4.II.28J
(a) In the context of the Black-Scholes formula, let be spot price, be strike price, be time to maturity, and assume constant interest rate , volatility and absence of dividends. Write down explicitly the prices of a European call and put,
Use for the normal distribution function. [No proof is required.]
(b) From here on assume . Keeping fixed, we shorten the notation to and similarly for . Show that put-call symmetry holds:
Check homogeneity: for every real
(c) Show that the price of a down-and-out European call with strike and barrier is given by
(d)
(i) Specialize the last expression to and simplify.
(ii) Answer a popular interview question in investment banks: What is the fair value of a down-and-out call given that ? Identify the corresponding hedge. [It may be helpful to compute Delta first.]
(iii) Does this hedge work beyond the Black-Scholes model? When does it fail?