Chapter 17

The Binomial Option Pricing Model (BOPM)

• We begin with a single period.

• Then, we stitch single periods together to form the Multi-Period

Binomial Option Pricing Model.

• The Multi-Period Binomial Option Pricing Model is extremely

flexible, hence valuable; it can value American options (which
can be exercised early), and most, if not all, exotic options.

©David Dubofsky and 17-1

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Assumptions of the BOPM

• There are two (and only two) possible prices for the underlying
asset on the next date. The underlying price will either:

– Increase by a factor of u% (an uptick)

– Decrease by a factor of d% (a downtick)

• The uncertainty is that we do not know which of the two prices

will be realized.

• No dividends.

• The one-period interest rate, r, is constant over the life of the

option (r% per period).

• Markets are perfect (no commissions, bid-ask spreads, taxes,

price pressure, etc.)

©David Dubofsky and 17-2

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 The Stock Pricing ‘Process’

Time T is the expiration day of a call option. Time T-1 is one period
prior to expiration.
ST,u = (1+u)ST‑1

ST‑1

   ST,d = (1+d)ST‑1

Suppose that ST-1 = 40, u = 25% and d = -10%. What are ST,u and ST,d?

ST,u = ______
40
ST,d = ______
©David Dubofsky and 17-3
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 The Option Pricing Process

CT,u = max(0, ST,u‑K) = max(0,(1+u)ST‑1‑K)

CT‑1
CT,d = max(0, ST,d‑K) = max(0,(1+d)ST‑1‑K)

Suppose that K = 45. What are CT,u and CT,d?

CT,u = ______

CT‑1
CT,d = ______
©David Dubofsky and 17-4
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 The Equivalent Portfolio
Buy  shares of stock and borrow $B.
NB:  is not a
(1+u)ST‑1 + (1+r)B =  ST,u + (1+r)B “change” in S…. It
defines the # of
 ST‑1+B shares to buy. For a
(1+d)ST‑1 + (1+r)B =  ST,d + (1+r)B call, 0 <  < 1

Set the payoffs of the equivalent portfolio equal to CT,u and CT,d, respectively.

(1+u)ST‑1 + (1+r)B = CT,u These are two equations with

(1+d)ST‑1 + (1+r)B = CT,d two unknowns:  and B

What are the two equations in the numerical example with ST-1 = 40, u
= 25%, d = -10%, r = 5%, and K = 45?
©David Dubofsky and 17-5
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 A Key Point

• If two assets offer the same payoffs at time T, then they must be
priced the same at time T-1.

• Here, we have set the problem up so that the equivalent portfolio

offers the same payoffs as the call.

• Hence the call’s value at time T-1 must equal the $ amount
invested in the equivalent portfolio.

CT-1 = ST-1 + B

©David Dubofsky and 17-6

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
  and B define the “Equivalent Portfolio” of a call
CT, u  CT, d CT, u  CT, d
Δ  ; 0  Δ c  1 (17 - 1)
(u  d)ST 1 S T, u  S T, d

(1  u)CT, d  (1  d)CT, u NB: a negative sign

B ; B c  0 (17 - 2)
(u  d)(1  r) now denotes borrowing!

CT‑1 = ST‑1 + B (17-5)

Assume that the underlying asset can only rise by u% or decline by d%

in the next period. Then in general, at any time:
C u  C d Cu  C d
Δ  (17 - 3)
(u  d)S Su  S d

(1  u)C d  (1  d)Cu
B (17 - 4)
(u  d)(1  r)

C = S + B (17-6) ©David Dubofsky and 17-7

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 So, in the Numerical Example….

ST-1 = 40, u = 25%, ST,u = 50, d = -10%, ST,d = 36, r = 5%, K = 45,
CT,u = 5 and CT,d = 0.

What are the values of , B, and CT-1?

What if CT-1 = 3?
What if CT-1 = 1?

©David Dubofsky and 17-8

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 A Shortcut
rd ur
C T, u  C T, d
C T 1  ud ud
(1  r)
or,
pC T, u  (1  p)C T, d
C T 1  (17 - 7)
(1  r)
where,
r d ur
p and (1  p) 
ud ud

pCu  (1  p)C d
In general: C (17 - 8)
(1  r)

©David Dubofsky and 17-9

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Interpreting p

r d
p
ud
• p is the probability of an uptick in a risk-neutral world.

• In a risk-neutral world, all assets (including the stock and the

option) will be priced to provide the same riskless rate of return, r.

• In our example, if p is the probability of an uptick then

ST-1 = [(0.428571429)(50) + (0.571428571)(36)]/1.05 = 40

• That is, the stock is priced to provide the same riskless rate of
return as the call option
©David Dubofsky and 17-10
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Interpreting 
• Delta, , is the riskless hedge ratio; 0 < c < 1.

• Delta, , is the number of shares needed to hedge one call. I.e.,

if you are long one call, you can hedge your risk by selling
shares of stock.

• Therefore, the number of calls to hedge one share is 1/I.e., if

you own 100 shares of stock, then sell 1/calls to hedge your
position. Equivalently, buy shares of stock and write one call.

• Delta is the slope of the lines shown in Figures 14.3 and 14.4
(where an option’s value is a function of the price of the
underlying asset).

• In continuous time,  = ∂C/∂S = the change in the value of a call

caused by a (small) change in the price of the underlying asset.

©David Dubofsky and 17-11

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Two Period Binomial Model

ST,uu = (1+u)2ST-2

ST-1,u = (1+u)ST-2
ST,ud = (1+u)(1+d)ST-2
ST-2
ST-1,d = (1+d)ST-2
 
ST,dd = (1+d)2ST-2

CT,uu = max[0,(1+u)2ST-2 - K]

CT-1,u
CT,ud = max[0,(1+u)(1+d)ST-2 - K]
CT-2
CT-1,d
CT,dd = max[0,(1+d)2ST-2 - K]
©David Dubofsky and 17-12
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Two Period Binomial Model: An Example

ST,uu = 69.444
ST-1,u = 55.556
ST,ud = 50
ST-2 = 44.444
ST-1,d = 40.00
 
ST,dd = 36

CT,uu = _______
CT-1,u = ____
CT-2 CT,ud = 5
CT-1,d = 2.0408
CT,dd = 0
©David Dubofsky and 17-13
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Two Period Binomial Model:
The Equivalent Portfolio

=1
B = -42.857143

 = 0.6851312
B = -24.1566014
 = 0.357142857
B = -12.24489796

T-2 T-1

Note that as S rises,  also rises. As S declines, so does .

Note that the equivalent portfolio is self financing. This means that the
cost of any purchase of shares (due to a rise in ) is accompanied by an
equivalent increase in required borrowing (B becomes more negative).
Any sale of shares (due to a decline in ) is accompanied by an
equivalent decrease in required borrowing (B becomes less negative).
©David Dubofsky and 17-14
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 The Multi-Period BOPM

• We can find binomial option prices for any number of

periods by using the following five steps:
(1) Build a price “tree” for the underlying.
(2) Calculate the possible option values in the last period (time T
= expiration date)
(3) Set up ALL possible riskless portfolios in the penultimate
period (next to last period).
(4) Calculate all possible option prices in the penultimate period.
(5) Keep working back through the tree to “Today” (Time T-n in an
n-period, (n+1)-date, model).

©David Dubofsky and 17-15

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 The ‘n’ Period Binomial Formula:
If n = 3:

p3CT, uuu  3p 2 (1  p)CT, uud  3p(1  p)2 CT, udd  (1  p)3 CT, ddd
C T 3  3
(17 - 15)
(1  r)

The “binomial coefficient” computes the number of ways we can get j

upticks in n periods:
n n!
  
 j  j! (n  j)!
Thus, the 3-period model can be written as:

1 3
3 j
C T 3 
(1  r)3
  p (1  p)3 j max[0,(1  u) j (1  d)3  j S T 3  K].
j0  j 
©David Dubofsky and 17-16
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 The ‘n’ Period Binomial Formula:

In general, the n-period model is:

1 n
n j
C
(1  r)n
  p (1  p)n j [(1  u) j (1  d)n j S T n  K].
ja  j 
(17  17)

Where “a” in the summation is the minimum number of

up-ticks so that the call finishes in-the-money.

©David Dubofsky and 17-17

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 A Large Multi-period Lattice

Suppose that N = 100 days. Let u = 0.01 and d = -0.008. S0 = 50

135.241 = 50*(1.01^100)
132.830 = 50*(1.01^99)*(.992^1)
130.463 = 50*(1.01^98)*(.992^2)
51.51505
51.005
.
50.50 50.59696 .
50.00 50.096
.
49.69523
.
49.60
49.2032 23.214 = 50*(1.01^2)*(.992^98)
48.80957 22.801 = 50*(1.01^1)*(.992^99)
22.394 = 50*(.992^100)
T=0 T=1 T=2 T=3
T=100
©David Dubofsky and 17-18
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Suppose the Number of Periods
Approachs Infinity
S

T
In the limit, that is, as N gets ‘large’, and if u and d are consistent
with generating a lognormal distribution for ST, then the BOPM
converges to the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model (the
BSOPM is the subject of Chapter 18).
©David Dubofsky and 17-19
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Stocks Paying a Dollar Dividend Amount
Figure 17.4: The stock trades ex- Figure 17.5: The stock trades ex-
dividend ($1) at time T-2. dividend ($1) at time T-1.

25.410 25.520

23.100 24.20 => 23.20

22 => 21 21.945 20.040

22.000
19.950 21.890

20.000 18.9525 20.000 20.90 => 19.90

21.780
18.905
19.800 19.000
18.755
19 => 18 18.810
18.05 => 17.05
17.100
16.1975
16.245

T-3 T-2 T-1 T T-3 T-2 T-1 T

©David Dubofsky and 17-20

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 American Calls on Dividend Paying Stocks

• The key is that at each “node” of the lattice, the value of an

American call is:

 pCu  (1  p)C d 
max  , S  K . (17  19)
 (1  r) 

If the first term in the brackets is less than the call’s intrinsic value,
then you must instead value it as equal to its intrinsic value. Moreover,
if the dividend amount paid in the next period exceeds K-PV(K), then
the American call should be exercised early at that node.

©David Dubofsky and 17-21

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Binomial Put Pricing - I

PT,u = max(0,K-ST,u) = max(0,K-(1+u)ST‑1)

ST,u = (1+u)ST‑1
PT‑1
ST‑1
PT,d = max(0,K-ST,d) = max(0,K-(1+d)ST‑1)
ST,d = (1+d)ST‑1

(1+u)ST‑1 + (1+r)B = ST,u + (1+r)B = PT,u

ST‑1+B

(1+d)ST‑1 + (1+r)B = ST,d + (1+r)B = PT,d

©David Dubofsky and 17-22
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Binomial Put Pricing - II

• PT‑1 = ST‑1 + B (17-24)

Where:
Pu  Pd P  Pd
Δ  u (17  22) -1 < p < 0
(u  d)S Su  S d

(1  u)Pd  (1  d)Pu B>0

B (17  23)
(u  d)(1  r)

A put is can be replicated by selling  shares of stock short, and

lending $B.  and B change as time passes and as S changes.
Thus, the equivalent portfolio must be adjusted as time passes.

©David Dubofsky and 17-23

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Binomial Put Pricing - III

pPu  (1  p)Pd
P  (17  26)
(1  r)

Where:

rd ur
p and (1  p) 
ud ud

©David Dubofsky and 17-24

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Binomial American Put Pricing

 pP  (1  p)Pd 
P  max K  S, u  (17  27)
 (1  r) 

At any node, if the 2nd term in the brackets is less than the American
put’s intrinsic value, then value the put to equal its intrinsic value
instead. American puts cannot sell for less than their intrinsic value.
The American put will be exercised early at that node.

©David Dubofsky and 17-25

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Binomial Put Pricing Example - I

The Stock 79.86

Pricing 72.6
Process: 66 68.97
u = 10% 60 62.7
d = -5% 57 59.565
r = 2%
54.13
K = 65
p = 0.466667 51.4425

T-3 T-2 T-1 T

©David Dubofsky and 17-26

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Binomial Put Pricing Example - II
European Put Values:
0
0
1.485924 0
3.9776 2.84183
6.306976 5.435
9.57549
13.5575

T-3 T-2 T-1 T

©David Dubofsky and 17-27

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Binomial Put Pricing Example - III
Composition of the
equivalent portfolio Δ = 0.0
to the European put: B = 0.0
Δ = -0.2870535
B = 20.431458
Δ = -0.5356724 Δ = -0.5778841
B = 36.117946 B = 39.075163
Δ = -0.7875626
B = 51.198042
Δ = -1.0
B = 63.72549

T-3 T-2 T-1

©David Dubofsky and 17-28
Thomas W. Miller, Jr.
 Binomial Put Pricing Example - IV
American put pricing: If 0
eqn. 17.25 yields an 0
amount less than the
put’s intrinsic value, then 1.485924 0
the American’s put value 4.86284 2.84183
is K – S (shown in bold),
5
and it should be
exercised early. 6.97339 5.435
8
9.57549
10
13.5575

T-3 T-2 T-1 T

©David Dubofsky and 17-29

Thomas W. Miller, Jr.