Stating and deriving the BSM equation
Question
State the Black-Scholes-Merton partial differential equation for a derivative on a non-dividend stock and outline how it is derived.
Short answer
. With , Itô's lemma gives ; a portfolio short one derivative and long shares has no Brownian term, so it must earn the risk-free rate over each instant, and equating its change to times its value yields the PDE.
Adapted from Zhou, A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews, sec. 6.1 Option Pricing, 'Black-Scholes-Merton differential equation A', p.141; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.
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Open the worked solutionLessons behind this question
- The Black-Scholes PDE, Formula and Implied Volatility
- Applications: Systems of Linear Differential Equations du/dt = Au
- Derivation — From Binomial Trees to Black-Scholes in the Continuous Limit
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