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Applying Itô’s Lemma to a Foreign Asset Ratio

Article Quant Q&A · Author: Dreason94

Summary

The document derives the dynamics of a ratio formed from a deterministic money account, a stochastic exchange rate, and a stochastic stock price. The stock and exchange rate are driven by the same Brownian motion, so their quadratic covariation contributes to the result. Itô’s lemma applied to the function given by the product of the account and exchange rate divided by the stock price yields the differential, including drift adjustments from the stock’s curvature and the shared shock.

The worked answer notes that the money account has no diffusion term, so its quadratic covariation terms vanish. A second explanation recalls the stochastic product rule and explains why cross terms involving the deterministic account drop out. The post’s own attempted derivation contains notation and algebra inconsistencies, including differing descriptions of the account dynamics and a stated drift that does not straightforwardly match the initial setup. The equations should therefore be checked against the intended definitions before reuse.

Key ideas

  • Use multivariable Itô’s lemma for a function of correlated stochastic processes.
  • The shared Brownian motion creates a nonzero cross-variation between the stock and exchange rate.
  • A deterministic money account contributes no diffusion cross terms.
  • Verify variable definitions and drift algebra because the document’s setup and attempted derivation are not fully consistent.

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Full text
# Stochastic Calculus problem with three processes? (Itô calculus)


# Stochastic Calculus problem with three processes? (Itô calculus)












Can someone help me solve this following Itô Calculus problem?

Let $Z(t):= [B(t)*X(t)]/S(t)$

We have the following dynamics of B(t), X(t) and S(t):

$dS(t)=\alpha S(t)dt+\sigma S(t)dW(t)$

$dB(t)=rB(t)dt$

$dX(t)=\alpha_X X(t)dt + \sigma_X X(t) dW(t)$

where W is a brownian motion.

I want to determine $dZ(t)$.

According to the answer it should be,

$$ dZ(t) = Z(t)(\sigma_X - \sigma)\left(\frac{\sigma^2 - \alpha + r_f + \alpha_X -\sigma\sigma_X}{\sigma_X-\sigma} dt + dW(t)\right) $$

but I do not know how to even begin to approach this problem.

Would appreciate a thorough solution. Thank you! :)

Edit: With the help of siou0107 and this lovely community I solved the process. Solution below

I write all this so that I learn too.

The money account $B_f(t)=r_fB(t)dt$ is defined as foreign money account and I want to determina the exchange rate dynamics $X(t)$ under the EMM with the stock as numeraire. The stock is in domestic economy. In my post and question I just wanted to solve the $Z(t)$ process defined as $Z(t):=\frac{B_f(t)X(t)}{S(t)}$. Dynamics of S and X are defined above.

With Itô's lemma and the help of this kind community I get,

$dZ(t)=-\frac{X(t)B_f(t)}{S^2(t)}dS(t)+\frac{X(t)}{S(t)}dB_f(t)+\frac{B_f(t)}{S(t)}dX(t)+[\frac{X(t)B(t)}{S^3(t)}\sigma^2 S^2(t)-\frac{B_f(t)}{S^2(t)}\sigma S(t)\sigma_X X(t)]dt$

$dZ(t)=-Z(t)(\frac{dS(t)}{S(t)}+r_fdt)+Z(t)(\alpha_X dt+\sigma_X dW(t))+[Z(t)(\sigma^2 + \sigma \sigma_X)dt]$

Gathering all the terms finally gives us,

$dZ(t)=Z(t)(\sigma_X-\sigma)dW(t)+Z(t)(\sigma_X+\sigma^2-\alpha-r_f-\sigma \sigma_X)dt$

Which is basically the answer stated in the picture.

## Answer by siou0107 (score 3, accepted)

https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/50185

You have $$dZ_t = df\left(S_t, B_t, X_t\right) = \frac{\partial f}{\partial s}dS_t + \frac{\partial f}{\partial b}dB_t + \frac{\partial f}{\partial x}dX_t + \frac{1}{2}\left[\frac{\partial^2 f}{\partial s^2} d\langle S\rangle_t + 2\frac{\partial^2 f}{\partial s\partial x} d\langle S, X\rangle_t \right]$$ since $d\langle B\rangle_t$, $d\langle B, S\rangle_t$, $d\langle B, X\rangle_t$ and $ \partial_{xx}^2 f(s, b, x)$ are null.

$$dZ_t = -\frac{X_tB_t}{S_t^2}dS_t + \frac{X_t}{S_t}dB_t + \frac{B_t}{S_t}dX_t + \frac{1}{2}\left[2\frac{X_tB_t}{S_t^3} \sigma^2S_t^2 - 2\frac{B_t}{S_t^2} \sigma S_t\sigma_X X_t \right]dt$$

Factor by $\frac{X_tB_t}{S_t}$ and then it is straightforward.

## Answer by Magic is in the chain (score 5)

https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/50179

If you are happy to try the brute force approach, then here are the relevant formulae:

In ordinary calculus, you have the product rule for the differential of two variables:

$$d \left( x_1 x_2\right)=x_1 dx_2+x_2 dx_1$$

The general version of this for differential of products of n variables is:

$$d \prod_{i=1}^{n}{x_i}=\sum_{i=1}^{n}{ \prod_{j=1 j \ne i}^{n}{x_j}dx_i}$$

The stochastic equivalent of the product rule for 2 variables is:

$$d \left( X_1 X_2\right)=X_1 dX_2+X_2 dX_1+dX_1dX_2$$

And the general version of this for a product of n variables is:

$$d \prod_{i=1}^{n}{X_i}=\sum_{i=1}^{n}{ \prod_{j=1, j \ne i}^{n}{X_j}dX_i} +\sum_{i=1,k=1,k>i}^{n}{ \left( \prod_{j=1, j \ne i,k}^{n}{X_j} \right) dX_idX_k}$$

For n=3 this expands as follows:

$$d \left( X_1 X_2 X_3\right)=X_2 X_3 dX_1+X_1 X_3 dX_2+X_1 X_2 dX_3+ X_3 dX_1dX_2+X_2 dX_1 dX_3+ X_1 dX_2dX_3$$

Looks formidable, but would simplify for your system of three equation because the second equation (dB) is deterministic, so it won't contribute to the cross terms.

Shown in full with attribution under the source's licence. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Stack Exchange)

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.