What’s a Volatility Model?

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Volatility models predict times of uncertainty and potential disruption to trading practices, helping businesses remain competitive. The ARCH-GARCH and stochastic volatility models use white noise to determine volatility. Understanding volatility is important for investors to make profitable decisions. While not always accurate, volatility models are common and their accuracy is expected to improve with technological advancements.

A volatility model is a form of modeling used to predict times of uncertainty and potential disruption to normal trading practices. These models are used by many data analysts to try to understand and predict times in the future of their business when business model changes may be needed to remain competitive. A good volatility model can give a company an edge over competitors who may not be prepared for future complications in the marketplace.

There are several volatility models used by analysts today. The ARCH-GARCH model and the stochastic volatility model are two of the more common types. Both of these models determine volatility based on the concept of “white noise”. This is a randomized representation of variables in a numeric field whose graphed sum equals zero over the analyzed time period.

An ARCH-GARCH volatility model is the simplest form of volatility model. The acronym “ARCH-GARCH” stands for “Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity – Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity”. These models only interpret a white noise source as part of the equation they use to produce results. The stochastic volatility model is more complex, accounting for multiple different calibrations of white noise. These calibrations are intended to represent unexpected data changes, innovations, and alterations that can develop over a period of time.

Understanding volatility is especially important for people who want to make investments in stocks and assets whose value can fluctuate over time. If investors are able to correctly determine when their investments are about to enter periods of uncertain profitability, they may be able to withdraw their investments before the value declines. Alternatively, if the degree of volatility can be predicted accurately and investors hold onto their investments during a period of instability, they could also see their holdings increase substantially.

While a volatility model isn’t always entirely accurate, especially over large time frames, it is an important part of the business environment. A company’s fate depends on its ability to accurately predict changes, so volatility models are in common use today. As technology advances and the study of how markets work can be interpreted by computers performing far more advanced calculations than human economists are capable of, the accuracy and use of these models can be expected to grow up.

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