17. Options Markets

Financial Markets (2011) (ECON 252)

After introducing the core terms and main ideas of options in the beginning of the lecture, Professor Shiller emphasizes two purposes of options, a theoretical and a behavioral purpose. Subsequently, he provides a graphical representation for the value of a call and a put option, and, in this context, addresses the put-call parity for European options. Within the framework of the Binomial Asset Pricing model, he derives the value of a call-option from the no-arbitrage-principle, and, as a continuous-time analogue to this formula, he presents the Black-Scholes Option Pricing formula. He contrasts implied volatility, as represented by the VIX index of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, which uses a different formula in the spirit of Black-Scholes, with the actual S&P Composite volatility from 1986 until 2010. Professor Shiller concludes the lecture with some thoughts about options on single-family homes that he launched with his colleagues of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2006.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Examples of Options Markets and Core Terms
07:11 - Chapter 2. Purposes of Option Contracts
17:11 - Chapter 3. Quoted Prices of Options and the Role of Derivatives Markets
24:54 - Chapter 4. Call and Put Options and the Put-Call Parity
34:56 - Chapter 5. Boundaries on the Price of a Call Option
39:07 - Chapter 6. Pricing Options with the Binomial Asset Pricing Model
51:02 - Chapter 7. The Black-Scholes Option Pricing Formula
55:49 - Chapter 8. Implied Volatility - The VIX Index in Comparison to Actual Market Volatility
01:09:33 - Chapter 9. The Potential for Options in the Housing Market

Complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu


This course was recorded in Spring 2011.