scholarly journals On simple representations of stopping times and stopping time sigma-algebras

2013 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 345-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Fischer
2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (04) ◽  
pp. 1039-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Costeniuc ◽  
Michaela Schnetzer ◽  
Luca Taschini

We study investment and disinvestment decisions in situations where there is a time lagd> 0 from the timetwhen the decision is taken to the timet+dwhen the decision is implemented. In this paper we apply the probabilistic approach to the combined entry and exit decisions under the Parisian implementation delay. In particular, we prove the independence between Parisian stopping times and a general Brownian motion with drift stopped at the stopping time. Relying on this result, we solve the constrained maximization problem, obtaining an analytic solution to the optimal ‘starting’ and ‘stopping’ levels. We compare our results with the instantaneous entry and exit situation, and show that an increase in the uncertainty of the underlying process hastens the decision to invest or disinvest, extending a result of Bar-Ilan and Strange (1996).


1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Graversen ◽  
G. Peškir

The solution is presented to all optimal stopping problems of the form supτE(G(|Β τ |) – cτ), where is standard Brownian motion and the supremum is taken over all stopping times τ for B with finite expectation, while the map G : ℝ+ → ℝ satisfies for some being given and fixed. The optimal stopping time is shown to be the hitting time by the reflecting Brownian motion of the set of all (approximate) maximum points of the map . The method of proof relies upon Wald's identity for Brownian motion and simple real analysis arguments. A simple proof of the Dubins–Jacka–Schwarz–Shepp–Shiryaev (square root of two) maximal inequality for randomly stopped Brownian motion is given as an application.


1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (04) ◽  
pp. 856-872 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Graversen ◽  
G. Peskir

Explicit formulas are found for the payoff and the optimal stopping strategy of the optimal stopping problem supτ E (max0≤t≤τ X t − c τ), where X = (X t ) t≥0 is geometric Brownian motion with drift μ and volatility σ > 0, and the supremum is taken over all stopping times for X. The payoff is shown to be finite, if and only if μ < 0. The optimal stopping time is given by τ* = inf {t > 0 | X t = g * (max0≤t≤s X s )} where s ↦ g *(s) is the maximal solution of the (nonlinear) differential equation under the condition 0 < g(s) < s, where Δ = 1 − 2μ / σ2 and K = Δ σ2 / 2c. The estimate is established g *(s) ∼ ((Δ − 1) / K Δ)1 / Δ s 1−1/Δ as s → ∞. Applying these results we prove the following maximal inequality: where τ may be any stopping time for X. This extends the well-known identity E (sup t>0 X t ) = 1 − (σ 2 / 2 μ) and is shown to be sharp. The method of proof relies upon a smooth pasting guess (for the Stephan problem with moving boundary) and the Itô–Tanaka formula (being applied two-dimensionally). The key point and main novelty in our approach is the maximality principle for the moving boundary (the optimal stopping boundary is the maximal solution of the differential equation obtained by a smooth pasting guess). We think that this principle is by itself of theoretical and practical interest.


2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (04) ◽  
pp. 1072-1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Allaart

Let (B t )0≤t≤T be either a Bernoulli random walk or a Brownian motion with drift, and let M t := max{B s: 0 ≤ s ≤ t}, 0 ≤ t ≤ T. In this paper we solve the general optimal prediction problem sup0≤τ≤T E[f(M T − B τ], where the supremum is over all stopping times τ adapted to the natural filtration of (B t ) and f is a nonincreasing convex function. The optimal stopping time τ* is shown to be of ‘bang-bang’ type: τ* ≡ 0 if the drift of the underlying process (B t ) is negative and τ* ≡ T if the drift is positive. This result generalizes recent findings of Toit and Peskir (2009) and Yam, Yung and Zhou (2009), and provides additional mathematical justification for the dictum in finance that one should sell bad stocks immediately, but keep good stocks as long as possible.


2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (01) ◽  
pp. 131-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Thomas Bruss ◽  
Guy Louchard

LetI1,I2,…,Inbe independent indicator functions on some probability spaceWe suppose that these indicators can be observed sequentially. Furthermore, letTbe the set of stopping times on (Ik),k=1,…,n, adapted to the increasing filtrationwhereThe odds algorithm solves the problem of finding a stopping time τ ∈Twhich maximises the probability of stopping on the lastIk=1, if any. To apply the algorithm, we only need the odds for the events {Ik=1}, that is,rk=pk/(1-pk), whereThe goal of this paper is to offer tractable solutions for the case where thepkare unknown and must be sequentially estimated. The motivation is that this case is important for many real-world applications of optimal stopping. We study several approaches to incorporate sequential information. Our main result is a new version of the odds algorithm based on online observation and sequential updating. Questions of speed and performance of the different approaches are studied in detail, and the conclusiveness of the comparisons allows us to propose always using this algorithm to tackle selection problems of this kind.


1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Abdel-Hameed

The optimality of the one step look-ahead stopping rule is shown to hold under conditions different from those discussed by Chow, Robbins and Seigmund [5]. These results are corollaries of the following theorem: Let {Xn, n = 0, 1, …}; X0 = x be a discrete-time homogeneous Markov process with state space (E, ℬ). For any ℬ-measurable function g and α in (0, 1], define Aαg(x) = αExg(X1) – g(x) to be the infinitesimal generator of g. If τ is any stopping time satisfying the conditions: Ex[αNg(XN)I(τ > N)]→0 as as N → ∞, then Applications of the results are considered.


2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 262-281
Author(s):  
Samuel N. Cohen

We consider backward stochastic differential equations in a setting where noise is generated by a countable state, continuous time Markov chain, and the terminal value is prescribed at a stopping time. We show that, given sufficient integrability of the stopping time and a growth bound on the terminal value and BSDE driver, these equations admit unique solutions satisfying the same growth bound (up to multiplication by a constant). This holds without assuming that the driver is monotone in y, that is, our results do not require that the terminal value be discounted at some uniform rate. We show that the conditions are satisfied for hitting times of states of the chain, and hence present some novel applications of the theory of these BSDEs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. Boutsikas ◽  
D. L. Antzoulakos ◽  
A. C. Rakitzis

Let T be a stopping time associated with a sequence of independent and identically distributed or exchangeable random variables taking values in {0, 1, 2, …, m}, and let ST,i be the stopped sum denoting the number of appearances of outcome 'i' in X1, …, XT, 0 ≤ i ≤ m. In this paper we present results revealing that, if the distribution of T is known, then we can also derive the joint distribution of (T, ST,0, ST,1, …, ST,m). Two applications, which have independent interest, are offered to illustrate the applicability and the usefulness of the main results.


2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 984-996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Laure Bronstein ◽  
Lane P. Hughston ◽  
Martijn R. Pistorius ◽  
Mihail Zervos

We consider the problem of optimally stopping a general one-dimensional Itô diffusion X. In particular, we solve the problem that aims at maximising the performance criterion Ex[exp(-∫0τr(Xs)ds)f(Xτ)] over all stopping times τ, where the reward function f can take only a finite number of values and has a ‘staircase’ form. This problem is partly motivated by applications to financial asset pricing. Our results are of an explicit analytic nature and completely characterise the optimal stopping time. Also, it turns out that the problem's value function is not C1, which is due to the fact that the reward function f is not continuous.


1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 856-872 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Graversen ◽  
G. Peskir

Explicit formulas are found for the payoff and the optimal stopping strategy of the optimal stopping problem supτE (max0≤t≤τXt − c τ), where X = (Xt)t≥0 is geometric Brownian motion with drift μ and volatility σ > 0, and the supremum is taken over all stopping times for X. The payoff is shown to be finite, if and only if μ < 0. The optimal stopping time is given by τ* = inf {t > 0 | Xt = g* (max0≤t≤sXs)} where s ↦ g*(s) is the maximal solution of the (nonlinear) differential equation under the condition 0 < g(s) < s, where Δ = 1 − 2μ / σ2 and K = Δ σ2 / 2c. The estimate is established g*(s) ∼ ((Δ − 1) / K Δ)1 / Δs1−1/Δ as s → ∞. Applying these results we prove the following maximal inequality: where τ may be any stopping time for X. This extends the well-known identity E (supt>0Xt) = 1 − (σ 2 / 2 μ) and is shown to be sharp. The method of proof relies upon a smooth pasting guess (for the Stephan problem with moving boundary) and the Itô–Tanaka formula (being applied two-dimensionally). The key point and main novelty in our approach is the maximality principle for the moving boundary (the optimal stopping boundary is the maximal solution of the differential equation obtained by a smooth pasting guess). We think that this principle is by itself of theoretical and practical interest.


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