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Weights from a pair of digitals
An index will finish a year from now either above a level or at or below it. Today a contract paying in a year if it finishes above has a fair mid of , and a contract paying in a year if it finishes at or below has a fair mid of . No interest rate is quoted: the one-year discounting is whatever these prices imply, since together the contracts pay for certain. The risk-neutral probability is the one under which each price equals the discounted expected payoff. What is the risk-neutral probability that the index finishes above? Give an exact fraction.
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Hint
Holding both contracts pays for certain.
Solution
- Both together cost and pay for certain, so the discount factor is .
- With risk-neutral chance of finishing above, , so .
Answer: