Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-models-of-financial-derivatives-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/2/b/i/solution

Write and . The European power put formula is
Here has a lognormal distribution. Since is decreasing and is a convex function, its discounted expected value is also decreasing and convex as a function of . For it is smooth and strictly positive: the normal distribution assigns positive probability to whatever the current positive spot price. Its endpoints are
The dominated convergence theorem justifies the second limit, because . For a quantitative sketch, the binomial theorem and truncated lognormal moment give
where is the standard normal distribution function. This finite sum is useful for drawing the curve; its positive expectation form makes its qualitative shape clearer.
Figure 1.
European power-put prices before expiry for powers one, two and three
. Details.
The solid curves use , , and ; the dashed curves show their terminal financial payoffs for comparison. Each price remains positive at and tends smoothly towards zero beyond it. At small , discounting gives a price below the undiscounted financial payoff; European exercise is permitted only at expiry.

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