Option pricing methods

The diploma thesis is focused on the option pricing methods. There are described basic features of the option contracts and the types of them. Then a description of 6 pricing methods is given - the Black-Scholes model, the French Black-Scholes model, the Binomial Model, the Quadratic approximation model, the Bjerksund-Stersland model and the Jump-Diffusion model. The empirical part contains an analysis of the performance of all models on the real market data. It was shown that all models except for the Jump-Diffusion one fit the data very well, yet it was impossible to determine the best one. The evidence suggests that it is better to plug a few-days-delayed implied volatility than the historical one into all of the models. It was observed that the models for pricing European options are suitable even for the American ones