Risk-Neutral Stock and Rate Dynamics with Correlated Brownian Shocks
Summary
The document asks how to price a stock under the risk-neutral measure when both the stock and short rate follow stochastic processes under the real-world measure. Its main answer addresses correlated Brownian shocks: rewriting the rate shock as a combination of the stock shock and an independent Brownian motion makes the dependence explicit. Applying a change of measure to the stock shock then changes the drift of both processes when their shocks are correlated.
The response highlights an additional risk-neutral drift term for the rate, proportional to the correlation, the stock market price of risk, and rate volatility. Thus the short-rate process generally cannot be carried unchanged from the real-world measure when it shares risk with the stock. A second answer notes that risk-neutral stock growth uses the short rate and discusses cost of carry for forwards. The treatment is schematic: it assumes a particular diffusion setup and market price of risk, and the exchange contains conflicting modeling remarks. It does not establish model completeness, calibration, or the conditions needed for the stated measure change to be valid.
Key ideas
- Changing probability measure adjusts diffusion drifts through the market price of risk.
- When stock and rate shocks are correlated, changing the stock shock can also alter the rate drift.
- A risk-neutral stock model uses the short rate as its drift under the stated assumptions.
- The displayed derivation depends on the assumed correlation structure and valid measure-change conditions.
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Full text
# How to price a stock under Q and stochastic interest rates?
# How to price a stock under Q and stochastic interest rates?
I am interested in pricing a stock under $\mathbb{Q}$ when I assume that
$$dS(t) = \mu(S(t))dt + \sigma(S(t))dW(t)$$
where $W(t)$ is a Wiener process under $\mathbb{P}$ and
$$dr(t) = a(b-r(t))dt + \sigma(r(t))dZ(t)$$
where $Z(t)$ is a Wiener process under $\mathbb{P}$. So I have real-world observations of interest rates and stock prices and want to use them to price the stock under $\mathbb{Q}$. I found in one of the papers that the differential equation for stock price will look like:
$$dS(t) = r(t)dt + \sigma(S(t))dB(t)$$
and
$$dr(t) = a(b-r(t))dt + \sigma(r(t))dZ(t),$$
where $B(t)$ is a Wiener process under $\mathbb{Q}$. But I don't understand, why the Wiener process for the Interest rate is the same as under $\mathbb{P}$. Does it mean that if I want to price the stock under $\mathbb{Q}$ is doesn't matter if my interest rates are priced under $\mathbb{Q}$ or not? Does it mean that if I price my stock under $\mathbb{Q}$ with real-world interest rates it and it is martingale, it is risk-neutral? Could you please help me?
Thanks!
## Answer by Gordon (score 3)
https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/25909
The derivation in Appendix A of the paper Valuation of Equity-Indexed Annuities under Stochastic Interest Rates that you mentioned is Wrong: the Girsanov transformation is applied to an $n$-dimensional Brownian motion, where the components are independent. However, for the case here with $n=2$, the Brownian motions are dependent, we can not naively combine them together to form a two-dimensional Brownian motion and then apply the Girsanov transformation.
For your case, we assume that, under the real-world probability measure $\mathbb{P}$, \begin{align*} dS(t) &= \mu(S(t)) dt + \sigma(S(t)) dW(t)\\ dr(t) &= a(b-r(t)) dt + \sigma(r(t)) dZ(t),\\ \end{align*} where $\{W(t), t \ge0\}$ and $\{Z(t), t \ge0\}$ are two standard Brownian motions with instantaneous correlation $\rho$. Based on Cholesky decomposition, we can re-write the above dynamics as \begin{align*} dS(t) &= \mu(S(t)) dt + \sigma(S(t)) dW(t)\\ dr(t) &= a(b-r(t)) dt + \sigma(r(t)) d\big(\rho W(t) + \sqrt{1-\rho^2} B(t)\big), \end{align*} where $\{W(t), t \ge0\}$ and $\{B(t), t \ge0\}$ are two independent standard Brownian motions.
To obtain the dynamics under the risk-neutral probability measure $\mathbb{Q}$, let \begin{align*} \lambda(t) = \frac{r(t) - \mu(S(t))}{\sigma(S(t))}. \end{align*} Then, \begin{align*} \frac{d\mathbb{Q}}{d\mathbb{P}}\big|_t = \exp\left(-\frac{1}{2} \int_0^t \lambda^2(s)ds + \int_0^t \lambda(s)dW_s \right). \end{align*} Moreover, under the measure $\mathbb{Q}$, \begin{align*} \widehat{W}(t) &= W(t) - \int_0^t \lambda(s)ds, \mbox{ and}\\ \widehat{B}(t) &= B(t), \end{align*} are two independent standard Brownian motions. Consequently, \begin{align*} dS(t) &= r(t) dt + \sigma(S(t)) d\widehat{W}(t)\\ dr(t) &= \big[a(b-r(t)) + \rho \lambda(t) \sigma(r(t)) \big]dt + \sigma(r(t)) d\big(\rho \widehat{W}(t) + \sqrt{1-\rho^2} \widehat{B}(t)\big). \end{align*} Note the extra term $\rho \lambda(t) \sigma(r(t))$ in this dynamics under the risk-neutral measure $\mathbb{Q}$.
## Answer by Richi Wa (score 1)
https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/25290
If you model the spot price of the stock, then it is just the spot price (what else could be more accurate?).
If you model the forward price of a stock, then you most probably want to apply cost-of-carry (in order to avoid arbitrge). If there are no dividends in your spot, then the forward price for time $T$ is $$ F_T = S_0 rT $$ where $r$ is a rate that applies for the time period that you analyze.
If you have some interest rate model, then this should give the same factor for the same period (if it is calibrated to the rate). Thus it should give the same.
By the way: you look at short-rate models. The continuous short rate does not exist - it can not be traded by itself. Just objects similar to $$ E_Q[\exp(\int_0^T r_u du)] $$ can be traded (FRAs). So usually the SDE for $r_t$ the short rate is under Q. And Under Q the stock price grows by the risk-free rate.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.