When comparing Monte Carlo and analytical methods for an option that has a known closed-form price (e.g., Black-Scholes), the chapter suggests:

Correct answer: Prefer the analytical formula for exactness and insight; use Monte Carlo to validate or extend to cases without closed-form solutions.

Explanation

The chapter encourages using analytic solutions when available for precision and insight and using Monte Carlo for complex features where analytics fail.

Other questions

Question 1

Which statement correctly links normal and lognormal variables?

Question 2

If X ~ N(mu, sigma^2) and Y = exp(X), what is the expected value E[Y]?

Question 3

Why is the lognormal distribution often used to model asset prices?

Question 4

If daily continuously compounded returns have sample standard deviation 0.012, what is the approximate annualized volatility using 250 trading days?

Question 5

Which expression correctly links a price PT to current price P0 and continuously compounded return r0,T?

Question 6

Under i.i.d. one-period continuously compounded returns with mean mu and variance sigma^2, what is Var(r0,T) for T periods?

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT a typical use of Monte Carlo simulation in investments?

Question 8

Which sequence lists the main steps of a Monte Carlo simulation as described in the chapter?

Question 9

In a Monte Carlo simulation for a one-year horizon with monthly steps (K = 12), which variable is drawn K times per trial for a single-factor geometric model?

Question 10

You simulate 1,000 trials for a contingent claim and find 654 trials produce payoff zero. What does the histogram of simulated payoffs likely show?

Question 11

Which is a key limitation of a Monte Carlo simulation noted in the chapter?

Question 12

What does bootstrapping treat as the empirical population?

Question 13

When performing bootstrap resampling, how is each resample created?

Question 14

What is a primary advantage of bootstrap over analytical standard-error formulas according to the chapter?

Question 15

If you draw B = 1,000 bootstrap resamples and compute the mean for each resample, which formula gives the bootstrap estimate of the standard error of the sample mean?

Question 16

Which statement best contrasts Monte Carlo and bootstrap as described in the chapter?

Question 17

A practitioner wants to estimate the one-day 95 percent VaR using the analytical variance-covariance method under normality. How does Monte Carlo relate to this approach as described in the chapter?

Question 18

Which of the following is an instance where block bootstrap (noted indirectly by the chapter) would be more appropriate than standard bootstrap?

Question 19

You run a Monte Carlo with I = 50,000 trials. Which action reduces simulation error without changing the underlying model assumptions?

Question 20

Which formula from the chapter gives the variance of a lognormal random variable Y = exp(X) where X ~ N(mu, sigma^2)?

Question 21

Which of the following best describes the role of the error term epsilon_i in the linear regression Yi = b0 + b1 Xi + epsilon_i?

Question 22

How are the OLS slope and intercept estimates computed in simple linear regression as given in the chapter?

Question 23

In the regression example ROA = 4.875 + 1.25 CAPEX, how would you interpret the slope 1.25?

Question 24

Which diagnostic plot is emphasized in the chapter to check linear regression assumptions?

Question 25

Which assumption is violated when residuals cluster into two groups with very different variances (regimes)?

Question 26

A residual plot shows a strong seasonal cyclical pattern. Which regression assumption is likely violated according to the chapter?

Question 27

Which statistic is equal to the square of the Pearson correlation in simple linear regression per the chapter?

Question 28

Given SST = SSR + SSE, if SSR = 120 and SST = 200, what is R^2?

Question 29

Which regression test uses an F-distributed statistic as explained in the chapter?

Question 30

Which measure equals the square root of the mean squared error in a regression and indicates the average distance of observed Ys from the fitted line?

Question 31

When should a practitioner prefer parametric Monte Carlo over bootstrap according to the chapter's recommendations?

Question 32

Which of these is the correct interpretation of the parameter sigma in the lognormal mean formula E[Y] = exp(mu + 0.5 sigma^2)?

Question 33

In Monte Carlo pricing of a lookback option (payoff = final price - minimum price during life), what additional path statistic must you track compared with a European option?

Question 34

Which of the following best characterizes jackknife resampling mentioned in the chapter?

Question 35

Which situation in investment applications is specifically cited in the chapter as a good fit for Monte Carlo simulation?

Question 36

You want to bootstrap the sample median of monthly returns for a rarely traded stock with only 12 months of data. What does the chapter suggest about this approach?

Question 37

Which of the following is true about the relationship between continuously compounded returns and simple holding-period returns as used in the chapter?

Question 38

If one-period log returns are not normal but i.i.d., what theorem does the chapter invoke to justify approximate normality of the T-period log return as T grows?

Question 39

You fit a simple linear regression and find the residual mean equals zero. Which statement aligns with the chapter's treatment?

Question 40

Which of these is a practical recommendation the chapter gives when using Monte Carlo or bootstrap?

Question 41

If you model asset prices with a lognormal distribution implied by normal log returns, which of the following is true regarding the median of Y relative to exp(mu)?

Question 42

Which statement concerning resampling-based confidence intervals in bootstrap is supported by the chapter?

Question 43

In the sample Monte Carlo valuation of an Asian-style contingent claim, what effect does increasing the number of subperiods K (e.g., months per year) generally have, holding trials constant?

Question 44

Which of the following is a reason to prefer bootstrap over a Monte Carlo parametric simulation per the chapter?

Question 45

What effect does increasing sigma (variance of ln Y) have on a lognormal variable's skewness and mean according to the chapter?

Question 46

Which of these statements about implementation of Monte Carlo is emphasized in the chapter?

Question 48

Which of the following best describes the reason practitioners log-transform prices when modeling returns, per the chapter?

Question 49

Which diagnostic indicates residuals might be non-normal and hence t-based inference may be unreliable for small samples, according to the chapter?

Question 50

According to the chapter, which is a valid reason to prefer analytical methods over simulation when available?