Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/iii/paper-40/1/a/solution

Put and define the nonnegative reserve rate . The obstacle problem gives and . The American-option superhedge with a funded reserve invests the local surplus in the bond rather than consuming it.
For initial wealth , set
and choose the stock and bond holdings
Thus and , pathwise at every time. The Itô formula under the original drift gives
Adding these equations yields
This is a self-financing strategy, and its nonnegative wealth makes it an admissible trading strategy. Continuity of the stock and local regularity of ensure local integrability of the holdings. The construction does not require .
For a classical solution, the usual Itô formula applies directly. The smooth fit solution below is and piecewise , with locally absolutely continuous first derivative. The generalized Itô formula applies with its almost-everywhere second derivative; the absence of a derivative jump means no boundary local time of a semimartingale term. This is the usual regularity interpretation of the perpetual American option obstacle equation.

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