[R-SIG-Finance] Non-gaussian (L-stable) Garch innovations

Spencer Graves spencer.graves at pdf.com
Tue Dec 25 21:50:56 CET 2007


Hi, Christopher: 

      Thanks very much.  Now that I know the answer, I see it should 
have been obvious from the web site I referenced. 

      Thanks again. 

      Happy holidays to all -- and a very big "THANK YOU" to all who 
have contributed to my education and others through this listserve. 

      Best Wishes,
      Spencer Graves

Christopher G. Green (L) wrote:
> The alpha-stable distribution for \alpha = 2, "scale" parameter \gamma = 1
> and location parameter \delta = 0 is a normal distribution with mean 0 and
> variance 2:
>
>   
>> x <- seq(-2, 2)
>> pstable(x, 2, 0)-pnorm(x, 0, sqrt(2))
>>     
> [1] 0 0 0 0 0
> attr(,"control")
>    dist alpha beta gamma delta pm
>  stable     2    0     1     0  0
>
>
>
> cg
> ________________________________
>
> Christopher G. Green (cggreen AT stat.washington.edu) 
> Doctoral Candidate
> Department of Statistics, Box 354322, Seattle, WA, 98195-4322, U.S.A.
> http://www.stat.washington.edu/cggreen/
>
>
>  
>
>   
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: r-sig-finance-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch 
>> [mailto:r-sig-finance-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of 
>> Spencer Graves
>> Sent: Monday, December 24, 2007 1:06 PM
>> To: Patrick Burns
>> Cc: r-sig-finance at stat.math.ethz.ch; "José Augusto M. de 
>> Andrade Junior"
>> Subject: Re: [R-SIG-Finance] Non-gaussian (L-stable) Garch innovations
>>
>> Hi, Patrick, et al.: 
>>
>>
>> IS NORMAL STABLE? 
>>
>>       I'm confused:  According to Wikipedia, a normal 
>> distribution is a stable distribution with parameters alpha = 
>> 2 and beta = 0 
>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9vy_skew_alpha-stable_dist
>> ribution).  
>> However, I get large discrepancies between 'pstable{fBasics}' 
>> and pnorm: 
>>
>>  > library(fBasics)
>>  > x <- seq(-2, 2)
>>  > pstable(x, 2, 0)-pnorm(x
>> + )
>> [1]  0.05589947  0.08109481  0.00000000 -0.08109481 -0.05589947
>> attr(,"control")
>>    dist alpha beta gamma delta pm
>>  stable     2    0     1     0  0
>>
>>       What am I doing wrong? 
>>
>>
>> ASYMPTOTICS 
>>
>>       What about the maximum likelihood estimates of garch 
>> parameters?  
>> Don't they follow the standard asymptotic normal distribution 
>> with mean and variance of the approximating normal 
>> distribution = the true but unknown parameters and the 
>> inverse of the information  matrix (Fisher or observed, take 
>> your pick)? 
>>
>>       My favorite example for this is logistic regression, 
>> where no moments exist for the MLEs, because the MLEs are 
>> Infinite for some possible outcomes.  However, the standard 
>> normal approximation still works great.  Moreover, the 
>> probability of observing Infinite MLEs at a rate proportional 
>> to 2^(-N), if my memory is correct. 
>>
>>
>> DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDUALS
>>
>>       What can be said about the distribution of the whitened 
>> residuals?  If N gets large faster than the number of 
>> parameters estimated, won't the distribution of the whitened 
>> residuals converge to the actual parent distribution, more or 
>> less whatever it is? 
>>
>>       Best Wishes,
>>       Spencer
>>
>> Patrick Burns wrote:
>>     
>>> Yes, you are wrong.  Stable distributions DO have a 
>>>       
>> constant variance: 
>>     
>>> infinity.
>>>
>>> Pat
>>>
>>> José Augusto M. de Andrade Junior wrote:
>>>
>>>   
>>>       
>>>> Hi Patrick,
>>>>  
>>>> Thanks for the explanation.
>>>>
>>>> I want to discuss the infinite variance of stable distributions 
>>>> (except normal). I understand that infinite variance means 
>>>>         
>> only that 
>>     
>>>> this distributions does not have a constant variance, that the 
>>>> integral does not converge to a finite constant value.
>>>>  
>>>> When someone uses GARCH to model the variance he is indeed 
>>>>         
>> recogning 
>>     
>>>> the same fact: the varince is not constant and should not 
>>>>         
>> converge, 
>>     
>>>> as with stable distributions also occur.
>>>>  
>>>> Am i wrong?
>>>>  
>>>> 2007/12/24, Patrick Burns <patrick at burns-stat.com
>>>> <mailto:patrick at burns-stat.com>>:
>>>>
>>>>     Given the model parameters and the starting volatility state,
>>>>     the procedure (which you can use a 'for' loop to do) is:
>>>>
>>>>     * select the next random innovation.
>>>>
>>>>     * multiply by the volatility at that time point to get 
>>>>         
>> the simulated
>>     
>>>>     return for that period.
>>>>
>>>>     * use the return to get the next period's variance 
>>>>         
>> using the garch
>>     
>>>>     equation.
>>>>
>>>>     So there are two series that are being produced: the return
>>>>     series and the variance series.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     I'm not exactly objecting, but I hope you realize that 
>>>>         
>> garch models
>>     
>>>>     variances while stable distributions (except the Gaussian) have
>>>>     infinite
>>>>     variance.  Hence a garch model with a stable 
>>>>         
>> distribution is at least
>>     
>>>>     a bit nonsensical.
>>>>
>>>>     Patrick Burns
>>>>     patrick at burns-stat.com <mailto:patrick at burns-stat.com>
>>>>     +44 (0)20 8525 0696
>>>>     http://www.burns-stat.com
>>>>     (home of S Poetry and "A Guide for the Unwilling S User")
>>>>
>>>>     José Augusto M. de Andrade Junior wrote:
>>>>
>>>>     >Hi,
>>>>     >
>>>>     >Could someone give an example on how to simulate 
>>>>         
>> paths (forecast)
>>     
>>>>     of a Garch
>>>>     >process with Levy stable innovations (by using rstable random
>>>>     deviates, for
>>>>     >example)?
>>>>     >
>>>>     >Thanks in advance.
>>>>     >
>>>>     >José Augusto M de Andrade Jr
>>>>     >
>>>>     >       [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>>>     >
>>>>     >
>>>>     >
>>>>     
>>>>         
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------
>>>       
>> -----------
>>     
>>>>     >
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>>>>
>>>>     
>>>>         
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