage

Where:
Standard Normal Distribution Function =   Image


Image
Image
You could probably do it with Matlab or Mathematica, but I do not know how to use them.  Thanks ahead of time.

I need to do it this way because it provides me with a shortcut for something else that I am doing.
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 1:26 pm

This posit belongs on Student Forum.
 
ikicker2
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 1:38 pm

I agree, but no one seems to be able to answer the question.  It's not even in the CFA review manual (levels 1-3).  I'm trying to create a shortcut for my VIX model.  There are easy ways to compute it without solving for it but if you solve for it, it simplifies the program dramatically.  It fits into a bigger plan.
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 1:41 pm

I agree, but no one seems to be able to answer the question.  It's not even in the CFA review manual (levels 1-3).  I'm trying to create a shortcut for my VIX model.  There are easy ways to compute it without solving for it but if you solve for it, it simplifies the program dramatically.
Really? Just to check: you know all the parameters in BS formula except [$]\sigma[$] and you want to find the latter?
It that all?
Last edited by Cuchulainn on January 18th, 2017, 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
ikicker2
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 1:50 pm

Yes correct.
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 1:53 pm

Yes correct.
OK:
In general, there is no explicit/closed/nice/whatever solution for computing [$]\sigma[$] so you need to use Newton-Raphson, for example.
Yes?

This is a relevant link
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=97812&p=732891&hilit=iv#p732891
 
ikicker2
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 2:20 pm

Mathematically, what is the issue when you try to solve for it?  I can build in limits into the function.

It seems like from the thread you posted that some people are using solver algorithms, which I am trying to avoid.

We do know two obvious things that eliminate some solutions:  
1) S0 must be a positive value, because of the definition of standard deviation
2) you could simplify black schols so that both put and call equations use the absolute values of D1 and D2

Does this make the equation solvable?

Also, forgive me because I am not a mathematician but, what is Netwon Raphson's method?  It looks like he is basically taking the change in the function to the change in the variable and approximating an equation (all else equal).

I was able to find this equation which approximates the value:  Brenner and Subrahmanyam (see attached paper).  Why is it an approximation?
First Approach:  SD Approximately = Sqrt((2*Pi)/T) * (Call / Strike)
A Second Approach:  Sqrt((2*Pi)/T)*([Call - (Spot Price - Strike)/2]/ [Spot Price - (Spot Price - Strike)/2])
Attachments
An Improve Approach to Computing Implied Volatility.pdf
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kermittfrog
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 3:44 pm

Long story short, there is - to the knowledge of many - no way to compute the implied vol using simple algebra / normal inverses.

For example, you could set up an excel solver or even the goal seek function of excel and try to get the difference between BS(sigma)  and  your_option_price to zero.
 
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Alan
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 3:48 pm

Mathematically, what is the issue when you try to solve for it?.
Mathematically, there are various types of functions that have been given names: "elementary" functions like [$]\sin x[$] and "special" functions like the cumulative normal function in the Black-Scholes formula. What you are trying to do is called "root finding": finding a solution [$]x = x_0[$] that satisfies an equation of the general form: [$]f(x)=0[$]. The problem is that, even when [$]f(x)[$] can be expressed entirely in terms of "named" functions (elementary or special), the root [$]x_0[$] cannot be. It requires a numerical approach, such as Newton's method, as has been explained to you. This is so common a problem that root-finding numerical methods are widely available in existing software. But if you have to "roll your own", then you need to open up an introductory calculus text and learn Newton's method.  

I will add a p.s. that, while Newton's method or other root-finding numerical methods are not too complicated, writing a truly robust implied volatility routine is actually a fair amount of work. You will discover this after you initially get some numerics working and then later find that your routine fails because of some new data that you did not anticipate handling. Good luck! 
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 4:26 pm

Newton Raphson when it works it's very good and when it doesn't it's not. Not much traction in NR,

In the iv thread solving [$]f(x) = 0[$] by transforming it to least squares was the most robust (using Differential Evolution).
 
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outrun
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 5:23 pm

There is also a rational approximation with absolute error 1e-3 .. 1e-4

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mi ... 000000.pdf
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 18th, 2017, 6:06 pm

There is also a rational approximation with absolute error 1e-3 .. 1e-4

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mi ... 000000.pdf
We discussed this in the iv thread AFAIR (maybe the post was deleted? :D). Rational approximation is better than polynomial approx and it will probably not be robust enough. But their ideas is very good.. bracket the solution (rough) and the a few NR iterations. You gotta knew the interval!
Same idea as using Bisection and then NR for BDT yield calculation.

The robustness of a method is inversely proportional to how analytic stuff it has (they depend on parameters and their range of validity). Invariably, people start messing with Taylor(or MacLaurin if you are Scottish :)) expansions.
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 19th, 2017, 12:18 pm

Regarding Implie Vol  by Newton and Bisection see Haug's "Complete Guide to Option Pricing Formulas" Chapter 12.

Also Dahlquist and Bjorck "Numerical Methods".
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 20th, 2017, 12:07 pm



I will add a p.s. that, while Newton's method or other root-finding numerical methods are not too complicated, writing a truly robust implied volatility routine is actually a fair amount of work. You will discover this after you initially get some numerics working and then later find that your routine fails because of some new data that you did not anticipate handling. Good luck! 
In general, most 'tactical' methods/tricks will break, as can be seen from the papers. I vaguely remember that someone mentioned it was an ill-posed problem. So, then we need to consider some regularisation process.

Image
 
YueliangLU
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Re: Implied Volatility Equation - Has anyone been able to solve for Standard Deviation?

January 20th, 2017, 9:49 pm

You can use so-called Bisection Method in MATLAB