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Paying one if spot ends between 100 and 110

Question

A contract pays 11 at expiry if the spot lies between 100100 and 110110, and nothing otherwise. Show how to construct it from ordinary calls.

Short answer

Long a digital at 100100, short a digital at 110110, each built as a tight call spread. With a small ε\varepsilon, buy 1/ε1/\varepsilon calls at 100−ε100-\varepsilon, sell 1/ε1/\varepsilon at 100100, sell 1/ε1/\varepsilon at 110−ε110-\varepsilon and buy 1/ε1/\varepsilon at 110110. The payoff equals the range digital except on two strips of width ε\varepsilon, so it replicates exactly in the limit; the price is about −∂KC(100)+∂KC(110)-\partial_K C(100)+\partial_K C(110).

Adapted from Joshi, Denson & Downes, Quant Job Interview Questions and Answers, Q2.37, p.20; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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