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The Black–Scholes or Black–Scholes–Merton model is a mathematical model for the dynamics of a financial market containing derivative investment instruments. From the partial differential equation in the model, known as the Black–Scholes equation, one can deduce the Black–Scholes formula, which gives a theoretical estimate of the price of European-style options and shows that the option has a unique price regardless of the risk of the security and its expected return. The formula led to a boom in options trading and is widely used, although often with adjustments and corrections, by options market participants.

Based on works previously developed by academics and practitioners, such as Louis Bachelier and Ed Thorp among others, Fischer Black and Myron Scholes demonstrated in the late 1960s that a dynamic revision of a portfolio removes the expected return of the security, thus inventing the risk neutral argument. After three years of efforts, the formula was published in 1973 in an article entitled "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities", in the Journal of Political Economy. Robert C. Merton was the first to publish a paper expanding the mathematical understanding of the options pricing model, and coined the term "Black–Scholes options pricing model". Merton and Scholes received the 1997 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their work, the committee citing their discovery of the risk neutral dynamic revision as a breakthrough that separates the option from the risk of the underlying security. Although ineligible for the prize because of his death in 1995, Black was mentioned as a contributor by the Swedish Academy.

The key idea behind the model is to hedge the option by buying and selling the underlying asset in in line with its delta and, as a consequence, to eliminate risk. This type of hedging is called "dynamic delta hedging" and is the basis of more complicated hedging strategies such as those engaged in by investment banks and hedge funds.

The model's assumptions have been relaxed and generalized in many directions, leading to a plethora of models that are currently used in derivative pricing and risk management. It is the insights of the model, as exemplified in the Black–Scholes formula, that are frequently used by market participants, as distinguished from the actual prices. These insights include no-arbitrage bounds and risk-neutral pricing. Further, the Black–Scholes equation, a partial differential equation that governs the price of the option, enables pricing using numerical methods when an explicit formula is not possible.

The Black–Scholes formula has only one parameter that cannot be directly observed in the market: the average future volatility of the underlying asset, but this can be backed out from the price of other options.

In this video we learn about the model, the assumptions required for the model and about what goes in to it.

We also learn about Implied volatility and the VIX Index. The VIX Index is a calculation designed to produce a measure of constant, 30-day expected volatility of the U.S. stock market, derived from real-time, mid-quote prices of S&P 500® Index (SPXSM) call and put options. On a global basis, it is one of the most recognized measures of volatility -- widely reported by financial media and closely followed by a variety of market participants as a daily market indicator.

pricing options using black scholes merton

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