Black-Scholes model

In the Black-Scholes model with constant interest rate $r$ and volatility $\sigma$, a risky asset satisfiesunder the risk-neutral measure.

For a fixed twice-differentiable terminal payoff with sufficient growth control, differentiate its lognormal distribution pricing integral. Gaussian integration by parts gives the displayed identities. Convexity implies $p_{xx}\ge 0$, so increasing spot volatility cannot lower the price. The interest rate sensitivity depends on the sign of the cash position $p-x{p}_x$. Calendar-time sensitivity is $p_t=\rho (p-x{p}_x)-\frac{1}{2}{\sigma }^2{x}^2{p}_{xx}$. Thus a convex payoff with a negative cash position has a nonincreasing price at fixed spot when $\rho \ge 0$. Negative rates invalidate that conclusion: $f(x)=x-K$ gives $p=x-K{e}^{-\rho (T-t)}$ and $p_t=-\rho K{e}^{-\rho (T-t)}>0$ when $\rho <0$.

In the Black-Scholes model the terminal stock price conditional on current price $x$ is $xM$ for a positive lognormal multiplier $M$. Differentiation under the risk-neutral pricing expectation gives the displayed option gamma. Its sign follows that of $f^{\prime \prime }$, so convexity and concavity of the terminal payoff are preserved. An analogous first-derivative identity preserves monotonicity. With appropriate growth conditions, Gaussian integration by parts also gives $V_{\sigma }=\sigma (T-t)x^2{V}_{xx}$, fixing the sign of option vega for these payoff classes.

The derivative of a claim price with respect to the interest rate, holding the payoff and other model parameters fixed. For a dividend-free Black-Scholes model with remaining time $\tau$, it is $\tau (x{p}_x-p)$, so its sign is opposite the bank-account value in the replicating strategy.

The second derivative of an option price with respect to its underlying price. It measures the change of option delta. A convex terminal payoff in the Black-Scholes model has nonnegative option gamma before maturity.

Average constant-rate Black-Scholes model prices of a fixed terminal payoff over $\rho \sim N({\rho }_0,{\tau }^2)$. Tilting this Gaussian by the discount factor shifts its mean by $-{\tau }^{2}T$; combining the resulting log-price variance with stock variance gives the displayed effective parameters. Thus the average equals the Black-Scholes price with those parameters, whenever the expectation is well defined. This is an average of constant-parameter prices, rather than a specification of an adapted stochastic short-rate market.

Under the Black-Scholes model with interest rate $\rho$, volatility $\sigma$ and remaining time $\Delta$, risk-neutral pricing gives $V(S)=S[\log S+(\rho +{\sigma }^2/2)\Delta ]$. This follows by differentiating the lognormal exponential moment. Its option delta is $\log S+1+(\rho +{\sigma }^2/2)\Delta$ and its second stock derivative is $1/S$.

The claim $\max (K,S_T)$ for $K>0$ combines a guaranteed cash floor with a European call option, equivalently a stock with a put. In the Black-Scholes model, for $\tau =T-t>0$, its price is $V=S_t\Phi (d_1)+K{e}^{-r\tau }\Phi (-d_2)$, where $d_1=[\log (S_t/K)+(r+{\sigma }^2/2)\tau ]/(\sigma \sqrt{\tau })$ and $d_2=d_1-\sigma \sqrt{\tau }$. Under the risk-neutral lognormal law, the truncated stock moment is $S_t{e}^{r\tau }\Phi (d_1)$ and the probability of ending below the floor is $\Phi (-d_2)$, proving the price. Its option delta is $\Phi (d_1)$, since $S_t\varphi (d_1)=K{e}^{-r\tau }\varphi (d_2)$ cancels the derivative terms. The replicating strategy holds that many stock units and $K{e}^{-r\tau }\Phi (-d_2)/B_t$ bank-account units.

The vega of an European option is the derivative of its price with respect to spot volatility, holding its other parameters fixed. A dividend-free European call option under the Black-Scholes formula has $\nu =S_0\sqrt{T}\varphi (d_1)>0$. Differentiation proves this because $S_0\varphi (d_1)=K{e}^{-rT}\varphi (d_2)$ and ${\partial }_{\sigma }(d_1-d_2)=\sqrt{T}$. Positivity proves uniqueness of Black-Scholes implied volatility for prices strictly between the limiting call-price bounds.

For $S_t=S_0{e}^{\mu t+\sigma W_t}$, shifting Brownian drift bymakes $S_t=S_0{e}^{(r-{\sigma }^2/2)t+\sigma W_t^Q}$ under an equivalent martingale measure $Q$. The discounted stock is then a martingale.

For the payoff $S_T^p$, risk-neutral valuation givesIts delta hedge holds $p{V}_t/S_t$ units of the risky asset.

For a Brownian motion with drift $X$, the process $X_T-X_{T-t}$ on $[0,T]$ has the same law as $X_t$. Thereforehave the same distribution, which equates the corresponding geometric-Brownian lookback payoffs.

For a non-dividend-paying stock, a European call with strike $K$ and remaining maturity $\tau$ has value

For $v,m\ge 0$, define $F(v,m)=\mathbb{E}[(e^{-v/2+\sqrt{v}Y}-m{)}^{+}]$, where $Y$ has the standard normal distribution. For $v,m>0$, completing the square in the standard normal density giveswhere $\Phi$ is the standard normal distribution function. The boundary values are $F(0,m)=(1-m{)}^{+}$ and $F(v,0)=1$. Multiplying by the current stock price produces a zero-interest Black-Scholes formula with total variance $v$ and relative strike $m$.

In the Black-Scholes model, a digital call option and digital put option with remaining maturity $\tau$ have valueswhere $d_{-}$ is defined in the Black-Scholes formula. For $t<T$, the digital-call delta hedge is

Complementary digital call and put payoffs sum to one, so their time-$t$ values satisfy

The price $V(t,s)$ of a sufficiently regular European claim satisfies

In the Black-Scholes equation with continuous stock dividends, separation of variables gives $g^{\prime }=(r-\lambda )g$ and ${\sigma }^2{S}^2{f}^{\prime \prime }/2+(r-q)S{f}^{\prime }-\lambda f=0$. Substituting $f=S^{\alpha }$ gives the displayed eigenvalue. A stationary solution uses the two roots of ${\sigma }^2\alpha (\alpha -1)/2+(r-q)\alpha -r=0$. For positive volatility and $r>0$, their product is negative, so they are distinct real roots.

When the underlying stock pays dividends at rate $\theta S_t$, its gain is $d{S}_t+\theta S_{t}dt$. Under the risk-neutral measure its ex-dividend drift is $(\rho -\theta )S_t$. A sufficiently smooth terminal-claim value obeys $p_t+(\rho -\theta )x{p}_x+{\sigma }^2{x}^2{p}_{xx}/2-\rho p=0$. These are dividends on the stock, not a source term paid by the claim itself.

With constant continuous stock-dividend yield $d$, the risk-neutral measure gives stock drift $r-d$ but cash claims are discounted at $r$. The same terminal payoff in a no-dividend Black-Scholes model with interest rate $r-d$ has the identical stock-transition law but a different discount factor. Their prices therefore obey the displayed identity, under the usual payoff integrability conditions.

If the claim holder receives a cash-flow rate $k(S_t,t)$ before maturity, the self-financing hedge matches the claim's cum-dividend gain $dp+kdt$. Its stock holding is the option delta $p_x$ and its bank-account value is $p-x{p}_x$. Comparing Itô formula with portfolio gains gives the displayed equation, with terminal value equal to the terminal payoff. The positive source term $k$ represents dividends paid by the claim; dividends on the underlying stock would instead alter the stock's pricing drift. Risk-neutral pricing includes both the discounted terminal payoff and the integral of discounted interim payments.

A smooth value function satisfying the Black-Scholes equation admits a self-financing portfolio with the displayed delta hedge. An arbitrary decomposition $p=xg+Bh$ need not be self-financing. For example $p=0$, $g=1$, $h=-x/B$ solves the value equation but has portfolio gains $dS-\rho Sdt$, which are not zero when volatility is positive. For specified holdings, self-financing is equivalent to the value equation together with $g=p_x$.