Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ii/paper-4/29k/a/solution

In the one-period building block of the Cox--Ross--Rubinstein model, the money-market account grows by a deterministic factor , while the stock grows independently at each time by
Thus and . Equivalently, the discounted stock has multipliers and .
The model has no arbitrage precisely when the risk-free return lies strictly between the stock returns:
Indeed, failure of either strict inequality gives a one-period arbitrage, while under the strict inequalities the probability
lies in . Taking the moves independent under with up probability makes the discounted stock a martingale, since . This is the unique Risk-neutral probability in the Cox--Ross--Rubinstein model, hence the unique equivalent martingale measure.

New to topics? Read the docs here!