6.8 Stochastic Integral

We briefly discuss stochastic integration so that the price of an asset can be obtained under the assumption that it follows an Ito process. We deduce the integration result using Ito's formula. For a rigorous treatment on the topic, readers may consult textbooks on stochastic calculus. First, like the usual integration of a deterministic function, integration is the opposite of differentiation so that

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continues to hold for a stochastic process xt. In particular, for the Wiener process wt, we have inline because w0 = 0. Next, consider the integration inline. Using the prior result and taking integration of Eq. (6.7), we have

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Therefore,

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This is different from the usual deterministic integration for which inline.

Turn to the case that xt is a geometric Brownian motion—that is, xt satisfies

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where μ and σ are constant with σ > 0; see Eq. (6.8). Applying Ito's lemma to G(xt, t) = ln(xt), we obtain

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Performing the integration and using the results obtained before, we have

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Consequently,

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and

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Changing the notation xt to Pt for the price of an asset, we have a solution for the price under the assumption that it is a geometric Brownian motion. The price is

(6.25) 6.25

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