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An examination of the flow characteristics of crude oil: evidence from risk-neutral moments

Date

2015-10-10

Authors

Chatrath, Arjun, author
Miao, Hong, author
Ramchander, Sanjay, author
Wang, Tianyang, author
Energy Economics, publisher

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Abstract

This paper examines the information content of risk-neutral moments to explain crude oil futures returns. Implied volatility and higher moments are extracted from observed crude oil option prices using a model-free implied volatility framework and the Black–Scholes model. We find a tenuous and time-varying association between returns and implied volatility and its innovations. Specifically, changes in implied volatility are found to be meaningfully associated with crude returns only over the period spanning the recent financial crisis. The results lead us to conclude that crude oil prices are determined primarily in a flow demand/supply environment. Finally, we document that oil risk is priced into the cross-section of stock returns in the oil and transportation sectors.

Description

Includes bibliographical references (pages 26-29).
Published as: Energy Economics, vol. 54, February 2016, pp. 213-223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.09.010.

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Subject

risk-neutral moments
Stocks -- Rate of return
crude oil futures
volatility

Citation

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