Predictive Power of Option-Implied Densities from High-Frequency Data

Duffie, Pan, and Singleton’s (2000) model is used to estimate implied densities using daily and high-frequency FTSE 100 index option contracts from 2005 to 2009. The empirical results suggest the following phenomena during the financial crisis: (1) more negative relationships between variance jumps and price jumps; (2) a larger magnitude of the negative mean of price jumps; (3) a larger variance of price jumps and a larger mean of variance jumps; and (4) a higher jump intensity. Further findings are as follows: (1) high-frequency data provide superior predictive power; and (2) RNDs exhibit satisfactory predictive power for option expiration dates.