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neo24in
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Joined: January 17th, 2007, 7:46 am

comparing implied volatility across regions

May 24th, 2013, 3:22 pm

Hi ,need suggestion/guidance:will it be correct to compare/regress implied volatility of indices with different underlying currency in absolute terms. for example , comparing eurostoxx50 vol (eur) or s&p 500 vol (usd) with nikkei vol (yen) in absolute terms or one should first convert all the implied vols to same currency before doing any relative value comparison.
 
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bearish
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Joined: February 3rd, 2011, 2:19 pm

comparing implied volatility across regions

May 24th, 2013, 8:48 pm

Since these are volatilities of returns, which are effectively price change in currency divided by price in currency, they do not have a currency unit and are fine to compare directly.
 
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neo24in
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Joined: January 17th, 2007, 7:46 am

comparing implied volatility across regions

May 24th, 2013, 10:34 pm

thanx . agree with you, i was actually regressing them in actual terms to look for relative valuation.However it put me in doubt while working on a vega spread. how to make position PNL linear function of spread move?suppose S&P 500-eurostoxx spread is 2 points wider above fair value and one want to bet on this 2 point convergence.Then one can do it in two ways :i) acual vega neutral (same vega amount in both currency) , orii) currency vega neutral (either euro vega falt or $ vega flat)in both cases , PNL will depend on how the spread has converged and not the spread move. PNL becomes path dependent .any idea how to solve this??
 
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bearish
Posts: 5906
Joined: February 3rd, 2011, 2:19 pm

comparing implied volatility across regions

May 24th, 2013, 11:48 pm

This is not really my area of expertise, but I think you put on the same $ amount in both indices. The first order effect will come from the relative volatility move, but there will be an unavoidable (I think) second order effect from currency moves.