Problem bank

Problem 330 of 333MediumStochastic CalculusP330

Two half-lives into a pairs trade

  1. You model the spread between two stocks as an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process

    dXt=−λXt dt+σ dWt,dX_t = -\lambda X_t\,dt + \sigma\,dW_t,

    with time measured in trading days. Estimation gives a half-life of 5 days and a stationary standard deviation of 1 spread point. The spread is at +2+2. You sell it and plan to buy it back in 10 trading days, by which time you expect most of the gap to have closed.

    (a) Find λ\lambda and σ\sigma.

    (b) Find the mean and standard deviation of the spread 5 days and 10 days from now.

    (c) What is the probability that the spread is still above 0 when you buy it back? What is the probability that the trade is losing money after 5 days?