Assume on positive prices before maturity and the usual local trading integrability. If its value is held in stock units and bank units , then
for a self-financing portfolio. The Itô formula diffusion coefficient is , so forces and . Equating drifts yields
The physical drift cancels, giving the Black-Scholes equation
Conversely, if the smooth function satisfies this equation, set and . Substituting into Itô formula gives exactly , so these holdings are self-financing. This checks the holdings as well as the value equation; a partial differential equation solution does not justify arbitrary prescribed holdings. Appropriate admissibility and growth conditions are imposed when using it as an economic price.
For the logarithmic stock payoff, let and condition on . Under the risk-neutral measure,
The normal exponential moment and its derivative give
Therefore
The option delta is the displayed stock holding. The bank account value is , so . Directly, and verify the partial differential equation, while verifies the payoff. Lognormal moments give the required pricing integrability. Since , the conditional price is bounded below over this finite horizon, so the resulting claim replication has the usual admissibility property.
Let , and assume the payoff has sufficient integrability for risk-neutral valuation. Under the risk-neutral measure , the Black-Scholes model has , so conditionally on ,
Absence of arbitrage gives the time- price
For a regular payoff this is the solution of the Black-Scholes equation with terminal value , and the delta hedge replicates it. Suitable limits or conditional-expectation representations extend the price formula beyond smooth terminal payoffs.
For the logarithmic stock payoff, put . Its Gaussian moment-generating function is , while differentiating that moment gives . Therefore
The option delta is , and the second stock derivative is . The Black-Scholes equation can also be checked directly from .
For general convex , let . For , convexity gives
Taking the positive discounted expectation proves that is convex. Its derivative, where defined, is therefore nondecreasing, proving that the stock holding in the delta hedge rises weakly with the stock price. For twice differentiable , differentiation gives . For a merely convex payoff, Gaussian smoothing at and the usual growth assumptions give the same conclusion; one-sided derivatives are monotone even without smoothing. Strict increase is not implied by convexity alone: an affine payoff has constant option delta.
For the random constant Gaussian interest-rate mixture, represent the rate as , with independent standard normal variables. This independence simply represents averaging the constant-rate price function over its Gaussian parameter. Completing the square in yields the identity
Apply it inside the time-zero price formula:
The combined normal term has variance . Define and . Then the discount factor is , and the log-price mean is . Thus the expectation is exactly the constant-parameter Black-Scholes model price with those parameters:
The argument applies to nonnegative payoffs by Tonelli theorem, and to signed payoffs whenever absolute integrability justifies the expectations. It averages constant-rate prices; it does not assume a stochastic short-rate process.