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.
Truncated lognormal moment Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-25
If with , and having the standard normal distribution, then for every real ,
Here is the standard normal distribution function. Multiplying the normal distribution density by and completing the square shifts its mean by and supplies the factor ; this is a Gaussian exponential tilt. Integrating above or below the shifted threshold proves both formulas. They apply to noninteger and negative powers, including the inverse-price moment . The lower-tail formula gives the European power put formula after a binomial theorem expansion.